Improvement on Aerodynamic Characteristics and Drag Reduction for Supermileage Cars with Wide View Field

Abstract:

Aerodynamic characteristics of three supermileage car chassis with new design concepts for improving the driver’s view field and driving comfort is investigated and compared with that of one with traditional low-height design. New car shapes with shorter axle distance and higher center of gravity are created. Feasibility of the new design is verified from the aspects of rollover safety, due to the maximum crosswind speed of 40 km/h, and the drag coefficient at straight driving up to 40 km/h. The analytical verification is conducted with a commercial CFD software. Comparing to the traditional design, the analysis shows that it is possible to obtain a lower drag coefficient and lower total drag, while rollover safety is still guaranteed, for a supermileage car with wider view field and taller appearance. Reduction of the form drag is intimately related to the decrease of velocity curl in the flow direction and the size of the vortices in the wake. Results of this study can provide new concepts that are different from those used in the past for the development of supermileage cars.

• Periodical: Defect and Diffusion Forum (Volume 366)
• Pages: 47-62
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/DDF.366.47
• Online since: April 2016
• Authors: Pey Shey Wu, Min Jho Young, Jun Yun Wu, Chia Chian Wang, Hao Yu Hu, Chih Fei Chang
• Keywords: Aerodynamic, Drag, Rollover Safety, Supermileage Car, Vortices

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DOI: 10.4271/2005-01-0604