EVALUATION AND IMPROVING THE AERODYNAMICS OF THE COMMERCIAL VAN

Abstract

The aerodynamic evaluation of vehicles body structure represents a significant stage in a car body design, having a considerable implication in fuel reduction and an increased vehicle stability on the road. The aim of this paper is to determine the aerodynamic coefficient, illustrating the airflow streamlines around the body of a VAN and reducing the aerodynamic coefficient by adding air deflectors to the vehicle body structure. The starting point of the CFD aerodynamic study is represented by the determination of the air flow regime around the vehicle body, followed by the determination of the aerodynamic coefficient and the lift coefficient for the base model of the vehicle. In the second stage the reduction of the aerodynamic coefficient is done by adding the air deflectors in the rear side of the vehicle. The aerodynamic study is performed for each vehicle model separately, resulting three simulation cases at a 25, 35 and 45 m/s velocity. The last part of the paper presents the conclusions of the obtained results and the strong and weakness points by using the CFD simulation in vehicles aerodynamics evaluation.

Keywords

• CFD simulation
• drag coefficient
• drag force
• Reynolds number
• turbulent flow