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2003-01-0995
Aerodynamic Drag Reduction for a Simple Bluff Body
Using Base Bleed
Copyright © 2003 SAE International

ABSTRACT
Wind tunnel tests have been conducted on a simple bluff
body model, representing a car like shape, to investigate
drag reduction opportunities from injecting low velocity
air into the base region. This flow is known as base
bleed. Most tests have been carried out using a square
back shape. The effects of flow rate, porosity and
porosity distribution over the base area have been
investigated. In all cases drag is reduced with increasing
bleed rate, but the optimum porosity is a function of
bleed rate. A significant part of the drag reduction occurs
without the bleed flow and arises from the presence of a
cavity in the model. The effects of cavity size are
examined for different base configurations. Some factors
affecting implementation are considered.
INTRODUCTION
Environmental concerns are encouraging vehicle
manufacturers to continue exploring novel techniques for
drag reduction. While there are few completely new
ideas, it can sometimes be appropriate to reinvestigate
earlier schemes that never materialised. Base bleed, or
base injection, probably fits this category.
Base bleed has been extensively investigated for missile
aerodynamics and Sykes (1) with experience from that
background first investigated the potential application to
cars. Drag benefits were deduced from the mean base
pressure measurements, which could be reduced by up
to 30%. Przirimbel (2) investigated alternative base
injection and suction strategies on an axisymmetric
shape and found base pressures reduced by half for a
fully distributed base flow.
Kohri, (3), has tested a simple body with base bleed
generated by flow ducted through the centre of the model
from the nose (a similar concept to that used by Sykes)
and again calculated drag reduction from base pressure
changes. No model details were presented.
Jeff Howell and Andrew Sheppard
Land Rover
Alex Blakemore
Loughborough University
A low drag car has recently been developed at Cranfield
University, which employs base bleed via a rear mounted
cooling system into a truncated streamlined tail. Nijhof
(4) has reported drag measurements obtained with a
quarter scale model using compressed air piped into the
model to simulate the base flow. Substantial drag
reduction was found using high flow rates.
It has been recognised from the earliest studies that the
benefits would only be meaningful if the bleed flow,
which requires energy to generate, was needed for some
other function. One candidate function, as in the
Cranfield project, is engine cooling. This principle was
incorporated by the senior author (JH, (5)) into the
design of a Clubmans formula racing car in the early
70’s, with a radiator in the base fed by air from a surface
duct in the vehicle floorpan, although the benefits were
never measured. The Ford Probe IV Concept car which
had a drag coefficient of only 0.15 had aft radiator and
condenser located in the rear bodysides and cooled by
fans drawing air across the heat exchangers and
exhausting into the wake, (6). A negative cooling drag
was achieved with the fans running. Mazda built an
experimental car (7), which exploited the benefits
discussed in (3). A more recent low drag car, the Precept
(8), built by GM for the PNGV programme also used a
radiator installation at the rear.
Associated studies of base flow manipulation using air
injection have been investigated. Morelli (9) used a novel
rear-wheel hub pump to locally energise the separating
shear layers behind the wheels of a hatchback car and
generate a substantial drag reduction. Englar (10) has
reported extensively on the aerodynamic benefits of
‘Pneumatic Techniques’. Large drag reductions were
demonstrated on small scale truck models from the use
of blowing slots at the trailer trailing edges. The
reductions were shown to be useful even when the
power requirements for injection were included.
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EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP The base bleed flow is generated from an external

