aerospace@aerothermalsolutions.co

ATS improves aerodynamic performance in Stock Car

Aerodinâmica Stock Car

Compartilhar

The study of aerodynamic performance is a subject that has always been on the agenda in automobile competitions. The performance of the cars seen on the track is the result of a meticulous analysis involving all the car’s dynamics. In NASCAR and Formula 1, first-rate categories of world motorsport, the use of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics), which generally occurs in the aeronautics area, has been gaining ground. Finally, this type of performance analysis arrived in Brazil in the Stock Car competitions, a national category that grows every year. And the results brought about with the collaboration of ATS envision a new future for the competition.

The CIMED team, whose boss is William Curvelo and the engineer in charge is Sergio Troy, contacted ATS for a study of the aerodynamic performance of its car in the category, driven by Lucas Foresti in the 2018 season. use of several softwares established in the international market, with ATS being one of the pioneers of applications in Brazil.

The CFD++ was used to simulate the air flow around the car; the visualization of the results was based on Tecplot360EX and Ennova Mesh Generation was responsible for developing a computational mesh on the three-dimensional model of the car; highlights the ability to integrate between CFD++ and Ennova, chosen by ATS to perform the task in record time even with complex geometries.

With Ennova, it was possible to generate a mesh of 62 million elements that form the entire geometry of the car. The final 3D model is shown below. We can see the details of the body, the internal characteristics and the design of the spoiler, one of the essential parts in the description of aerodynamics.

From this model, with CFD++, it was possible to reconstruct the car-related fluid dynamics from some boundary conditions. In the software interface, the car design was positioned to reproduce the same race conditions, in order to make a quantitative study of the car’s design and how each part of it affects its aerodynamics. In the figure below, we see the construction of the 3D model according to the position in relation to the airflow when the car is in motion.

Knowing the boundary conditions and the test conditions, it was possible to describe the different pressure profiles that act on the car in an extremely precise way, which helps to identify possible aerodynamic flaws and indicate possible improvements to be made in the car. Profiles given the application of ATS methods are shown below. In warmer colors, the areas that suffer the most pressure and in cold colors, the places where the pressure is less.

Considering the velocity of the fluid around the car as the essential part for the study of aerodynamics, the flow lines that pass through the body can be traced in order to obtain a velocity profile. The first three trace the airflow lines, and the last one a quantitative description of how the different fluid velocity profiles around the car occur.

Being an essential part of the aerodynamics involved in automobile competitions, it was also possible to identify the pressure profiles acting on the spoiler, shown in the figure below.

From these profiles, a performance analysis was also performed in terms of time gain considering a real racing case, and what possible changes based on this study could bring benefits to the team. For the brake and curve zones, the positive time gain was 0.05s. As for the straight-line parts of the circuit, the gain was 0.08s.

Following ATS’ suggestions according to the study presented, Stock Car enjoyed the benefits brought on the track. The pilots obtained expressive results in terms of time, and some achieved better ratings precisely due to the changes suggested by the ATS through the CFD study. Once again, the company showed its seriousness and effectiveness, guaranteeing a good performance for the market.

See the image gallery

Fique por dentro dos seus Direitos de Cidadão

Cadastre seu e-mail

Compartilhar

Leia também

Antes de entrar em contato nos informe seus dados abaixo: