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Study and Overview of Aerodynamic Active Rear Wing of High speed

Vehicles
Pradeep Madane1, Kaivalya Pande2, Prajwal Gote3, Pushpraj Dongare4
1-4BE Undergrad Student, Dept of Mechanical Engineering, Government College of Engineering, Aurangabad-431005,
MH, India
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Abstract - In this paper an attempt is made to improve the to air flow over a solid body. There are three basic forces to
aerodynamic performance of a race car using Active be considered in aerodynamics that are thrust, which helps
Aerodynamics. The concept of aerodynamics has come a long to move an object forward; drag, which holds it back; and lift,
way in recent years due to regulatory requirements for which keeps it airborne. These properties measured in
emissions reduction and to reduce drag, wind noise and aerodynamics having different equations:
preventing undesired downforce at high speed. The study in
this paper aims to change the aerodynamics of high-speed 1. Conservation of mass
vehicles. Very often, it is considered that vehicle dynamics and 2. Momentum of air
aerodynamics does not depend on each other. This study 3. Energy in air flows
explains the interdependence of aerodynamics and vehicle
road dynamics. This paper suggests a schematic mechanism Resolution of forces in aerodynamic is as below,
for the actuation of an active aero system involving the
utilization of a data acquisition system, which receives input 1. The sum of all upward forces equals the sum of all
from different parameter measuring sensors. The study of the downward forces.
aerodynamic behavior of the rear wing has been performed 2. The sum of all forward forces equals the sum of all
through steady state CFD simulations of different orientations backward forces.
of a same model of the rear wing of a race car in Ansys Fluent 3. The sum of all moments equals zero.
solver using the k – ε turbulence model. The results obtained
from these simulations are represented in pictorial and
graphical form. The values of drag and downforce obtained
from CFD analysis can further be used as prime reference for
designing the mechanism of the particular Active
Aerodynamics System.