MODEL
The model is shown in Figure 1. It has been in use by
Rover (including Land Rover) for many years for basic
aerodynamic studies such as effects of rear end shape,
ground simulation etc. The interchangeable rear allows a
wide range of lift and drag characteristics and wake
structures to be evaluated. The model, which has the
dimensions of a 1/4 scale small hatchback, is connected
to an underfloor balance via four thin legs in the position
of the wheels.
compressed air supply. This is fed from below the model
along one of the front mounting legs into a plenum
chamber in the middle of the model, as sketched in
Figure 2. Flow rate has been measured using a vane
anemometer mounted in the plenum outlet hole. The
maximum flow rate available was 10 litres/s. Three
perforated plates inside the model act to provide a
uniform distribution of air to the rear section of the
model. The base flow exits through perforated plastic
sheets of varying porosity and covering 86% of the base
area (i.e. all but the 12mm wall thickness of the model).
Two standard porosities, 33% and 68% were tested. The
hole sizes for these porosities were 3mm and 8mm
respectively. The other porosities and the porosity
distribution were varied using tape. Various
configurations of base bleed are shown in Figure 3.

(a) (b)

Figure 1. Simple Bluff Body Shape.

(c) (d)

The principal model dimensions are:

Length 1.045 m (e) (f)

Width 0.390 m
Height 0.290 m Figure 3. Schematic of base bleed configurations. (a) Full,
2
Frontal Area 0.112 m (b) Peripheral, (c) Central, (d) Sides, (e) Top, (f) Bottom.

All leading edges are rounded with a radius of 0.050m

except for the roof leading edge, which has a radius of
0.20m. The longitudinal and trailing edges are sharp.
The ground clearance was always set at 0.050m. All
measurements reported here, (with one exception), were
carried out using the model fitted with a squareback rear
end.
WIND TUNNEL
All testing was performed in the MIRA Model Wind
Tunnel (MWT). This tunnel is an open jet open return
facility. The nozzle size is 2m x 1m and the working
2
section is 4.0m long. The model frontal area of 0.112 m
gives a solid blockage of 6%.

The tunnel was run at a nominal 27m/s. The velocity

distribution over the volume occupied by the model is
within 1% and the turbulence intensity at the model
location is 1.2%. A general view of the squareback
model in the wind tunnel is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 2. Internal Layout of Model.

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0.27

CD

0.26

0.25

no bleed
w ith bleed Bleed Area Ratio

Figure 4. Model installed in MIRA MWT. 0.24

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

A moving belt can be installed, but for all the tests

reported here the fixed ground was used. The model was
mounted to an underfloor 6-component balance via four
legs resting on 7mm diameter pins protruding through
the tunnel floor. Only drag measurements were taken as
the compressed air supply interfered with the lift balance
frame flexures.
RESULTS
INITIAL EXPERIMENT
For the first experiment the model was set up in the
squareback configuration with a base porosity of 33%
over the maximum available base area. Flow rate was
varied up to the maximum of approximately 10 litres/s.
The results are shown in Figure 5. Drag reduces linearly
with flow rate and at maximum flow rate the total drag
reduction is approximately ∆CD = -0.02, but surprisingly
the zero flow rate shows a drag reduction of
approximately half this. Two widely spaced experiments
demonstrate the level of repeatability.
Figure 6. Effect of Bleed and Bleed Area on Drag Coefficient.
Squareback Model, 33% Porosity, Peripheral Bleed Configuration.
With the flow rate set at 4 litres/s the drag was measured
for the same configuration but with sections of the base
area taped over to restrict the bleed area. The body drag
coefficient is shown as a function of the bleed area in
Figure 6 for the peripheral bleed case, where the
blanked central rectangular area is progressively
reduced in size from a fully blanked to a completely
perforated base area. In Figure 7 different sections of the
perforated base area are exposed to form the bleed
configurations shown in Figure 3(c) to (f).
Central
0.27 Sides
Top
Bottom
CD

0 2 4 6 8 10
0.00
Bleed Rate (litres/s) Nov 0.26
Jan
-0.01

-0.02
Bleed Area Ratio
delta CD 0.25
0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30
-0.03

Figure 7. Effect of Bleed Configuration and Area on Drag Coefficient.

