Basic Concepts on Automobile Aerodynamics

Marcio Holanda Souto

Prof. Dr. L. W. Schwartz

December 5th, 2014

Abstract

Aerodynamics is one of the most important actual features in design of automobiles. A good
aerodynamic shape can bring great economy of fuel, and promote maneuverability. In a
competitive market such as automobiles, it is a strategic point. However, the theory of
aerodynamics is still unable to predict the highly complex flow around vehicles. Thus, this is a
experimental-based science, and most of the work to developed to design cars with desirable
aerodynamic characteristics is made on wind tunnels. Nevertheless, some explanation of the
physics of this kind of flow exist, such as for the boundary layer separation and for the ground
effect. Results have also been achieved to reduce drag and are reported in this paper.
Key words: aerodynamics, automobile, drag.

Even though the study of aerodynamics have achieved its actual development issuing
airplane design, as soon as the beginning of the century XX engineers started to observe that road
vehicles could be benefited by streamlined shapes (Rylski, 1975, p. 2). Nowadays, streamlined
shapes are widely applied in conventional automobiles, with only few exceptions, such as off-road
vehicles.

I. Importance of aerodynamics of automobiles

The introduction of aerodynamic cares in road vehicles design proved to be very important.
First of all, approximately 60% of fuel used at cruising speeds is used to overcome aerodynamic
drag, according to SEAI (2009). Considering the large variation in drag coefficient between
streamlined and bulky bodies, and the actual price of fuel, its easy to conclude that working in
reducing drag is very profitable. Historically, the reduction of drag also played an important role
to increase cruising speeds to further than 100km/h. As Hucho (1987, p. 97) shows, the maximum
speed that a vehicle can perform is limited by

= 3

where N is the power of the gear, k is the weight of the vehicle, A is the frontal area, and is the
drag coefficient. This equation is classic and valid for any situation.
High speeds, in their turn, brought more demand for aerodynamic contributions in order to
improve maneuverability. Happens that an appropriate shape can produce negative lift, i.e., a force
pointing down, which increases the adherence of the vehicle. An appropriate shape can
additionally reduce an undesirable aerodynamic yaw and roll moments, which arise at high
velocities and tends to make the car loses control and overturns, respectively. In addition to these

two main points, other advantages have been explored, such as minimization of wind noise and
dirt deposition, cooling of the engine, and ventilation of the passage compartment (Stone, 2004).
Therefore, actually aerodynamics is one of the key aspects in road vehicle design.
The field of study itself also developed greatly to meet requirements that did not exist in
airplanes, such as style, comfort, space usage, and cost of large scale production. However, it
continues to be basically an experimental work due to its complexity. As Hucho (1987, p. 8) and
Stone (2004) explained, the flow field around a car cannot be seen as a composition of simple
flows, as its done for aircrafts, but has to be treated as a whole. Therefore, the existent numerical
methods are used to guide wind tunnel tests, but Much of the aerodynamic design of a car is to
prevent, or to tune, separation. The only way to do this is through experimentation, as Hucho
(1987) concludes. This causes that most of the work of vehicle aerodynamicists consists of
refinements in pre-stablished shape to give reductions in drag (Stone, 2004, p.345). Nevertheless,
the bibliography about this subject is extensive, as it is supposed to be due to the economic value
of the automotive industry.

II. Characterization of the flow past road vehicles

The flow past road vehicles is typically three dimensional and turbulent, and consequently
viscous. However, in many parts of the analysis the flow is considered inviscid outside a thin
boundary layer. In order to have a better understanding, Lajos (2002) identify four regions of the
flow field around a car: front, side walls and roof, rear wall, and underbody gap. On the front
happens the first contact of the flow with the body surface, with stagnation point, overpressure,

and deceleration of the flow. On the side walls and roof there may be many kinds of flow, from
potential to viscous with layer separation depending on the rounding up of leading edges around
the front and accessories, and of the shape of the walls, i.e., depending on how streamlined surface
is. On the rear wall happens separation bubble nearly constant pressure below the ambient, with
strong mixing and recirculation. Finally, on the underbody gap occurs the interesting phenomenon
of ground effect, in which the flow is influenced by a moving surface without boundary layer: the
ground. Even though there are different effects in these parts, the basic philosophy for reducing
the total drag, for example, is decreasing the pressure on the front, increasing the pressure on the
rear, and reducing shear stress through boundary separation on lateral walls, roof, and bottom.
Each one of these regions is very important, and work in conjunct with the others, as described.
Two aerodynamic effects deserves special attention in vehicle aerodynamics: the boundary
layer separation and the ground effect. This first is so constantly present that its responsible for a
thought brake in the decade of 1930, when it was found that long tapered rear end as the car in
figure 1 has almost the same drag coefficient of the one in figure 2, creating the concept of rear
cut, which was acclaimed by stylists. The explanation is that once boundary separation occurs, the
pressure is constant inside the wake, so doesnt matter anymore the shape of the body immersed
in it. As Rylski (1979) said, This operation replaces natural separation by forced separation ()
due to sudden kink in the body shape.

Figure 1. 1.5 litre Adler-Trumpf, 1934/35. A model with long hear.

Figure 2. Kamm car, 1938, the first rear-catted model to be produced.

