Presented By:

Eugene Tan

AERODYANMICS
Shell/Aerofoil Design
1. Fundamentals
 Objectives of the design
 Aerofoil design limitations
 Four forces
 Aerofoil design
2. Aerodynamic drag
 Skin friction drag, Pressure drag, Induced drag
Parasite drag, Form drag
3. Aerodynamic of side profile
4. Significance of Aerodynamic drag
5. Summary: Drag reduction
6. Examples of Body Shape
© NVT (2011)
Objectives of the design
Key Objective
 Reduce running resistance acting on the entire body
of the car
 Two main factors of running resistance
 Rolling resistance
 Aerodynamic drag
 Light in weight & have minimal surface areas (such as
frontal area and side profile)
 Streamlined bodies to prevent flow separation as it
causes high drag force
Aerofoil Design Limitations
 Design of the Solar car is limited by:
1. Race regulations
2. Aerodynamic needs
3. Restrictions on solar power/area
Four Forces

 In unaccelerated level flight, Lift is equal and opposite to

Weight, and the Thrust is equal and opposite to Drag

 Imbalance of the forces will cause a change in speed or

altitude of the airplane. Lift produced by an airfoil is the
net force developed perpendicular to the relative wind
Aerofoil Design
Aerodynamic Drag
Aerodynamic drag consists of four components:
1. Skin Friction drag
2. Pressure drag
3. Induced drag
4. Parasite drag
Skin Friction Drag
Skin friction drag depends on:
1. Type of flow over the body
 Laminar flow has lower surface drag compared to turbulent
2. Roughness of the surface
 Rougher surface, more skin friction
3. Amount of area
 More surface area, more drag
 Front
Rear

Pressure Drag
Pressure drag results due to the pressure difference
between the forward facing surface and the rear facing
surface
 Front has higher pressure compared to rear
 Pressure difference causes a net rearward drag force
 Reduced by having smooth surfaces and avoiding sharp
corners
 Corners and bends should be tapered gradually
 Also known as boundary layer pressure loss
 Boundary layer gets thicker from front to rear,
less pressure at rear
Induced Drag
Induced drag, also called trailing vortex drag which is
due to the pressure difference between the top and
bottom surface of the car

 Pressure difference causes air to flow up the sides from the

higher pressure bottom, resulting in vortices in the wake
behind the car
 Should maintain same pressure is design for both the top
and the bottom
 However, it depends…
Parasite Drag
Parasite drag is due to imperfection of the surface,
seams and any additional add-ons on the surface of the
car that is protruding out from the body

 Present in expose wheels

 Does not always cause drag… might result in lift
Form Drag
 Form drag is a resistance to the smooth flow of air.
 The shape of something may create low-pressure areas
and turbulence which retard the forward movement of
the aircraft (see figure 4-9).
 Streamlining eliminate form drag
Aerodynamic of Side Profile
 Increase area of side profile, represent higher loss of energy
 When beta increases, value of drag coefficients increases
 The coefficients can be reduce by reducing the effective
cross sectional area
 If poorly design, the car would not be able to reach high
speed as it will become very difficult to control as speed
increases or experiencing high crosswinds
Significance of Aerodynamic Drag
According to the graph shown, the ratio of the
aerodynamic drag to the total running resistance,
is 4:1 at 100km/hr

10% reduction in aerodynamic drag

2.5km/hr increase in average speed
20km increase in distance
Summary: Drag Reduction
1. Driving force required to cruise is a function of
aerodynamic drag
2. Aerodynamic drag increases proportionately to
the square of speed
3. Drag reduction is achieved by reducing drag
coefficient of the shell/airfoil
4. Achieved by designing an aerodynamic shell,
reducing frontal area and minimizing the lift
produced
 Prefered!
• Simpler array construction and layout
Body Shape •Uniform exposure of solar cells to sunlight

Manta-Type (MIT) Bubble Canopy (Nuna 5)

• Thicker body with a sloped front • Thin body & bubble canopy
• Prevents flow separation • Minimal side profile & frontal area
• Canopy created significant lift