Chapter 2:

Vehicle Aerodynamics

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 Introduction
• Automotive aerodynamics is the study of the aerodynamics of road
vehicles.
• Its main goals are reducing drag and wind noise, and preventing
undesired lift forces and other causes of aerodynamic instability at
high speeds.
• For some classes of racing vehicles, it may also be important to
produce down force to improve traction and thus cornering
abilities.

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 Cont..
• Aerodynamics is primarily concerned with the forces of drag and
lift, which are caused by air passing over and around solid bodies.
• The aerodynamics of cars and aircraft are of primary concern to
engineers. This is a study concerns about the airflow around the
vehicle body.
• The engines became more powerful and cars became faster,
automobile engineers realized that wind resistance significantly
hindered their speed.
• Aerodynamic impacts in the automobile: Fuel Consumption,
Styling, Noise & Vibration, Control and Handling

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Fuel Consumption
• Drag forces increase exponentially with velocity
• More fuel is consumed to counter aerodynamic forces
• Better air flow management reduces fuel consumption and pollution.
Styling:
⦁ Aerodynamically efficient body
surfaces may interfere with the
styling intent.
Noise & Vibration:
• Air flow can create wind noise.
• Turbulent airflow can deposit
dirt on windows and automobile’s body.
(e.g., rear window)
Turbulent airflow can cause undesirable vibrations.
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Control and Handling:
⦁ Lift - dangerous at high speeds
⦁ Drag - decreases performance

Terminologies
I) Streamlines:
• Curves associated with a pictorial representation of air flow.
• Smoke is commonly used in wind tunnels to represent the
streamlines.
• Streamlines are used to study air flow velocity distribution

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ii) Velocity Distribution

iii) Laminar Flow

• Fluid motion that is "well organized“.
• Fluid with parallel velocity vectors.
• Generally, laminar flow has the ideal
aerodynamic properties.

iv) Turbulent Flow

• Fluid motion that is not "well organized“.
• Turbulent flow moves in an erratic fashion
with horizontal and vertical swirling motions.
• Generally, turbulent flow has undesirable
properties. 6
v) Viscosity
• It is the fluid’s resistance to motion
• Internal fluid forces at the molecular level

Where,
F= fluid viscosity force,
μ = coefficient of viscosity,
V = fluid velocity,
h=separation distance,
A= contact area
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Reynolds Number:
⦁It is a dimensionless number used in fluid mechanics to indicate
whether fluid flow past a body or in a duct is steady or turbulent.
⦁ Represents the ratio between inertial and viscous forces

Where, ρ is fluid density, μ is coefficient of viscosity, V is the velocity, and

L is the length of the object.
• Whenever the Reynolds number is less than about 2,000, flow in a
pipe is generally laminar, whereas, at values greater than 2,000, flow is
usually turbulent.
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Force coefficients: The aerodynamic lift coefficient CL is a measure of
the difference in pressure created above and
below a vehicle's body as it moves through the
surrounding viscous air.

Drag coefficient CD. the resistance an object

experiences when moving through a fluid medium.
Side force coefficient - Side force coefficient is the
dimensionless coefficient associated with the
component of aerodynamic forces along the pitch axis
on a vehicle body.

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TYPES OF AERODYNAMIC DRAGS:
•Form drag
•Lift drag
•Surface drag
•Interference drag
•Internal flow drag
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Profile or Form Drag:
Form Drag, also known as Pressure Drag or Profile
Drag, is the drag caused by the separation of the
boundary layer from a surface and the disturbance
created by that separation. It is primarily dependent
upon the shape of the object.
The pressure differential between the leading and
trailing edges of the plate causes the plate to be
pushed in the direction of the relative wind and
retards forward motion. This is form drag. It is about
55% of the total drag. 12
Induced (or) Lift drag
• Lift Drag is the result of any lift force
that is generated by the moving vehicle.
• The magnitude of the lift force is
primarily a function of the basic body
shape.
• The magnitude of the lift and its
distribution to the front and rear
wheels is a function of the ground
clearance, the contours of the body and
under-body, and the angle of attack of
the body to the air.
• It is about 7% of the total drag.
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Surface (or) frictional drag:
• Surface Drag is a frictional resistance that
results from air passing tangentially along the
body.
• The velocity of air produced a thin layer
called the boundary layer next to the vehicle
body, which slows the velocity of air due to
tangential friction forces.
• The viscous friction losses in the boundary
layer and the drag on small surface
imperfections within this layer are considered
as surface drag.
• It is a small part of the total aerodynamic
drag i.e., about 9%.

