Abstract Drag and its coefficient can be calculated by means of

virtual environmental simulation with the help of wind tunnel or through computer software. The use of computer software makes it possible to be in time and cost savings. Numerical methods for doing this can be the fluid flow by a two dimensional or three-dimensional model of the vehicle structure to be resolved. This paper has tried to use the ANSYS !" and the e#uations governing fluid flow combined with standard model solved by using the appropriate boundary conditions. The study results of the aerodynamic analysis of the air flow$ pressure distribution and drag force on the vehicle. !ew design modifications in the form of attachable accessories have been suggested in order to reduce the drag coefficient. These modifications have shown a drag reduction of %&.'() at a speed of *+ km,h with the drag coefficient reduced to +.--* from +.-.'$ thereby reducing the fuel consumption by about appro/imately %&.'()$ which means$ there is a saving of '.%&0 of petrol for every full tank refill. These observations are validated using wind tunnel testing on a %1'2 scaled model using momentum deficit method.

have achieved a red"ction in the val"e of dra$ co2efficient .lso the improvement in f"el economy and power cons"mption has been reported Nicodem"s 9a"l >'? st"died the aerodynamic behavio"r of Toyota !e%"oia, one of the lar$est sport "tility vehicles in prod"ction today :ar after bein$ modelled to ma3im"m dimension had its sim"lation completed thro"$h .N!8! :(1 $eneral p"rpose fl"id mechanics software -ith initial sim"lation that res"lted in appro3imately fo"r tho"sand nodes 5coarse mesh6 vector plot of velocity in the wa0e re$ion and t"rb"lence 0inetic ener$y plot was obtained and the co2 efficient of dra$ was calc"lated The mesh was refined 5appro3imately &0000 nodes6 and the same parameters were analysed The a"thor after comparison of the obtained res"lts concl"ded that dra$ coefficient obtained on the fine mesh is si$nificantly lower than that obtained on the coarse mesh '"stin )orden >-? investi$ated the acc"racy of comp"tational fl"id dynamics when st"dyin$ e3ternal flows aro"nd open wheel race vehicles, by eval"atin$ the achievable acc"racy when compared to validation e3periments ;alidation was performed a$ainst f"ll scale wind t"nnel res"lts and data collected from trac0 testin$ Tests provided eno"$h information to determine the optim"m t"rb"lence model in this sit"ation to be the <2ome$a model ) ) Islam and ) )am"n >&? st"died the aerodynamic behavio"r of a $enerali7ed car body ."to :.= model was imported to >ambit 5;ersion 2 3 &?6 and after meshin$ (l"ent 5;ersion ? 2 &?6 is "sed to solve the e3ported problem and 02@ t"rb"lence model was chosen .ir velocity and flow pattern were investi$ated aro"nd the different re$ions of the car2 windshield, hood, b"mper, radiator, roof etc !im"lation was done for different air velocity and the val"e of dra$ force is obtained for each velocity Theoretical val"es were validated by wind t"nnel test "sin$ press"re tappin$s and pitot t"bes on a &:&* model of the vehicle .ni0et . <"l0arni, ! ; !atish and ; !aravanan >2? .nalysed the flow pattern of a convertible for two desi$ns i e with roof closed and with roof open !edan models were created "sin$ ."todes0 Inventor software, mesh $eneration was done "sin$ >ambit and finally processed in (l"ent "sin$ 02@ t"rb"lence model ;elocity conto"r and press"re conto"r were obtained for both the cases and the dra$ co2efficient as fo"nd o"t The a"thors reported that the val"e of dra$ co2efficient for convertible with roof open is hi$her than that for the convertible with the roof closed 9ramod Nari <rishnani >*? investi$ated the phenomenon called the A!eparationA of fl"id flow which "s"ally occ"rred at the rear of a vehicle for a !B; model Ces"lts were validated "sin$ 2AD2A wind t"nnel on a &E&2 scaled model 43ternal device called tail boats were accommodated The a"thor concl"ded that an$le val"e of &0F is the optim"m an$le of "pper and lower boat tail plate for red"cin$ dra$ of the complete !B; model by 0eepin$ their len$ths constant

3eywords:

Automotive Aerodynamics4 Drag oefficient4 !uel onsumption4 Numerical Analysis4 Drag pressure4 5ind Tunnel Techni#ues$ 6omentum Deficit 6ethod$ !orce 7alance 6ethod

8NT9:D; T8:N

ata Nano was envisioned in 2003 to become a peoples

car, that is affordable by everybody, mainly the city dwellers of India !ince its deb"t in 200#, the sales of Tata Nano have $one down tremendo"sly In the first %"arter of 20&3, n"mber of vehicles sold in the months of 'an"ary, (ebr"ary and )arch were &*0+, &*0* and &*0, "nits, respectively -hen it was first conceived, a tar$et price of &00,000 r"pees was established b"t it crept "p to abo"t &+2,000 r"pees in very short time d"e to a steep increase in price of raw materials and inp"t costs .dded to this, the soarin$ f"el prices, its no lon$er an easily affordable car !t"dies have shown that &* percenta$e of the f"el in a vehicle is "sed to overcome mechanical friction in the en$ine, +* percenta$e of the f"el is "sed to overcome the rollin$ resistance and dra$ is responsible for the remainin$ +0percenta$e . car with low dra$ force enco"nters lesser friction than a car with hi$her dra$ force /ence, a smaller en$ine is re%"ired to drive s"ch a car which event"ally lowers the f"el cons"mption In this paper we foc"ssed on red"cin$ the overall dra$ force on the vehicle, and thereby brin$in$ down the f"el cons"mption, hence ma0in$ the Tata Nano a$ain a favo"rite amon$ the Indian masses

