In the current sustainable development context, car manufacturers have to keep doing efforts to reduce the aerodynamic drag of automotive vehicle, and consequently their CO 2 and greenhouse gas emissions. The cooling airflow through the engine compartment of vehicles contributes from 5% to 10% to the total aerodynamic drag. By means of a simplified car geometry, equipped with an engine compartment, flow in the engine compartment is analyzed by three complementary approaches: an experimental approach, a numerical approach and an analytical approach. The experimental approach is mainly used to measure drag values and to explain the drag variations induced by modifications of the outlet location. The purpose of the numerical simulations is to evaluate the flow rates through the engine compartment and particularly through the heat exchangers. Finally, the analytical approach establishes a model to connect the aerodynamic drag with the cooling flow rate. Configurations favorable to low cooling drag values and high cooling flow rates are identified. They correspond to vehicles with an engine compartment outlet located at the rear end.
International audienceIn the current sustainable development context, car manufacturers have to keep doing efforts to reduce the aerodynamic drag of automotive vehicle in order to decrease their CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions. The cooling airflow, through the engine compartment of vehicles, contributes from 5 to 10% to the total aerodynamic drag. By means of simplified car geometry, equipped with an engine compartment, the configurations that favor a low contribution to total drag are identified. PIV (particle image velocimetry) velocity measurements in the wake of the geometry allow explaining these drag reductions. Besides, the cooling flow rate is also assessed and gives indications on the configurations that favor the engine cooling
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.