A significant amount of aerodynamic resistance on the vehicle is caused by the pressure drag induced by wake formation. Calculating air drag and lift acting on several locations of the car is a key factor, as these directly affect the car's speed and stability.
In this video, you will learn to find the total drag and lift on a solar car in Ansys Fluent. You will also learn to create contours of variables. We will take a look at creating vectors and path lines to visualize the flow around the car.
The flow pattern obtained with the visualization gives an understanding of the wake formation by the vehicle. The results also help to see the presence of complex flow, flow separation region around the vehicle.
Summary:
When the vehicle moves, it experiences aerodynamic forces and moments. Drag Force acts in the opposite direction of motion and lift force acts perpendicular to drag.
In this course, the external aerodynamics of a formula SAE vehicle is carried out to calculate drag and lift forces and understand flow characteristics around the vehicle. Additionally, CFD can be used to validate wind tunnel experiments, optimize vehicle shape, and flow paths.