A Numerical Approach to Evaluate the Aerodynamic Performance of Vehicle Exterior Surfaces GM Technical Center India Limited - General Motors Company

Format:

Conference/Event

Author/Creator:

Ramakrishnan, Ramakrishnan, author.

Contributor:

Jha, Pankaj

Karbon, Kenneth

Soundararaju, Deepak

Conference Name:

SAE 2011 World Congress & Exhibition (2011-04-12 : Detroit, Michigan, United States)

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Warrendale, PA SAE International 2011

Summary:

This paper outlines a process to assess the aerodynamic performance of different vehicle exterior surfaces. The initial section of the paper summarizes the details of white-light scanning process that maps entire vehicle to points in Cartesian co-ordinate system which is followed by the conversion of scanned points to theme surface. The concept of point-cloud modeling is employed to generate a smooth theme surface from scanned points. Theme surfaces thus developed are stitched to under-body/under-hood (UB/UH) parts of the base vehicle and the numerical simulations were carried out to understand the aerodynamic efficiency of the surfaces generated. Specifics of surface/volume mesh generated, boundary conditions imposed and numerical scheme employed are discussed in detail. Flow field over vehicle exterior is thoroughly analyzed. A comparison study highlighting the effect of front grilles in unblocked condition along with air-dam on flow field has been provided. Advantages and limitations of the entire process are also mentioned

Notes:

Vendor supplied data

Publisher Number:

2011-01-0180

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license