Effects of Aerodynamics Changes on A Car Caused by Another in Its Proximity: An Experimental Study

• Main Author: Mohd Khairi B. Che Abdullah, Mohd Khairi
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Teknologi Petronas 2009
• Subjects: TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
• Online Access: http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/767/1/Mohd_Khairi_B._Che_Abdullah.pdf; http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/767/

The study of road vehicle aerodynamics is quite different from that of an aircraft aerodynamics which mainly focuses on producing lift. The subject does not lend itself to traditional methods such as mathematical analysis where there are no straightforward methods for predicting how air will flow around a given vehicle shape and no equivalent of the simple formulae used in earlier days for determining the lift and drag of an aircraft from its geometry. With regards to this Final Year Project (FYP), Experiments is to be conducted to study the effect of aerodynamics change on a car caused by another in its proximity. For this experimentation project, the Kelisa car’s is to be considered as the model which enable in achieving dimensional similarity and more accurate in getting the experimental result. In the experiments, certain ranges of distance between the two cars were to be highlighted in order to show the drag force and other aerodynamic changes that might occur. The aerodynamic changes are to be studied on two model vehicles using a wind tunnel equipped with the necessary measuring equipment. The study is focused on the effects of the wake of a vehicle to another vehicle in tailing position (back-to-back), where the experiment is done using wind tunnel and scaled vehicle models. The model is to be manufactured by using CNC machining process.