Project Plan

 

 

ES3B7/ES4B8 Individual Research Project

The University of Warwick

Project Plan

By Tejus Patel

 

 

Project Title:

A CFD Analysis of the Aerodynamics of a Racing Car*

 

Project Stakeholders:

Supervisor: Dr. Yongmann Chung (BS, MS, PhD)

 

There is a possibility here that a company will be involved if they are willing to assist in the modelling of the car so that tests can be done earlier allowing more data to be collected.

 

Project Specification:

At this stage, the project specification is to look at racing car aerodynamics with CFD.

‘Although most racing car companies would have performed several tests already, because of commercial liability most papers are not published.’¹

This extract highlights how there are areas of work that have been researched in the past but as most are not made public, the scientific community tend to suffer. The paper also demonstrates how CFD can aid in design and help to eliminate drag. It is this paper that has inspired me to focus on the rear wing of racing cars because although there is information on the size, length and angle of attack for rear wings, there seems to be little or no data on the geometrical properties of it.

So at the end of this research project I aim to

1. Show how CFD can be applied to show valuable information for not just commercial applications but also future research studies.

2. I also hope to learn how the geometrical properties of a rear wing affect the overall aerodynamics of a car.

 

These objectives may need to be refined at a later stage but they hold true to what I am hoping to achieve from this project.

 

Project Methodology:
In order to demonstrate how the geometrical properties of the rear wing affect the car aerodynamics I will need to look at situations where the total drag² is at a minimum and the down force is significantly larger.

This means that primary data such as velocity vectors and pressure distribution will need to be collected using CFD and this will require a tutorial in CM++. Using the information from the iterations I will be able to work out the drag and down force using relatively simple calculations found in the Data Book³.

 

Project Resources:

As this project will involved cars that have high velocities of over 120mph, the experimental data will be obtained using CFD.

Based on the consultations with Dr. Chung I would be inclined to believe that there will be no practical work associated with this project. This is because the only area of possible practical work is with the small wind tunnels in the engineering lab. However, these would not be able to replicate the speeds that the cars tested undergo (even with scaling) and so that is why CFD is a more appropriate approach.

Therefore the most important resource will be the computers in F211. As well as this, Solid Works and CM++ software packages will be the most important as well as Office programmes to write the report with. Beyond these I would not expect to use any other programmes or equipments.

In terms of space, again this will only be the computers and in retrospect their memory will be important. As these are all connected the central sever there should not be an issue here.

 

The technical input required may include help with modelling the chosen car in Solid Works but most importantly a tutorial with Dr. Chung will be needed so that I can grasp the basic concepts of CM++.

 

Regarding work away from campus, there will be a need to focus on academic research and once data has been collected it will need to be analysed and this will require further work off campus.

 

Project Timetable

Ideally I would like to do the majority of work in Term 2. This is because my timetable has been arranged so that most of the work I have to do is this Term. In Term 2 I will have less modules running and so the number of assignments due will decrease significantly. This thought process is evident in my plan in which I have tried to compensate for weeks when I have other commitments restricting the amount of time I can spend on project.

 

Risk Assessment:

As this project will not require laboratory or technician use I have not conducted the associated risk assessment. However, as there will be repetitive use of a computer there must be acknowledgment that regular breaks are needed to prevent minor injuries such as strain. Please see the risk assessment form for more detail.

 

References:

1: W. Kieffer, S. Moujaes and N. Armbya, June 2006, CFD study of section characteristics of Formula Mazda race car wings, Mathematical and Computer Modelling, Volume 43, Issues 11-12, Pages 1275-1287.
2: E.L Houghton and P.W.Carpenter, 2003, Aerodynamics for Engineering Studnets, 5^th edition.
3: University of Warwick, Engineering Data Book, Fourth Edition, Page 82.

 

* This title is likely to be changed during the project.