08T<9AT;9< 9<=8<5 1"23ia /" and 4ric T T -on$ >%? st"died the effect of accommodatin$ a new rear spoiler on a passen$er vehicle 5car body6 The a"thors have bro"$ht abo"t a comparison for the two desi$n cases vi7 witho"t the rear spoiler and with rear spoiler The flow pattern for both cases has been analysed thro"$h .N!8! -ith the desi$n modification the a"thors

:7@< T8=< To perform e3ternal aerodynamic analysis of Tata Nano "sin$ n"merical analysis G wind t"nnel techni%"e in order to improve the vehicle aerodynamics and overall performance of the vehicle /ence red"ce :oefficient of dra$ 5: d6 and improve the performance and efficiency of the vehicle 6<TA:D0:BY The proHect was carried o"t into the followin$ parts:2 The profile of Tata Nano has been modelled "sin$ :.= software :.TI. ;* 5!caled same as that of the 9rototype6 .nalysis "sin$ .N!8! ;&3 s"bHected to similar bo"ndary conditions as that of the e3perimental analysis of the prototype 43perimental analysis of aerodynamic properties "sin$ wind t"nnel sim"lation on the developed prototype model of Tata Nano 5&:2* scale6 and record the val"es of associated parameters ;erify the val"es obtained from the e3periment and that of n"merical analysis "sin$ softwares with ne$li$ible difference )odify the c"rrent profile of Tata Nano "sin$ software to improve aerodynamic properties of the vehicle :omparison of aerodynamic properties and performance of the vehicle was done by the addition of spoilers, air dam, rear screen and witho"t these accessories (inally mathematical sim"lation has been done over the improvement in f"el efficiency and red"ction in horsepower re%"irement NB)4CI:.I !I)BI.TIJN In the desi$n of $ro"nd and aerial vehicles, an "nderstandin$ of flow behavio"r is critical .rmed with this 0nowled$e, en$ineers can optimi7e their performance and streamline the bodies to increase efficiency This information may be obtained e3perimentally, analytically or n"merically Thro"$h wind t"nnel testin$, en$ineers can obtain realistic aerodynamic data and this has been dealt in detail in the later part of the report N"merical sim"lation, while only an appro3imation, provides the best compromise between cost and acc"racy .nalysis of the flow over a"tomobiles "sin$ :(= was initially introd"ced in (& racin$ event which helped in modifyin$ the desi$n of the racin$ cars to $et the ma3im"m down force and least possible dra$ Iater this method of analysis was "sed in different se$ments of cars to optimi7e the desi$n, so that, improvement in the f"el2efficiency and other performance parameters was achieved In a modern vehicle, the overall shape contrib"tes to +*K of dra$ while the shares of wheels, their arran$ement, the bottom, and its desi$n details, are 30K and 2*K, respectively 6esh Specification The meshin$ was done "sin$ .N!8! -or0bench The mesh specifications are disc"ssed below The mesh type was tetrahedral with a total of &&+#L2? tetrahedral elements The sol"tion was calc"lated "sin$ fine mesh res"ltin$ in 20L0,# nodes The domain si7e of the bo"ndary is ten times the si7e of the car dimensions (i$"res M&N and M2N ill"strate the mesh "sed for the analysis 7oundary onditions The wor0in$ fl"id was specified as air 5ideal $as6 at 2* F: and &0* 9a !teady state flow model was imposed The flow of air aro"nd the car is ta0en to be as ?0 0mEh 5&? ?, mEs6 The t"rb"lence intensity on the inlets was chosen as medi"m t"rb"lence case with *K intensity

!igure %1 6esh near the car Surface

!igure '1 Coomed in view of the car within the domain I)9CJ;I!.TIJN The vario"s desi$n modifications that were analy7ed are as below Air dam .n air dam red"ces the air2flow below the vehicle while creatin$ an additional down force at the top . well2desi$ned front air dam will 0eep the nose steady and pointed at the

$ro"nd in hi$h speed drivin$ This wo"ld $ive the driver more confidence to control the vehicle in s"stained hi$h speed drivin$ environments In the world of racin$, an increment of a difference in aerodynamic t"nin$ can spell the difference between victory and defeat