Figure 5. Effect of Bleed Rate on Incremental Drag Coefficient. Squareback Model, 33% Porosity, Flow Rate – 4litres/s.
Squareback Model, 33% Porosity, Full Base Bleed.
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The central bleed case is seen to generate a negligible
drag reduction. Note that the open area, in these cases,
is one third of the bleed area.
EFFECT OF POROSITY
The effect of base porosity on drag reduction as a
function of bleed rates is shown in Figure 8. In all cases
the drag reduces linearly with bleed rate but the rate of
change is variable. The different porosities were
achieved by taping over standard perforated sheets with
porosities of 33% or 68%. For example 16.5% porosity
was obtained by blanking alternate columns of
perforations in the 33% porous base, and 51% porosity
by blanking every fourth column of the 68% porous base.
No discernable difference was seen from blanking rows
rather than columns of perforations. The lowest
measured drag is achieved with porosities of 51% and
68% at all flow rates. No attempt was made to see if an
intermediate porosity would provide a drag minimum.
Bleed velocities are in all cases very small. For the
model with 33% porosity over the full base area at the
maximum flow rate of 10 litres/s and assuming for
simplicity a uniform bleed distribution the bleed velocity
through the perforations is only 0.03 m/s.
The drag reduction at zero flow rate is again significant
and varies with porosity. The lowest measured drag is
obtained with porosities of 51% and 68%.
0.27
CD
0.26
0.25
0.24
Bleed Rate (litres/s)
0.23
0 2 4 6
Figure 8. Effect of Porosity on Drag Coefficient for Various Bleed
Rates. Squareback Model. Full Bleed Area.
EFFECT OF REYNOLDS NUMBER
The tunnel speed was reduced to assess the effects of
Reynolds Number, while at the same time allowing an
increase in the ratio of bleed flow to freestream velocity.
The drag coefficient for the baseline vehicle with a solid
base is slightly dependent on Reynolds Number.
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
0
Cm
15m/s
20m/s
25m/s
-0.01
30m/s
delta CD
-0.02
Figure 9. Drag Reduction as a Function of Bleed Mass Flow
Coefficient. Squareback Model. Full Bleed Area.
33% Porosity.
Base
16.5%
33%
51%
68% The reduction in drag coefficient for the porous base, but
100% without bleed flow, was also found to be sensitive to
Reynolds Number. As the wind tunnel velocity was
reduced the drag reduction increased. For the
squareback body with 33% base porosity a reduction in
6 6
the Reynolds Number from Re = 2.2 x 10 to 1.1 x 10 ,
where Re is based on model length and freestream
velocity, increased the drag benefit for the porous base
from ∆CD = 0.012 to 0.015. Considerably larger changes
were found for other porosities.
The effect of bleed rate on the reduction in drag
coefficient is shown in Figure 9 for a range of wind tunnel
velocities. The base porosity is 33%. The drag change is
relative to the drag coefficient obtained with zero base
bleed. The bleed rate is presented in non-
dimensionalised form as the bleed mass flow coefficient,
Cm as defined in the Discussion section. With lower
freestream velocity the bleed mass flow coefficient is
increased. The maximum bleed rate at all wind tunnel
speeds corresponds to approximately 10 litres/s. While
8 10 the accuracy of the wind tunnel balance reduces at lower
wind speeds there is a clear trend showing an increased
drag reduction as bleed mass flow is increased. Similar
trends were found for other porosities.
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EFFECT OF CAVITY DEPTH

Solid 0° Porous
A significant part of the drag reduction arises from the
cavity itself. In the bleed experiments the cavity depth,
from trailing edge to bulkhead, is approximately 400mm,
although within that length are three dense screens. Porous 0° Open
Previous study of a base cavity in a square section
simple body (10) showed that the base pressure
increased with cavity depth up to 80% of body Open 10° Porous
width/height. Almost 90% of this drag reduction was
achieved with a cavity having half the depth.

