In order to analyze the impact of engine cabin parts on aerodynamic characteristics, the related parts are divided into three categories except the engine cooling components: front thin plates (average thickness of 2mm), bottom-suspension and interior panels. The aerodynamic drag coefficient (Cd) were obtained upon the combination schemes consisting of the three types of parts by numerical simulation. Results show that Cd by simulation is closer to the test value gained by the wind tunnel experiment when front thin plates were simplified to the two-dimensional interface with zero thickness. The error is only 5.23%. Meanwhile this scheme reduces grid numbers, thus decreasing the calculating time. As the front thin plates can guide the flow, there is no difference on the Cd values gained from the model with or without bottom-suspension or interior panels when the engine cabin contains the front thin plates; while only both bottom-suspension and interior panels are removed, the Cd value can be reduced when the cabin doesn’t contain the front thin plates.
NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF AIRFLOW AROUND VEHICLE MODELS