!igure 21 Dressure contour for car with rear protrusion 9ear screen !igure -1 Airflow around the car with the air dam This desi$n res"lted in a more streamlined flow of air "nderneath the vehicle, b"t it increased the dra$ force to &?0 3*& N .nother conHect"re drawn was that the maHority of the dra$ force on the vehicle wo"ld be d"e to the wa0e re$ion behind the car and not mainly d"e to frontal air impact 9ear spoiler =ra$ is air p"shin$ a$ainst the vehicle as it moves The faster the vehicle moves, the more dra$, which re%"ires more power and f"el to maintain the speed . spoilers p"rpose is to red"ce dra$ .ny added s"rface in airflow adds to the dra$ /owever, $ood spoiler desi$ns can red"ce the overall dra$ of yo"r vehicle /ence, the p"rpose of an a"tomotive spoiler is to disr"pt, or spoil, the airflow over the car to improve performance This desi$n red"ced the dra$ force to &++ 322N The best desi$n modification came in the form of a rear screen The screen was *mm in thic0ness and different distances from the car rear were analysed

!igure *1 Dressure distribution with rear screen

!igure E1 =elocity streamline with rear screen !igure &1 Airflow with rear spoiler installed 9ear protrusion . rear protr"sion was desi$ned as shown in the fi$"re M*N The e3pected effect of aerodynamic dra$ red"cin$ is achieved for the sa0e of vorte3 that ori$inates between vehicle models rear wall and screenO the vorte3 enables no2separation flow of e3ternal air fl"3 This res"lts in bottom trace narrowin$ and th"s red"cin$ of base dra$ for the sa0e of press"re increase

C4!BIT! .N= =I!:B!!IJN Ceynolds .vera$ed Navier2sto0es e%"ations have been employed for n"merical sim"lations to estimate the variation in dra$ data on different desi$n of the vehicle The n"merical sim"lation reports the dra$ val"e of &+, 3L N (inally the dra$ co2efficient is calc"lated as 0 3#2 In this paper the comp"tational res"lts for the two of the below mentioned cases are presented: :ase I: res"lts for the car model witho"t the rear screen :ase II: res"lts for the car model with the rear screen =ra$ co2efficient for the above two cases and the red"ction rate are presented in the table below: Table %1 9eduction rate of drag co-efficient with improvisation :ase )odel I )odel II =ra$ :o2efficient 0 3#2 0 33? Ced"ction Cate &+ 2LK

:JN:IB!IJN :omp"tation of dra$ force over the modified model showin$ dra$ red"ction of &+ 2LK at a speed of ?0 0mEh with the dra$ coefficient red"ced to 0 33? from 0 3#2, thereby red"cin$ the f"el cons"mption by abo"t appro3imately &+ 2LK, which means, there is a savin$ of 2 &+I of petrol for every f"ll tan0 refill and observations are validated "sin$ wind t"nnel testin$ on a &:2* scaled model "sin$ moment"m deficit method

C4(4C4N:4!

M&N 1"23ia /", 4ric T T -on$, R. N"merical !t"dy Jn Cear2spoiler Jf 9assen$er ;ehicleS, -orld .cademy of !cience, 4n$ineerin$ and Technolo$y, 20&& M2N Nicodem"s 9a"l,R(low aro"nd an arbitrary bodyS, .pril 20&&, Bniversity of .lberta M3N '"stin )orden, R.erodynamic analysis and testin$ of a (orm"la Cena"lt race vehicle "sin$ analytical and comp"tational methods validated by real world test dataS, !wansea )etropolitan Bniversity M+N ) ) Islam and ) )am"n R:omp"tational dra$ analysis over a car bodyS, 9roceedin$s of ).CT4: 20&0, The International :onference on )arine Technolo$y, =ecember 20&0, QB4T, =ha0a, Qan$ladesh M*N .ni0et . <"l0arni, ! ; !atish and ; !aravanan, R.nsys of flow of convertibleS :omp"ter2.ided =esi$n G .pplications, 9.:4 526, 20&2 M?N 9ramod Nari <rishnani, Q ! ,S:(= st"dy of dra$ red"ction of a $eneric !port Btility ;ehicleS, )"mbai Bniversity, )"mbai, India 200? M,N -olf2/einrich /"cho, R.erodynamics of road vehiclesS, I; edition, 9"blished Qy: !.4 International 9"blished: (ebr"ary &##L

:onsiderin$ the fact that as m"ch as ?* K of the power re%"ired for $ro"nd vehicles to travel on a hi$hway at ?0 0mEhr is cons"med to overcome the aerodynamic dra$, the power cons"mption is $iven by

(d

: P . ;3 ; = d 0 ?* &3

The relation between the power and f"el economy is

<)I =

&3 Q!(: : d P . ; 2

("el economy is the distance travelled per "nit vol"me of f"el "sed and "nit is 0ilometres per litre 50mEI6 Q!(: is an inde3 of f"el efficiency The hi$her the val"e, the more economical the vehicle is (or both the cases as the car r"ns at constant speed 5?0 0mEhr6 and ass"min$ steady flow, e3pression 5+ 26 can be appro3imated to

<)I

&3 :d

.s per the above appro3imation the followin$ val"es as presented in Table ' were obtained for the f"el economy for the two cases, with a red"ction of &+ 2LK Table '1 Dower onsumption for different cases )odel 9ower :ons"mption <)I 50-6 :ase I 3 ,,? 3 3&? :ase II 3 23, 3 L?#