Underbody flow control for base drag reduction of a real car model
Résumé
A 1:5 scale realistic car model of the original Twingo GT but presenting a flat underbody and no exhaust line is tested in a wind tunnel at Reynolds numbers Re = 2.15 × 10^5 to 4.3 × 10^5. A range of underbody flow characteristic velocities Ub = [0.5 − 0.72]U∞ (U∞ the free-stream velocity) is obtained by two techniques: flow obstruction and low momentum injection. Force balance, pressure measurements and Particle Image Velocimetry are used to characterize the aerodynamics of the model while changing the underbody flow velocity. A very sharp transition in the wake is found at a critical underbody velocity Ub = 0.65U∞. It corresponds to a sudden wake reversal with a bistable behavior between 2 equilibrium states, N or P depending on the vertical base pressure gradient or the wake orientation. The drag of the N state is larger than that of the P state. The control of the wake state by reducing the underbody flow velocity leads to beneficial increase of the base suction of approximately 20% when selecting the P state compared to the N state. The low momentum injection technique reduces drag by 10% but is ineffective at yaws 5◦ and 10◦, while the obstruction technique consistently increases base suction but induces additional drag.
Domaines
Physique [physics]Origine | Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s) |
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