Cavity depth was varied up to 150 mm, corresponding to 10° Open

a normalised depth of 0.45, where the reference
1/2
dimension is taken to be A and A is the model frontal
area. The results are shown in Figure 10 for solid, Figure 11. Schematic of Model Base Configurations.
perforated and open back ends, as sketched in the left
side of Figure 11. The porosities of the perforated backs
were 33% and 68%. The minimum drag is achieved with
a fully open back, which conflicts with the results for the
much deeper cavity. The cavity depth for minimum drag The results are shown in Figure 12. The cavity height
with all backs occurs close to 100mm. was 0.093m and represents the height of the split line
shown in Figure 1. The reduced height cavity produces
33% smaller drag reductions than those shown in Figure 10
0.27 for the full height cavity, although the trends are similar
CD 68% with drag minimum occurring at a cavity depth of 100mm
100% for the squareback case. In comparison with the
squareback case the sloping backlight shows similar
0.26
drag reduction with cavity depth up to 100mm for the
open back but slightly less drag benefit from the porous
base. The porosity was 33% in both cases.
0.25

0.24 0deg Porous

0.27 0deg Open
CD 10deg Porous
0.23 10deg Open
0.26
Cavity Depth (mm)
0.22
0 50 100 150 0.25

Figure 10. Effect of Cavity Depth on Drag Coefficient for

Solid, Porous and Open Base. Squareback Model.
0.24
No Bleed Flow.

0.23

Cavity depth (mm)

REDUCED HEIGHT CAVITY
0.22
The effect of a cavity having a restricted height was also 0 50 100 150
examined. This was done so that the influence of a
different rear end shape could be studied. This Figure 12. Effect of Cavity Depth on Drag
alternative rear end shape represented geometry close Coefficient. Sqareback and 10° Fastback Configurations.
to the minimum drag ‘backlight’ for this body with a slope No Bleed Flow. Reduced Cavity Height – 0.093m.
of 10° to the horizontal. The configurations tested are
sketched in the right side of Figure 11.
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DISCUSSION
Bleed flow rates have been presented in litres/s. These
are relevant to the model tested but could be non-
dimensionalised. Bleed flow coefficients can be
presented in either mass flow or momentum terms. The
former is appropriate here and the mass flow coefficient,
Cm is defined as:
Cm = m/ρAU
where m is the bleed mass flow rate, U is the free stream
velocity, ρ is the air density and A is the frontal area of
the model. The volume flow rate, v, is effectively given by
m/ρ. The maximum flow rate used in these experiments
of 10 litres/s converts to a mass flow coefficient of
0.0033 or 0.33%.
Alternatively, bleed flow rates can be presented in
momentum terms. The momentum coefficient, Cµ, is
usually more appropriate for jets and is given by:
2
Cµ = 2muj/ρU A
where uj is the bleed velocity. For the uniform
distributions of bleed used here the two coefficients are
related approximately by:
2
Cµ = 2Cm A'/Ap
Where A' is the area over which the perforations are
distributed and p is the porosity.
As stated in the Introduction, the benefits of base bleed
are only realistically available if the air movement is
required for some other function as the power required
for pumping is an effective drag coefficient. For example
2
consider a vehicle with a frontal area of 2.0 m and
travelling at 30m/s. If the base bleed produces a drag
coefficient reduction of 0.01, then the power saved is
0.33 kW. If the air movement consumes more than this
then the vehicle does not benefit.
Air movement in the vehicle is required for ventilation
and for cooling and is available from the exhaust gases.
Interior ventilation comprises natural and fan driven
components. The former is dependent on vehicle speed
while the latter is independent. Maximum flow rate
coefficients are unlikely to exceed 0.1% at 30m/s, and
will reduce approximately inversely with increasing
vehicle speed.
Exhaust flow rate coefficients will be constant with speed
in a fixed gear. A 2.0 litre engine running at 3600rpm and
driving the vehicle above at 30m/s produces a flow rate
coefficient of 0.1% at all speeds.
Mass flow coefficients for cooling pack airflow are
typically in the range 2 – 3%, depending on the vehicle
application. As this is largely ram air driven it remains
essentially constant with speed. Cooling fans can supply
an additional 0.5 – 1.5% but the drive motor and
transmission details will define the speed dependency.
These cooling flow coefficients are considerably greater
than those obtained in the experiment. In (4) a greater
range of flow rate coefficients was investigated, and it
was found that the drag reduction was less pronounced
at the higher flow rates.
A rear mounted cooling system is unlikely to function
effectively without considerable fan assistance at all
speeds, but there may be vehicle configurations where
the drag benefits from eliminating front air intakes
combined with base bleed more than offset the fan
power requirements. The benefits are more likely to
occur at higher speeds and potential applications
considered for mid- or rear-engined vehicles.
CONCLUSIONS
The potential benefits for aerodynamic drag reduction
from low flow rate base bleed applied to a simple bluff
body have been demonstrated.
In general, the drag reduction increases with increasing
bleed area.
The drag benefits increase with increasing bleed mass
flow coefficient.
A significant component of the drag reduction results
from the cavity in the model. This component reduces
with an increase in Reynolds Number.
The power required to generate the bleed flow will offset
the drag benefit, and may negate it.
REFERENCES
1. Sykes, D.M., The Effect of Low Flow Rate Gas
Ejection and Ground Proximity on Afterbody
Pressure Distribution. Road Vehicle Aerodynamics
Symposium, The City University, November 1969.
2. Przirimbel, C.E.G., The Effect of Base Bleed/Suction
on the Subsonic Near Wake of a Bluff Body.
Aerodynamics of Transportation, ASME Conference
Niagara falls, June 1979.
3. Kohri, I., Kataoka, T., Reduction of Aerodynamic
Drag with Base Bleed System. JSAE Vol. 4 1991.
4. Nijhof, B.C., The Effect of Base Bleed on Road
Vehicle Drag. M.Sc Project, Cranfield University,
2001.
5. Howell, J.P., The Aerodynamics of the IBEC Club
Formula Racing Car. The General Engineer,
May/june 1976.
6. Santer, R.M., Gleason, M.E., The Aerodynamic
Development of the Probe IV Advanced Concept
Vehicle. SAE 831000, 1983.
7. Kohri, I., et al., Aerodynamic Development of an
Experimental Car. SAE 890373, 1989.
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8. Buchholz, Z., More Details on Precept, GM’s PNGV.