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Interference Drag:
• Interference Drag is caused by the projection and protuberances that exist on
the basic body.
• The exterior vehicle body projections, such as hood ornament, windshield
wipers, radio aerial, rear-view mirror, air scoop, roof pillars, rain gutters, all
contribute to the total interference drag.
• The various component projecting under the vehicle, such as engine pan, the
suspension arms, exhaust system and rear suspension also contribute to the
interference drag.
• It is about 17% of the total drag.

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Internal flow or Cooling and Ventilation drag:
• Internal Flow Drag is the sum of all energy losses produced when air passes
into, through, and out of all vehicle systems requiring or permitting air
flow.
• The engine cooling flow (which is the primary internal flow component)
plus passenger ventilation flow and any internal flow required to cool
brakes or other mechanical components contribute to internal flow drag.
• It is about 12% of the total drag.

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•Wind Tunnel:
•Wind tunnels are used to simulate air flow in laboratories under controlled conditions.
•These find vast application in automobile and aircraft industry to test the prototype for
aerodynamic conditions , specially drag force on the prototype.
• Wind tunnels are designed for specific purposes. A wind tunnel designed for school lab is
generally between 2m to 12 meters long while the wind tunnels in automobile are large enough
to accommodate whole car in its test section. These days wind tunnels are being replaced by
CFD tools.
• Types of Wind Tunnel:
Wind tunnels can be classified based on air flow speed in test section and based on shape.
• Based on Flow Speed:
• subsonic (80 percent of the speed of sound), transonic (about the speed of sound),
supersonic (up to 6 times the speed of sound), hypersonic (6 to 12 times the speed of sound).
• Based on Shape:
• Open circuit wind tunnel, Suck-down tunnel, Blower tunnel, Closed circuit wind tunnel.

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In the blow-down tunnel, the air is
stored in containers at high pressure
and dis- charged across the tunnel to
the atmosphere. In the suction tunnel,
atmospheric air is sucked across the
tunnel into a container brought to a
pressure below atmospheric before the
test.

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Subsonic or low speed wind tunnels

Fig. Subsonic
Wind Tunnel

Mach number, in fluid mechanics, ratio

of the velocity of a fluid to the velocity of
sound 20
•Maximum flow speed in this type of wind tunnels can be
135m/s.
•Flow speed in wind tunnels is generally preferred in terms
of Mach number which comes out to be around 0.4 for this
case.
• This type of wind tunnels are most cost effective due to the
simplicity of the design and low wind speed.
• Generally low speed wind tunnels are found in schools and
universities because of low budget.
•Transonic wind tunnels:
• Maximum velocity in test section of transonic wind
tunnels can reach up-to speed of sound i.e. 340m/s or
Mach number of 1.
• These wind tunnels are very common in aircraft industry 21
Fig. Transonic
Wind Tunnel
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• Supersonic wind tunnels:
• Velocity of air in test section of such wind tunnels can be up to
Mach 5 (1715m/s).
• This is accomplished using convergent - divergent nozzles.
• Power requirements for such wind tunnels are very high.

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 • Hypersonic wind tunnels:
•Wind velocity in test section of such type of wind tunnels can
measure between Mach 5 and Mach 15 (18522Km/hr).
•This is also achieved using convergent - divergent nozzles.

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 •Open circuit wind tunnel:
•This type of wind tunnel is open at both ends. The chances of dirt
particles entering with air are higher it is required to clean the air.
• Open type wind tunnels can further be divided into two
categories:
a) Suck down tunnel: The inlet open to atmosphere, axial fan or
centrifugal blower is installed after test section.
b) Blower tunnel: A blower is installed at the inlet of wind tunnel
which throws the air into wind tunnel. It is he most widely used
wind tunnel for its simplicity and cost benefits.
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Closed circuit wind tunnel:
• Outlet of such wind tunnel is connected to inlet so the same air
circulates in the system in a regulated way.
• The chances of dirt entering the system are also very low.
• Closed wind tunnels have more uniform flow than open type. This is
usually a choice for large wind tunnels as these are more costlier
than open type wind tunnels.

