Computational Evaluation of a Novel Aerodynamic Road Vehicle Design and Drag Reduction Using Vortex Generators

Vehicle aerodynamics is a prime domain of research and development. Multiple active and passive aerodynamic systems have been applied for its enhancement. The reduction of drag plays a pivotal role in the improvement of vehicle aerodynamic performance. The present paper studies the innovative design of a road vehicle for a fuel efficiency challenge, implemented for optimal drag reduction. Vortex generators are utilized as a passive aerodynamic feature for further minimization of the wake region size and reduction of pressure drag. High fidelity computational fluid dynamics simulations were applied for the evaluation of this design. Data was collated from simulations for both the cases, with and without the usage of vortex generators and compared objectively. The results of the study establish that the vehicle design has an exceptionally low drag coefficient. It also exhibits a strong reduction in drag when the vortex generators are fitted. These results reveal that the design can be deployed for production as a worthy competition vehicle.