Automotive Engineering International, pp 36-41,
January 2000.
9. Englar, R.J.. advanced Aerodynamic Devices to
Improve the Performance, Economics, Handling and
Safety of Heavy Vehicles. SAE 2001-01-2072, 2001.
10. Morelli, A.. A New Aerodynamic Approach to
Advanced Automobile Basic Shapes. SAE 2001-01-
0491, 2001.
11. Duell, E.G., George, A.R., Measurements in the
Near Wake of Ground Vehicle Bodies. SAE 930298,
1993.

NOTATION

A Frontal Area
A' Porous Area
2
CD Drag Coefficient=2D/(ρU A)
Cm Bleed Mass Flow Coefficient =m/(ρUA)
2
Cµ Bleed Momentum Coefficient =2muj/(ρU A)
D Drag Force
m Bleed Mass Flow Rate
p Porosity
Re Reynolds Number -(based on model length)
v Volume Flow Rate
uj Bleed Velocity
U Freestream Velocity
ρ Air Density

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank Land Rover for permission to publish

this paper. The work described here was carried out by
Alex Blakemore from Loughborough University while on
a student placement at Land Rover, and supported by
Andy Sheppard of the Aerodynamics Department. The
ever helpful support of the MIRA wind tunnel staff; Dave
Wain, Ian Lindsay and Graham Kendall is gratefully
acknowledged.

CONTACT

Jeff Howell,
Manager, Aerodynamics,
Land Rover.
jhowel17@landrover.com

Andy Sheppard,
Project Engineer, Aerodynamics – Range Rover,
Land Rover.
asheppa3@landrover.com

Alex Blakemore,
Student,
Department of Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering
Loughborough University.
a.w.blakemore-99@student.lboro.ac.uk