Simulations of Aerodynamic Behaviour of a Super Utility Vehicle Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

The main objective of this study is to investigate ways to reduce the aerodynamic drag coefficient and to increase the stability of full-size road vehicles using three dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. The baseline model of the vehicle used in the simulation is the Land Rover Discovery. There are many modern aerodynamic add-on devices which are investigated in this research. All of these devices are used individually or in combination. These add-on devices should not affect the vehicle capacity and comfort. In this study three velocities of the air is used: 28 m/s (100.8 km/hr), 34 m/s (122.4 km/hr) and 40 m/s (144 km/hr). The calculated drag coefficient for the baseline model of Land Rover Discovery agrees very well with the experimental data. It is clear that the use of a ventilation duct has a significant effect in reducing the aerodynamic drag coefficient.