Dentre as competições nas quais estudantes são desafiados a construir protótipos com finalidades específicas, está a de fazer um veículo que transporte uma pessoa e percorrera a maior distância com um litro de combustível. Um dos fatores que contribuem para o consumo é a resistência aerodinâmica, assim prever seus efeitos é essencial para um bom projeto. Nesse contexto o presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar de forma numérica e experimental o escoamento ao redor de um veículo de milhagem e calcular os coeficientes aerodinâmicos de arrasto e sustentação dessas duas formas. Também foi estudada a sensibilidade desses coeficientes ao número de Reynolds e, no caso do teste virtual, aos modelos de turbulência. Através dos resultados de simulações verificou-se que a porção frontal do veículo é a maior responsável pelo arrasto e pela sustentação negativa. Os coeficientes de arrasto caíram com o aumento do número de Reynolds tanto nos ensaios virtuais quanto nos experimentais. Na comparação entre os modelos de turbulência, k-E e k-w em suas formas padrão foram os que mais destoaram em relação aos outros apresentando valores de CD maiores. Os resultados experimentais apresentaram a mesma tendência dos numéricos, e ficaram mais próximos do k- padrão, mas acredita-se que um ângulo de ataque negativo do modelo devido à montagem tenha provocado um aumento no CD obtido experimentalmente. Os valores dos coeficientes de sustentação baixaram com o número de Reynolds nos testes numéricos e aumentaram nos ensaios experimentais. Nas simulações observou-se que a alta velocidade entre as rodas dianteiras devido à pequena distância entre o veículo e o piso era responsável por boa parte da sustentação negativa. Por questões de montagem não foi possível repetir esse efeito solo de forma similar nos experimentos. Os resultados numéricos de visualização do escoamento apresentaram boa concordância com os experimentais. / Among the many competitions in which students are challenged to build up prototypes with specific purposes there, is one in which the goal is to design a car to carry one person and make it go as long as it can with one liter of fuel. One of the factors that contribute for fuel consumption is the aerodynamic resistance, so to predict its effects is essential for a good design. In this context, the present work had as goals the numerical and experimental evaluation of flow around a Supermileage vehicle and to calculate its drag and lift coefficients in these both ways. It was also studied the sensitivity of these forces to Reynolds number and, in the virtual case, to turbulence models. Thanks to simulation results it was verified that the front part of the model is responsible for great part of drag and negative lift. The drag coefficients fell with the increase of Reynolds number in both numerical and experimental tests. In a comparison of turbulence models comparison, k-E and k-w in their standard forms presented higher CD values than the other models. Experimental CD results showed the same tendency of numerical ones, and were closer to standard k-, although it was believed that a negative angle of attack due to experimental assembly issues has made for a higher experimental CD. Lift coefficients values fell with the increase of Reynolds number in virtual analysis and grew in experimental tests. In the simulations it was observed that the high velocity between the two front wheels, due to the short distance between the vehicle and the ground, is responsible for a large portion of the negative lift. Owing to assembly issues it was not possible to reproduce this ground effect on experimental tests. Flow visualization results presented good agreement between experimental and numerical testing.

