A QUASI-THREE-DIMENSIONAL COMPUTATIONAL PROCEDURE FOR PREDICTION OF TURBULENT FLOW THROUGH THE FRONT-END OF VEHICLES

This paper describes the computational technique used to predict flow over and through the front end of vehicles; this scope includes flow over the hood, around air dams, through condensers, radiators, fans, and in the engine compartment. The computational procedure employed is a finite-difference method for solving time-averaged equations for turbulent flow using the k-epsilon model. A two-dimensional program was modified to add variable-depth cells (in the direction of car width) so that some three-dimensional features could be included. A turbulence model was used which is applicable to rotational and irrotational areas of the flow field. The total system model was calibrated with wind-tunnel data, and various modifications to the vehicle configuration were studied. Results from the predictions were compared with wind-tunnel test data.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/01487191
• Supplemental Notes:
  • International Congress and Exposition, Detroit, Michigan, February 25-March 1, 1985.
• Corporate Authors:

  Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)

  400 Commonwealth Drive
  Warrendale, PA  United States  15096
• Authors:
  • Willoughby, D A
  • Williams, J
  • Carroll, G W
  • Sun, R L
  • Maxwell, T T
• Publication Date: 1985

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 9 p.
• Serial:
  • SAE Technical Paper
  • Publisher: Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
  • ISSN: 0148-7191
  • EISSN: 2688-3627
  • Serial URL: http://papers.sae.org/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aerodynamics; Finite differences; Flow; Forecasting; Mathematical models; Turbulence; Vehicle design; Wind tunnels
• Candidate Terms: Turbulent flow
• Subject Areas: Design; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00450782
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: SAE 850282, HS-038 950
• Files: HSL, USDOT
• Created Date: Dec 31 1985 12:00AM