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AERODYNAMIC FORCES & MOMENTS:
The aerodynamic forces on a vehicle act at the Center of Pressure
and summarized as follows
• - Px: force of air drag in the direction of motion (longitudinal)
• - Py: side forces or cross wind forces (lateral)
• - Pz: aerodynamic lift forces ( vertical )
As these forces are not acting at center of gravity, they cause
moments as follows
• - Mx: rolling moment caused by force, Py about the X-axis
• - My: Pitching moment caused by forces, Pz about the Y-axis
• - Mz: Yawing moment caused by the force, Py about the Z – axis

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 Yawing Moment

Pitching Moments

Rolling Moment

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AERODYNAMIC FORCES & MOMENTS:
Drag force, Px • - The air flow over a vehicle is complex and the
aerodynamic drag is expressed by the semi - empirical equation to
represent the aerodynamic effect.
Lift force, Pz • The lift force is a result of the asymmetrical flow of air
above and below the vehicle. The lift force
affects the vehicle driving stability. The lift force is measured at the
centerline of the vehicle at the center of the wheel base.
Side Force, Py • The side force is formed by the asymmetric flow of
air around the body of the vehicle due to cross wind flow (forces).
The lateral wind components impose a side force on the vehicle to
change its direction .
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AERODYNAMIC FORCES & MOMENTS:
Rolling Moment : • The rolling moment acts about the longitudinal
( horizontal ) axis and is produced by the side wind forces. It has only
minor influence on vehicle stability depending on the suspension
system.
Pitching Moments • Pitching moment acts to transfer weight
between the front and rear axles.
Yawing Moment • The lateral force caused by a side wind does not
act at the mid- wheel base position. A side wind will produce a
Yawing moment tending to turn the vehicle away from the direction
of motion.

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 Side view Front view

PX = Force of air drag in the direction of motion with wind along

longitudinal axis.
PY = Side wind force or Cross-wind force.
PZ = Lift force.
MX = Rolling moment about longitudinal axis caused by the force PY.
MY = Pitching moment about lateral axis caused by force PZ.
MZ = Yawing moment about vertical axis caused by the force PY. 31
AERODYNAMIC FORCES & MOMENTS:
AERODYNAMIC LIFT, YAW & PITCHING MOMENT:
• Vertical component of the resultant of the pressure distribution results a Lift.
• Streamline body – higher velocity at the upper part & lower velocity below the vehicle.
• Aerodynamic lift is applied through the center of pressure of the body profile and,
since this point does not correspond with the centre of gravity, it creates a pitching
movement about the lateral axis.
• Influence of force Px on Pitching moment is usually small, as the vertical separation
between CG & CP is not great.
• Both Lift & Pitching moment have undesirable effects.
• Lift tend to reduce the pressure between wheels and ground.
1. Loss of steering on the front wheels
2. Loss of traction on the rear axle.
• Pitching moment is usually negative i.e nose down.
• Lift force on the rear axle lifts the rear axle off the ground which leads to further loss
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of traction.
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• Example 1
• The drag coefficient of a car at the design conditions of 1 atm, 25°C, and 90 km/h is to
be determined experimentally in a large wind tunnel in a full-scale test. The height and
width of the car are 1.40 m and 1.65 m, respectively. If the horizontal force acting on
the car is measured to be 300 N, determine the total drag coefficient of this car.

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 EFFECT OF VEHICLE PROFILE:

• Saloon cars can reach a value

•Three box construction has the of 100 kg, or 8 to 10 per cent of
greatest spread of lift coefficients the total weight.
(from 0.4 to 1.0) • Sports or racing cars the lift
• Flat fronted type of vehicle has the can reach values of 130 kg,
smallest range (0.15 to 0.55) which is 15 to 25 per cent of the
total weight. 35
 •Values of the cross wind coefficient CY are
shown in above fig 3. for different vehicle
body shapes. The lowest values of the cross
wind force coefficient are obtained with the
streamlined bodies of sports cars.
• Saloons, vans, the pseudo-aerodynamic
vehicles(styles with fore and aft projection
wings).
• And lastly, old models with box-like bodies
have increasingly large values.

Fig. 3
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 •Fig 4 gives values of Cmz Obtained from wind
tunnel tests. It is worthy of note that vehicle
bodies with good aerodynamic direct force
coefficients (low values of CX CY and CZ ) have
the largest values of Cmz.
•The vehicle with poor aerodynamic properties
will have a better( that is, lower) yawing moment
coefficient.
• A side wind will produce a yawing moment
tending to turn the vehicle away from the
direction of the motion.

