0304 Numerical Study of Car Aerodynamics with OpenFOAM

Abstract

In recent years, low fuel consumption attracts much attention in the automotive industry from the viewpoint of environmental problems. The aerodynamic drag reduction of a car is one of the most important issues for low fuel consumption. However, the flow mechanism in a wheel house has not been clarified in detail. On the other hand, recently it is shown open?source CFD toolbox OpenFOAM is usefulness. Therefore in the present study the flows around a car are simulated by RANS using OpenFOAM, in order to investigate the flow in wheel houses. Two cases are computed; tire with wheel and tire without wheel.