THE BODY SHAPE OF MINIMUM DRAG

After a short review of the work done in the past to reduce the aerodynamic drag of a body moving in the vicinity of the ground, a new theoretical method is developed in order to determine the shape of the body when a certain lift distribution is imposed. Considerations on the induced drag suggest that the total lift is zero as also should be zero the pitching moment for stability reasons. These conditions together with that of gradual variation of the area and shape of the cross sections of the body lead to the determination of the basic shape of the body. A model was realized and tested on the Pin infarina wind tunnel. /GMRL/

• Corporate Authors:

  Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)

  400 Commonwealth Drive
  Warrendale, PA  United States  15096
• Authors:
  • Morelli, A
  • Fioravanti, L
  • Cogotti, A
• Publication Date: 1976-2

Media Info

• Pagination: 9 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aerodynamics; Drag; Motor vehicle bodies; Pitch (Dynamics); Stability (Mechanics); Wind tunnels
• Old TRIS Terms: Automobile bodies
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00145238
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: SAE 760186
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 31 1977 12:00AM