Fig. 4
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• The use of stabilizers or fins at the rear of
the vehicle gives very good results. Without
a stabilizer (curve a) the vehicle is unstable.
• Single stabilizer (curve b) reduces the
yawing moment coefficient and, at large
crosswind angles, actually provides a stable
condition.
• The center of the aerodynamic forces is
usually above the center of gravity so that
the cross wind force PY will produce a
rolling moment Mx about longitudinal axis.
• Rolling moment generated by cross winds
has a sizeable effect on the weight
distribution on the wheels.

Fig. 5 38
VARIOUS OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUE FOR MINIMUM DRAG:
• Modification of Fore body
• Modification of Windshield
• Modification of Roof
• Modification of Vehicle rear end
• Add on device
• General Improvements
A: Modification of Fore body:
• Frontal shape is designated as “forebody”.
• A small correction on front edge alone reduced the drag marginally.
• The air dam area encircled as ‘A’ in the figure is the frontal area establishing stream
lines, particularly in underbody and wheel areas.
• A cleverly designed air dam at the front of the vehicle reduces the requirements of
ground clearance and limits the volumes of air passing under the body.
• The primary objective of modifications are to reduce pressure of air stream under
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the vehicle body. This greatly reduce the vortices and induced drag.
 A: Air dam, B: hood line, C & D: Pillars, E: Spoilers
B: Hood line
•It is the leading edge which disturbs the air stream and influence the profile drag. The
hood line and the shape of hood should guide the Streams without discontinuity over the
windscreen. The formation of vortices should also be avoided in this region.
C: Modification of Windshield:
Direct influence of Windshield inclination on drag is only moderate.
Windshield inclination of more than 60deg is not practical because of light diffusion.
Increased solar heating of the passenger compartment.
The inclination of the engine hood also has an effect upon the drag.
Once the slope is steep enough to keep the flow attached, further sloping does not reduce drag
any further.
The optimum slope angle α depends on the leading edge radius and on the windscreen rake. 40
 Figure shows the measurement made
on research automobiles.

• Flow separation occurs at the Cowl.

• Reattachment occurs at windshield.
• Point of separation S is displaced towards front.
• Point of reattachment towards rear when the windshield
angle γ becomes steeper.
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• C & D: Pillars
• As shown in the figure the shapes of the two extreme pillars
can be effectively applied for optimization of drag. By having a
slight convex profile from front to rear pillar the discontinuity
can be eliminated and with in the associated flow separation.
The perfectly smooth profile from windscreen to the pillars
would be compromised to some extent at the junctions of the
glass and the surrounding frames.

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Modification of Roof:
• Roofs are designed with convex shape to ensure rigidity for stylistic reasons it is kept
minimum.
• Increased convexity reduce drag co-efficient. However frontal area is increased which
increases drag.
• However original roof is kept constant, front & rear windows must be curved into the
roof for reducing drag co-efficient.

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Modification of Vehicle rear end:
• Pressure recovery is obtained by tapering the bottom upwards.
• Long diffuser gives notable reduction with reduced angle β.
• However smooth underside must be assured.
• Lift at the rear axle is also reduced by long diffuser.

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ADD ON DEVICE:
• When there is a gentle rear end body profile
curvature change, it will be accompanied with a
relatively fast but smooth streamline air flow over
this region which does not separate from the
upper surface. This results in lower local pressures
which tend to exert a lift force ( upward suction) at
the rear end of the car.
• A lip or small aerofoil spoiler attached to the rear
end of the car boot interrupts the smooth
streamline air flow thereby raising the upper
surface local air pressure which effectively increase
the downward force known as negative lift.
A typical relationship between rear lift, front lift
and drag coefficients relative to the spoiler lip
height is shown in graph.
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General Improvements:
1- Front spoiler, 2- Ducted engine cooling
3- Shrouded windshield wiper arms
4- Aerodynamic mirrors
5- Smooth windshield transitions
6- Smooth side window transitions
7- Smooth rear window transition
8- Optimized trunk corner radii
9- Optimized lower rear panel, 10 - Smooth fuel tank and underbody
11- Optimized rocker panels, 12- Flush wheel covers
13- Elimination of the rain gutter
• The spoilers and air foils on the rear check may serve several purposes. The rear spoilers,
which is attached either to the rear of the roof or the upper edge of the rear wings, has
the effect of increasing the pressure acting on the rear deck area.
• This increase in pressure acting on the rear deck creates a down force at the most
advantageous point as shown in the figure.
• The spoilers may also serve to stabilize the vortices in the separation flow, thus reducing
the aerodynamic buffeting. 46