The physical phenomenon behind the boundary separation is the pressure gradient is
illustrated by the figure 3. When a flow pass a blunt surface, it tends to accelerate (Anderson, 2010,
p.243). However, the non-slip condition imposes that the velocity on the surface is zero, therefore
a gradient of velocity is formed. If the surface is too curved, this gradient causes the flow to
recirculate, as shown in Fig. 3. According to Incropera (2008), the existence of separation and the
position where it happens depends of the Reynolds number and geometric characteristics of the
surface. The condition at the separation point is

= 0,

which means that the velocity approximates zero not only at the surface, but in its surroundings.
Therefore, any further gradient implies in recirculating flow. In the practice of vehicle
aerodynamics, engineers try to adjust the surface through simulation and experimentation in order
to avoid or, at last, minimize any separation for the range of Reynolds numbers for what the vehicle
is intended.

Figure 3. Gradient of velocities and pressure on a blunt surface, exposing the separation point.
Taken from Incropera (2008)

The ground effect, present in airplanes during landing and taking off, is a constant in road
vehicles. The presence of a static surface beneath the car makes the flow asymmetric, creating lift
and increasing drag slightly. Indeed, since that the fluid touching the ground is static, the flow
between it and the underbody have to have bigger velocities, and consequently the underbody feels

smaller pressures, according to Bernoullis equation. Stone (2004) simplifies the effect as an
induced decreasing in the angle of incidence. Rylski (1984) shows a method to approach this effect
through using a hypothetical image of the body as shown in figure 4, so that the ground becomes
a streamline. However this method is only an approximation, as he acknowledge, because of
viscous effects. Nevertheless, it gives a precious result: the lift increases as the vehicles underbody
approximates to the ground.

III. Techniques to reduce drag

As stated before, engineers may work on the four parts of the car surface to reduce drag.
Again, the drag may be reduced by lowering the pressure in the front of the car. Many studies have
been published trying to achieve this, some successful, other not so much, as Hucho (1987, p. 126)
presents. According to the comparison made by Lajos (2010), the better way to reduce drag is by
rounding up the vertical and upper horizontal leading edges on the front face. Doing this allow the
flow to do not separate and the surrounding surfaces to be streamlines, since that potential flow
cannot flow through sharp edges. The gain that may be obtained is impressive: Lajos (2010) report
that drag had variations of 40% only because of relatively small modifications on the front. Further
reduction can be obtained using front spoilers, which work reducing the amount of air going under
the car.
On the rear of the vehicle, aerodynamicists usually try to retard the boundary separation in
order to reduce the area over low pressure. Even though since last century engineers know that its
not worthwhile to completely eliminate separation (Hucho, 1987, p.141), much work have been

done to control it. One way to reduce drag considerably in this region is tapering the rear end, as
sketched in figure 4. However, observe that this reduction is limited after certain relation x/d. To
continue increasing the pressure on the rear, usually designers utilize rear spoilers, which force the
laminar flow against the rear surface, postponing the separation. Again, this is most an
experimental work than theoretic, and hours of wind tunnel experiments are needed to achieve a
good shape. A last action to be taken is to avoid slanted trailing edges, since that they produce
vortex, creating drag.

Figure 4. Influence of rear tapering on drag coefficient. Taken from Lajos (2010).

On the roof, lateral walls, and underbody, the main cause of drag is shear stress, especially
due to flow separation. In this case, the technique is to avoid with the utmost boundary separation,
making these walls as streamlined as possible. The underbody usually is covered in order to be
streamlined. Other important care to reduce shear stress in these area is to reduce roughness.
Finally, much care must be taken with accessories. For example, a roof rack can increase fuel
consumption in 5% (SEAI, 2009). In an ideal aerodynamic sense, the car should not have any
accessory. However, the style is something important for automobiles. Thus, the recommendation
is to avoid them, and, if needed, try to make them streamlined too.

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V. Conclusion
As one can see, vehicle aerodynamics is still a field of study being scientifically developed.
However, there are many engineering solutions for practical problems. Today its possible to
design automobiles to meet rationally aerodynamic criterions of low drag and good
maneuverability. The aerodynamic shape has also been inserted on the field of style, and
nowadays the common practice that is seen in industry is to produce styles compromised with
reduction of drag and improvement of negative lift, as it is evident in models like Volkswagen
XL1, Mercedes-Benz CLA, Tesla S, and Toyota Prius among many others. Nevertheless, one of
the three equal partners of modern aerodynamics presented by Anderson (2010)_ pure experiment,
pure theory, and computational fluid dynamics_ is still weak. Therefore, the expectative is that as
the theoretic vehicle aerodynamic fully develop, the achievements will be even greater. Ultimately,
this expectative feeds the engineers curiosity.

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References
Anderson, John D Jr. Fundamentals of aerodynamics. 5th international edition. New Delhi:
McGraw Hill, 2010.
Hucho, Wolf H. Aerodynamics of road vehicles from fluid mechanics to vehicle engineering.
English edition. Cambridge: University Press, 1987.
Incropera, Franklin P. Fundamentos de transferencia de calor e massa. 6th Portuguese ed. Rio de
Janeiro: LTC, 2008.
Lajos, Toms. Basics of vehicle aerodynamics. Rome: La Sapienza, 2002.
Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland-SEAI. A guide to vehicle aerodynamics. Ireland, 2009.
Rylski, A.J. Scibor. Road vehicle aerodynamics. New York: Halsted Press, 1984.
Stone, Richard. Ball, Jeffrey. Automotive engineering fundamentals. Warrendale: SAE
International, 2004.