In the present work, the aerodynamic characteristics of two different tyre shapes, Slick Tyre (ST) and Non-Pneumatic Tyre (NPT), fitted to a rotating wheel, has been investigated using a CFD approach. The ST wheel has been primarily utilized to examine the adopted numerical model's validity. The ST wheel pressure coefficient (Cp) profile at its central plane (XY) has directly compared with the robust experimental data experienced from the literature. Further assessments on the computationally obtained outcomes such as drag coefficient, separation and stagnation angular locations are performed. Both wheel cases are compared concerning their aerodynamic coefficients and the flow characteristics around the wheel. Besides, for the NPT wheel case, a shape-optimization study changes the wheel side profile's spokes angle (α) is conducted. The dynamic action of wheel rotation is modelled using the Moving Reference Frame (MRF) technique, and the RNG k- ࢿ is utilized as the adopted turbulence model for Averaged Reynolds Navier Stokes equations (RANS). All cases run at 30 m/s upstream velocity to be within the fully developed flow regime (supercritical regime). That is equivalent to 6.8 ×105 Reynolds number based on the wheel diameter as the characteristic length. In general, the overall obtained results give a satisfactory agreement to those measured experimentally. In conclusion, The NPT wheel, compared to the ST wheel, has a dramatic increase in drag force by approximately 31%, while a slightly raised lift force is obtained. The minimized spoke angle came with a beneficial drag reduction, while the applied resistive moment remained relatively high. Keywords: automotive aerodynamics; wheel aerodynamics, tyre CFD; rotating wheel dynamics; MRF wheel simulation; airless tyre aerodynamics, non-pneumatic tyre aerodynamics.
The present work investigates the dynamic effect of wheel rotation on the aerodynamic characteristics of slick type (ST) wheel of Formula One racing cars using a computational approach. The ST wheel model was compared to experimental results as a validation case. The pressure coefficient over the ST wheel circumference at its middle plane (xy) has been considered as an experimental case from literature and the computed results showed a reasonable agreement. Furthermore, a quantitative evaluation of the numerically-determined wheel drag, local separation and stagnation angles has been also compared to those extracted experimentally from literature. The validation work served by assessing the suitability of using Moving Reference Frame (MRF) method to simulate the effect of wheel rotation, as well as defining the most reliable conditions of testing such as the optimal meshing criteria, the computational domain size, and the adopted turbulence model. According to wheel studies, all computational work was performed at a Reynolds number of 6.8×105 based on the wheel diameter. The wheels aerodynamic drag, lift, and moment coefficients were computed for each wheel model. Further parametric study on the tread design of the tread type (TT) wheel was performed by varying the tread depth, h. Besides, general schematic pictures of the flow behavior around the TT wheel are presented.
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