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Arguments on this course are the basics of fluid dynamics knowledge useful to create, define aero
performance of a car, that after primary setting, must be evaluated, verified and optimized through:
Numerical simulation CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics), the only system that can help you
to design effective Aerodynamics as you want, because you can control any physical parameter in all
sections and modify it, to reach the desired effect.
SUBSTANTIALLY STREAMLINED
This was an
“important secret”
that Ferrari tried
to protect
declaring it as a
protection against
fuel dropping on
exhausts during
refuelling.
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When new elements are introduced in the project, these are only problem but slowly the concept
became familiar and new culture is born. We can think to USA style bumpers or recent concepts
concerning the safety for pedestrian. These concepts, in the first not admitted, now are became normal,
are optimized because all cars are designed with them.
Research sophistication and experience permit to
realize aerodynamic cars also without excessive
shapes because problems and critical parameters
are known: with small parts and appendices, it is
possible to turn into a good shape a shape
considered not good at the beginning.
The car, in normal conditions, is a moving object inside a fluid, the air.
This defines a number of reaction (forces) directed against the wind and vertically.
If you put your hand out of the window of the car you feel a force director rearward (drag)
and, if you incline the hand, you feel a force directed vertically (lift).
P = FD * V = ½ CD* S*V3*ρ
• Aerodynamic resistance
• Rolling resistance, directly linked to the
tires and weight
• Mechanical resistance, directly linked to
gearbox and differential
• Resistance to road inclination
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Lets’ check what is the fuel consumption and the top speed of both cars, 4.5 m length, 1600
kg weight, 150 Cv engines, 2.1 m2frontal area:
Car A CD = 0,35
Car B CD = 0,29
At 130 km/h, to win aerodynamic forces car A needs 28,3 Cv, car B needs only 23,5 Cv.
At 160 km/h, A needs 54,4 Cv and B only 45 Cv.
Car A could probably reach a top speed of 207 Km/h, car B could touch 225 Km/h. All these
results are “for free”, came all from the external shape.
Car A Car B GTC F1
CD = 0,35 CD = 0,29
Aero power
@130 km/h 28,3 Cv 23,5 Cv
Aero power @
200 km/h 102,9 Cv 85,3 Cv ≈140 Cv ≈180 Cv
The global efficiency is the ratio between the output power and what is putted in to the
engine (heat or fuel).Basically, only the ≈26% of the fuel power became moving power.
The Audi A2 (2001) has a good CD = 0,25. During this lessons we will understand the
reason of this good aero result. The selling were not really positive. There are many
reasons: too expensive, too small engines (probably linked to the really good aero result),
bad style (really important for Italian market).
The ability of designers, technical skills of a car manufacturer, have to mix to create a
good aero shape with a nice style.
Many Japanese & Corean Style center, now has this good mix and has been able to
cross these two needs.
They have Style Center in Europe or their Responsible for Styling is coming from Italy
Considering a parallelepiped, with “h” as the transversal dimension, air stream at V0along the
main direction. (There are a lot of similarities with a standard car).
If we change frontal radius the CD decrease if r/h rise, up to r/h=0,05 and after, CD rise again.
Why?
This relation is valid also for turbulent boundary layer. With this consideration:
We do not use any more the laminar viscosity (momentum exchanges at molecular level)
We will use turbulent viscosity(momentum exchanges at bigger level, like as vortex).
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From top view, with small radius Boundary layer after r is thick, and probably detached.
Speed gradient is low and the friction is low. The wake follows the same mechanism, if we
consider it as a static air “bubble” standing still in relation to the car. That it therefore comes
"sucked" little from the flow giving birth to a low depression on the "end." Being however
ample the mass of fluid interested in turbulent state, the general dissipation is high, and it is
high the Cd.
With big radius we find the opposite. The best compromise is with r/h around 0,05
A symmetric body, without friction dissipation and stream deflection has got Drag= 0 and
Downforce= 0 (D’Alambert paradox).