Dentre as competições nas quais estudantes são desafiados a construir protótipos com finalidades específicas, está a de fazer um veículo que transporte uma pessoa e percorrera a maior distância com um litro de combustível. Um dos fatores que contribuem para o consumo é a resistência aerodinâmica, assim prever seus efeitos é essencial para um bom projeto. Nesse contexto o presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar de forma numérica e experimental o escoamento ao redor de um veículo de milhagem e calcular os coeficientes aerodinâmicos de arrasto e sustentação dessas duas formas. Também foi estudada a sensibilidade desses coeficientes ao número de Reynolds e, no caso do teste virtual, aos modelos de turbulência. Através dos resultados de simulações verificou-se que a porção frontal do veículo é a maior responsável pelo arrasto e pela sustentação negativa. Os coeficientes de arrasto caíram com o aumento do número de Reynolds tanto nos ensaios virtuais quanto nos experimentais. Na comparação entre os modelos de turbulência, k-E e k-w em suas formas padrão foram os que mais destoaram em relação aos outros apresentando valores de CD maiores. Os resultados experimentais apresentaram a mesma tendência dos numéricos, e ficaram mais próximos do k- padrão, mas acredita-se que um ângulo de ataque negativo do modelo devido à montagem tenha provocado um aumento no CD obtido experimentalmente. Os valores dos coeficientes de sustentação baixaram com o número de Reynolds nos testes numéricos e aumentaram nos ensaios experimentais. Nas simulações observou-se que a alta velocidade entre as rodas dianteiras devido à pequena distância entre o veículo e o piso era responsável por boa parte da sustentação negativa. Por questões de montagem não foi possível repetir esse efeito solo de forma similar nos experimentos. Os resultados numéricos de visualização do escoamento apresentaram boa concordância com os experimentais. / Among the many competitions in which students are challenged to build up prototypes with specific purposes there, is one in which the goal is to design a car to carry one person and make it go as long as it can with one liter of fuel. One of the factors that contribute for fuel consumption is the aerodynamic resistance, so to predict its effects is essential for a good design. In this context, the present work had as goals the numerical and experimental evaluation of flow around a Supermileage vehicle and to calculate its drag and lift coefficients in these both ways. It was also studied the sensitivity of these forces to Reynolds number and, in the virtual case, to turbulence models. Thanks to simulation results it was verified that the front part of the model is responsible for great part of drag and negative lift. The drag coefficients fell with the increase of Reynolds number in both numerical and experimental tests. In a comparison of turbulence models comparison, k-E and k-w in their standard forms presented higher CD values than the other models. Experimental CD results showed the same tendency of numerical ones, and were closer to standard k-, although it was believed that a negative angle of attack due to experimental assembly issues has made for a higher experimental CD. Lift coefficients values fell with the increase of Reynolds number in virtual analysis and grew in experimental tests. In the simulations it was observed that the high velocity between the two front wheels, due to the short distance between the vehicle and the ground, is responsible for a large portion of the negative lift. Owing to assembly issues it was not possible to reproduce this ground effect on experimental tests. Flow visualization results presented good agreement between experimental and numerical testing.

The purpose of this thesis work was to design a new shape for the BYU Supermileage vehicle in order to improve its fuel efficiency. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to obtain the coefficient of drag (CD) and drag area of the current baseline vehicle at a Reynolds number of 1.6x10^6 and 8.7x10^5. Then a new shape was developed using mesh morphing software. The new shape was imported into the CFD program and the drag figures and airflow plots from the modified design were compared with the baseline vehicle. Scale models of the vehicles were also printed using a 3D printer in order to perform wind tunnel testing. The models were installed in the wind tunnel and the coefficient of drag and drag area were compared at a Reynolds number around 8.7x10^5.It was found from the CFD results that the new vehicle shape (labelled Model C) caused a 10.8% reduction in CD and a 17.4% reduction in drag area under fully laminar flow. Smaller drag reductions were observed when the flow was fully turbulent. From the wind tunnel comparisons, it was found that Model C reduced CD by 5.3% and drag area by 11.4%, while the fully laminar CFD results at Re = 8.7x10^5 showed that Model C reduced CD by 9.8% and drag area by 15.9%. Smaller drag reductions were again observed for fully turbulent flow. Thus in order to improve the aerodynamic performance, the current vehicle shape should be changed to match that of Model C, and laminar flow should be encouraged over as much of the wetted area as possible.

Every year the automotive industry strives to increase fuel efficiency in vehicles. When most vehicles are designed, fuel efficiency cannot always come first. The Shell Eco-marathon changes that by challenging students everywhere to develop the most fuel-efficient vehicle possible. There are many different factors that affect fuel efficiency, and different teams focus on different vehicle parameters. Currently, there is no straightforward design tool that can be used to help in Shell Eco-marathon vehicle design. For this reason, it is difficult to optimize every vehicle parameter for maximum fuel efficiency. In this study, a simulation is developed by using basic vehicle models and experimental data to accurately represent any prototype-class vehicle in the Shell Eco-marathon. This simulation is verified using different experimental data from an on-vehicle data acquisition system. An easy-to-use design tool is developed, and this tool is used to optimize driving strategy and final drive ratio to maximize fuel efficiency.

With the automotive industry ever striving to push the limits of fuel efficiency, the Shell EcoMarathon offers a glimpse into this energy conserving mindset by challenging engineering students around the world to design and build ultra-efficient vehicles to compete regionally. This requires synchronization of engineering fields to ensure that the vehicle and powertrain system work in parallel to achieve similar goals. The goal for Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo’s EcoMarathon vehicle for the 2015 competition is to analyze the unique operating mode that the powertrain undergoes during competition and improve their current package to increase fuel efficiency. In this study, fuel delivery, ignition timing and engine temperature are experimentally varied to observe trends in steady state fuel consumption. A developmental simulation is then implemented with these trends to analyze potential differences in transient and steady state tuning targets. The engine is then tuned to finalized tuning targets and performance compared with benchmark values.