Improvement of the aerodynamic behavior of a sport utility vehicle numerically by using some modifications and aerodynamic devices

Abstract

The present study proposes aerodynamically optimized exterior designs of a sport utility vehicle using computational fluid dynamics analysis based on steady-state Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes turbulence models. To achieve an optimal design, modifications of the outer shape and adding some aerodynamic devices are investigated. This study focuses on modifying this vehicle model’s upper and front parts. At the same time, the rear diffuser and spare tire on the back door as a fairing are used as aerodynamic devices for improving streamlines. All these modifications and add-on devices are simulated individually or in combination to achieve the best exterior design. A variety of Reynolds numbers are used for determining the optimization variables. Tetrahedral cells are used throughout the global domain because of the sharp edges in the geometry of the Discovery car model. At the same time, prism cells around car surfaces are adopted to improve the accuracy of the results. A good agreement between the numerical drag coefficient in the present study for the baseline models and the experimental data has been achieved. Changes in the drag and lift coefficients are calculated for all models. It is clear from the numerical results that the use of combined modifications and add-on devices has a significant effect in improving the overall aerodynamic behavior. As a result, the drag coefficient for the optimal design of the Discovery 4th generation is reduced from 0.4 to 0.352 by about 12% compared to the benchmark. Simultaneously, the lift coefficient is 0.037 for optimal design, and it is an acceptable value. It is found that combining all optimal modified configurations can improve both CD and CL simultaneously.