A symmetric body, with friction dissipation but without stream deflection has got Drag but
Downforce = 0.
The drag is QUANTITY OF MOTION(MOMENTUM) loss on time unit by the slower stream in
the wake.
From this synthesis, with the exception of really rare situations (F1, GTs, …) comes the rule to
design cars with minimum z force, to reduce inducted resistance.
Consequently the
steering wheel loose
sensitivity, that is no so
good
CD = 0,31
CL front = 0,02
CL rear = -0,03
CL front-rear ratio = 0,05
CL total = -0,01
Downforce on back wing at 310 km/h =
273 N
Underbody area= 3,1 m2
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All “Best Practices” exist in this car to reach a fantastic CD = 0,26
This is a consequence of relationship between flow and pressure in a general fluid dynamic contest.
Bernoulli published in 1738 the equation that will perpetuate his name, based on energy conservation:
Aerodynamic teach that (out of boundary layer) a stream that touches a convex shape, nearby the body has
got an higher speed in comparison to the speed far from the body. Bernoulli principle tells us that situation
has got a lower local pressure
If the flow velocity is forced to increase, the local static pressure must decrease
First situation, constant external speed and constant pressure: the thickness of
boundary layer increases, but speed profile remain similar along the body:
The motion is LAMINAR: all the particles within a parcel of air, are moving in the
same direction as the average air velocity, and “streamlines” traced by the particles
are parallel. The boundary layer thickens along a body.
The air particles trace out erratic, non-parallel paths, even though the average velocity
may be of the same magnitude and direction as in the laminar case: the flow is said to
be TURBOLENT
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These two type of airflow, may be
visualized shortly after extinguishing a
candle.
The smoke just above the
smouldering wick, may be seen to rise
in more or less straight streamlines,
and exhibits LAMINAR flow.
As the smoke rises further, it starts to
mix and swirl and streamlines aren’t
parallel. The flow has become
TURBULENT
If the velocity differencies between the sub-layers that make up the boundary layer are
small, they will slide over each other with little interaction, so giving a laminar boundary
layer.
But as energy is removed from the flow by viscous effect within the boundary layer, the
flow within it starts to became more random and the transition to turbulent flow takes
place even over a smooth body surface
How thick is boundary layer? Typically, but depends on the distance along the body and flow
speed, may start as laminar and a few millimeters thick at the front of vehicle, gradually
becoming turbulent and thickening to perhaps a few centimeters at the rear of the car
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PRESSURE
GRADIENTS
RED = HIGH PS
BLUE = LOW PS
The airflow that encounters an unfavorable pressure gradient, it will go if has sufficient
kinetic energy (which is related to the square of its velocity) and if the pressure gradient is
not too step.
If one or both of these condition is not met, then the airflow may not be able to remain
attached to the surface, in which event the flow is said to separate.
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This can happen with a wing, for example, if the velocity is too low, ( named as “tired flow”,
“flusso stanco”) or if the angle of attack is set too step. In either case the airflow separates
at some point along the lower surface, and in the worst case the flow can totally separate, a
condition known as stall
Indeed, as seen, the flow immediately adjacent to the body surface actually reverses
direction to form a recirculating ”separation bubble”
Areas after convex surface are always places where could be present separation, since it is
more intense than the pressure increases, or slowing the speed along the wall. Wall areas
downstream of convex curves are always at risk of separation. Or, at least, a thickening of
boundary layer. Remember Povloski?
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Hard bent = high speed
with a strong deceleration.
Thick boundary layer with
strong aim to separation
∆P/ q∞ = Cp = 1 – (V/V∞)2
Negative Cp values are indicating that local velocity has been increased quite considerably
over the free stream velocity. For example, in a competitive car, into under body to create
downforce, it needs depression (downforce being equal to depression multiplied by area)
and to create depression will need to accelerate local velocity:
The ground effect is a modification to the aerodynamic stream around a body, moving close to the
track and to the variation to aerodynamic forces linked to the stream itself.
