The Eco-Marathon is a challenge organized by Shell in which student teams from around the world compete in designing and building of energy-efficient vehicles. The events spark debate about the future of mobility and inspire young engineers to push the boundaries of fuel efficiency. The aim of the present work consists of the numerical and experimental investigation of the aerodynamic performance of a Shell Eco Marathon prototype designed by a group of students of the University of Cassino, Italy. The car design has been carried on by means of detailed 3D CFD modelling with a commercial code Comsol Multiphysics®. The numerical tool has been validated against experiments conducted at the Laboratory of Industrial Measurements (LaMI) of the University of Cassino. In particular, a scale model of the car has been investigated in an open chamber wind tunnel by means of the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique, for different free stream velocities within the range 11 – 23 m/s. Measurements have been associated to a proper uncertainty analysis. The experimental data has been compared to numerical results obtained employing different turbulence models and the validated numerical tool has been applied to the simulation of the full scale car model, allowing to analyse the wake flow structures, and evaluate the overall drag coefficient.
NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE PERFORMANCE OF A CAR PROTOTYPE FOR THE SHELL ECO MARATHON
SCUNGIO, Mauro;ARPINO, Fausto;IANNETTA, Fabio;CORTELLESSA, Gino;
2016-01-01
Abstract
The Eco-Marathon is a challenge organized by Shell in which student teams from around the world compete in designing and building of energy-efficient vehicles. The events spark debate about the future of mobility and inspire young engineers to push the boundaries of fuel efficiency. The aim of the present work consists of the numerical and experimental investigation of the aerodynamic performance of a Shell Eco Marathon prototype designed by a group of students of the University of Cassino, Italy. The car design has been carried on by means of detailed 3D CFD modelling with a commercial code Comsol Multiphysics®. The numerical tool has been validated against experiments conducted at the Laboratory of Industrial Measurements (LaMI) of the University of Cassino. In particular, a scale model of the car has been investigated in an open chamber wind tunnel by means of the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique, for different free stream velocities within the range 11 – 23 m/s. Measurements have been associated to a proper uncertainty analysis. The experimental data has been compared to numerical results obtained employing different turbulence models and the validated numerical tool has been applied to the simulation of the full scale car model, allowing to analyse the wake flow structures, and evaluate the overall drag coefficient.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