The GROUND EFFECT alone actually add lift and only with modifications and shapes it is possible to
invert the forces and induce downforce.
A symmetric body moving on to a fluid, produces a symmetric stream, no lift but only drag.
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Once moved near to the track,
aerodynamic field is modified and
become not symmetrical: a fraction
of fluid pass above the body with
higher speed then lower pressure;
A certain reduction in drag could be achieved making the body not-symmetrical with rounded
the middle line, to re-align “stop points” to make them coincident to inlet and outlet
perimeter.
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Ground effect (an airplane flying very close to the sea surface)
tipically is:
The Tube is crossed by a mass flow defined by the exit area, with the speed V2 almost
identical to Vo.
It is clear that due to the inferior inlet section, V1 will be higher than the outer speed (V0) and
the pressure will be LOWER.
Inside the Venturi, were all speeds are higher than outside, there is generally a lower
pressure than outside.
Inside the Venturi, were all speeds are higher than outside, there is generally a lower pressure than
outside.
VENTURI
TUBE
The base
philosophy is
always the same:
create downforce
with the minimum
of drag, in order to
reach the
maximum global
efficiency .
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No one control under body depression
It is interesting to
understand
conceptual Side – Skirt, which prevent outside air from
evolutions of race interfering with air passing beneath the car and thus
spoiling the effect. The side-skirt locked sideways of
cars designers, the flow of air and maintained the side pods under
high depressure
also after rules
variation, that
defined the
Flat – bottom, with ground clearance very short: the
aerodynamic flat bottom was nuts, very near to the ground
morphology of
body work.
Sharp edges, in order to have a flow detachment and
vortex creation, which was functioning as a
aerodynamic side-skirt
•4702mm 2650mm
•V12 5999
•660cv a 7800rpm
•657Nm a 5500rpm
•3”.65 350 km/h
Downforce
-75kg at 150 km/h
-300kg at 320km/h
Suction pump
Project 141XX
February 2009
DOWNFORCE +12% AERODYNAMICS
15/03/2015 03 2015EFFICIENCY
AERODYNAMICS cap 1+15% Property of Ferrari S.p.A. 115
Electro fans the two aspiring from the downside Venturi 17°, in order to maintain the
stream attached and throw from the rear lights, energizing the wake
style as a
dialectical
interaction
between
aerodynamic
and
performance
the lowest
understeer
gradient
AS WELL AS EVERY FERRARI CAR, THE DEFINITION OF LINES AND VOLUMES IS THE RESULT OF AN INTEGRATION BETWEEN
AERODYNAMIC AND STYLE. THE 458 DESIGN, MADE BY PININFARINA, IS BASED ON A COMPACT FORM AND SLEEK,
EXPRESSION
15/03/2015 OF ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS, EFFICIENCY
03 2015AND LIGHTNESScap
AERODYNAMICS THAT
1 INSPIRED ALL PROJECT 128
• Cd = 0,33
• CL = -0,36
• EA = 1,091
• -140kg at 200 km/h
15/03/2015 03 2015 AERODYNAMICS cap 1 • -360kg at 129
325 km/h
Today the actual F12 Berlinetta
(2012) reaches the best Efficiency
never seen before for GT, very low
CD and a very good Download.
Aero resistance is just one of the resistance that are against motion on a car. There is the rolling
resistance and the transmission resistance, for example.
Generally speaking, resistance is a function of speed: this is the law we want to define.
The car launched to a certain speed is considered and then quickly in Neutral. Trhe car will decelerate
according to the fundamental law of Newton
(Mv + Mer) dV/dT = –R(V)
Mv is translating mass, Mer is the wheel mass and other rotating masses.
We can measure the resistance law if we put in neutral the car from the top speed until the stop. We
can measure the deceleration law with different methods.
R(V) = K1 + K2 V2
K2 V2
CD CL Efficiency CL/CD