Key Words: CFD, Aerodynamics, Flow, Drag, Downforce,

Active aero, Control Systems, etc

1. INTRODUCTION

In this modern era of high speed automobiles,

aerodynamics plays a major role. Aerodynamic drag Fig -1: Forces on Aerofoil
contributes to almost 20% of overall drag and that drag
affects at high speed. Also, during high speed cornering, the Thrust: The forward force produced by a power-plant as it
vehicle must be pinned to the road without losing traction forces a mass of air to the rear (usually said to act parallel to
and for that, the vehicle must provide more downforce. So to the longitudinal axis).
maintain the vehicle performance in both the conditions,
active aerodynamics concept is used. Active aerodynamics Drag: It refers to the force that opposes the relative motion
allow the driver to switch between high downforce condition of an object through a fluid. It is the force of wind or air
to low drag condition using electronic sensors, electronic resistance pushing in the opposite direction to the motion of
control unit and electronic actuators using the car's brain. the object.
This paper briefly describes the active aerodynamics system
and how it works and how it helps to improve overall Lift: The aerodynamic force caused by air flowing over the
performance. wing that is perpendicular to the relative wind. An inverted
aerofoil is used as an aerodynamic wing and so the lift force
1.1 Aerodynamic forces acts in opposite direction and called as downforce.
In many aerodynamics problems, the forces of interest are
the fundamental forces such as lift, drag, thrust, and weight.
Of these, lift and drag are aerodynamic forces, i.e. forces due
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1.2 Bernoulli's principle time and/or space [2]. Computational Fluid Dynamics is a
tool that allows us to solve flow problems that do not have
The Bernoulli equation states that an increase in velocity known analytical solutions and cannot be solved in any other
leads to decrease in pressure. Thus, higher the velocity of the way. CFD has advantages like it is fast, provides complete
flow, lower the pressure. Air flowing over an airfoil will information, easily allows parametric studies which are
decrease in pressure. The law is directly related to the important in design and similarity constraints i.e.
principle of conservation of energy. It maintains that slower simulations can be performed at full scale. Along with these
moving fluid exerts greater pressure than faster moving advantages it has disadvantages like accuracy and reliability,
fluid. results are very sensitive to large numbers of parameters to
be set by the user, verification and validation are imperative
p + ρgh+ ρv2/2 =Constant and validation requires experiments. So, practical methods
of determining aerodynamics include Wind tunnel testing.
p + ρgh = Static Pressure
1.5 Wind tunnel testing
ρv2/2 = Dynamic Pressure
Wind tunnel testing is accurately reproducing wind flow
Where, p- Pressure, v- Speed, h- Height, ρ- density around full scale or model scale objects in a tunnel-like
construction under controlled conditions to study their
1.3 Boundary layer performance for design research purposes. Wind-tunnel
testing is extensively used for validation of Computational
A boundary layer is the layer of fluid in the immediate Fluid Dynamics simulations. This testing has advantages like
vicinity of a bounding surface where the effects of viscosity they allow the use of models that can be prepared early in
are significant [1]. There are two different types of design cycles, It include the full complexity of real fluid flow,
boundary layer flow, laminar boundary layer flow and and importantly they can provide large amounts of reliable
turbulent boundary layer flow. The laminar boundary is a data. Thus the question arises, why need wind tunnel testing
very smooth flow, while the turbulent boundary layer if we can get all the required data from CFD? The answer is,
contains swirls or eddies. The laminar flow creates less skin there are some things which cannot be simulated in CFD
friction drag than the turbulent flow, but is less stable. softwares and those can be practically simulated in wind
Boundary layer flow over a wing surface begins as a smooth tunnels only e.g. testing the effect of textile texture on cyclist
laminar flow. As flow continues back from the leading edge, aerodynamics, this cannot be “resolved” with CFD. So, the
the laminar boundary layer increases in thickness. At some most successful attack on virtually any aerodynamic design
distance back from the leading edge, the smooth laminar problems will be based on application of a combination of
flow breaks down and transitions to a turbulent flow. From results from experimental, theoretical and computational
a drag point, it has the transition from laminar to turbulent methods appropriately combined and leavened by
flow as far aft on the wing as possible, or has a large amount experience.
of the wing surface within the laminar portion of the
boundary layer. The low energy laminar flow, however, 1.6 Flow separation
tends to break down more suddenly than the turbulent
layer. During the flow over the surface of the vehicle, there are
some points when the change in velocity comes to a stall and
There are two effects which have to be considered. First, the fluid detaches from the surface and start flowing in
the boundary layer adds to the effective thickness of the reverse direction forming eddies and vortices [3]. This
flap, hence increasing the pressure drag. Secondly, the shear phenomenon is called ‘Separation’ of the fluid flow or
forces at the surface of the wing create skin friction drag. At Boundary layer separation. This occurs at different positions
high Reynolds number, it is desirable to have a laminar like the front hood, front windscreen and more dominantly
boundary layer. This results in a lower skin friction due to in the rear part of the vehicle. This separation affects the
the characteristic velocity profile of laminar flow. At lower flow field around the vehicle. Thus the phenomenon
Reynolds number, it is relatively easy to maintain laminar introduces the concept of wake. Flow separation causes
flow. This gives low skin friction, which is desirable. larger wake and thus drastic loss of downforce and major
increases in pressure drag. To avoid bad flow separation, the
1.4 Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) transitions of the air flows from rooftop to the back window
should be smoothed [4]. Aerodynamics efficiency can be
CFD is “solving fluid flow problems numerically” or it is increased by designing a streamlined body to avoid bad flow
the art of replacing the integrals or the partial derivatives (as separation.
the case may be) in the Navier-Stokes equations by
discretized algebraic forms, which in turn are solved to
obtain numbers for the flow field values at discrete points in
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2. AERODYNAMIC FLOW AROUND THE VEHICLE recent years wing mounting techniques have evolved
significantly to allow variation of the wing angle and widely
The diagram for aerodynamic flow (Fig. 2) clearly shows known as Active wing. The active wing provides sufficient
the nature of the flow around the vehicle. There is a drag and downforce according to the situation. This is called
stagnation point in front of the vehicle as air is almost Active aerodynamics of a vehicle. Active wing is normally
stagnant in those regions. By Bernoulli’s principle a high electronically activated by the car’s brain, active
pressure region corresponds to a low velocity region which aerodynamics also involve active spoilers, vents and wings
can be seen in the velocity contours. During the air flow at to keep the car pinned to the road during high-speed driving.
the vehicle without wing, air gets pulled downward at end By varying the car’s aerodynamic aids, the car can strike a
creating recirculation zones and thus generating turbulence balance between efficiency and road holding ability.
just behind the vehicle. This nature of flow will affect the
aerodynamic efficiency of the vehicle by creating low 4. DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM AND ACTIVE
pressure wake behind the vehicle. To avoid such low CONTROL OF AERO ELEMENTS
pressure wake, an aerofoil wing is added at the rear of the
vehicle. The aerofoil will divert the flow according to the To operate an active aerodynamic system in a vehicle it is
attack angle and thus forming a comparatively higher necessary to have a flexible and easy to modify system.
pressure wake than the case without rear wing. In case of Measurement of the vehicle parameters using various
aerofoil, the wake generated behind the vehicle depends sensors is another important goal which will make this
upon the angle of attack. Low angle of attack will create low aerodynamic system autonomous. This whole active
drag and low downforce while increased angle of attack will aerodynamic system can be divided into three subsystems,
further form low pressure wake resulting in high drag and measurement of parameters using sensors, electronic
higher downforce. Thus pressure wake behind the vehicle control system, user interface and actuation of system. With
affects dynamic performance of the vehicle intensively. electronics active aero reached its own new level.

4.1 Measurement of dynamic parameters using

sensors

Various electronic sensors are used to collect the real time

data and fed to the control unit.

Steering Angle Sensor: To measure the variation in the

Fig -2: Streamlines showing flow around a vehicle steering angle, the steering-angle sensor based on magneto
resistance technology (GMR element) offered by BOSCH is
3. ACTIVE AERODYNAMICS studied. The analog values of the GMR elements are
converted into digital information directly on the circuit,
Aerodynamics massively affects the performance of the which is then sent to the microprocessor via serial interface
vehicle. Airflow around the vehicle creates drag and at the frequency of 100 Hz.
downforce. This drag and downforce, changes vehicle
performance in various track conditions. In case of top Inertial Measurement Unit: The inertial measurement unit
speed, the vehicle must provide low drag and sufficient measures up to six dimensions: yaw, roll and pitch rate as
downforce to keep it attached to track while during high well as lateral, longitudinal and vertical accelerations. The
speed cornering the vehicle should have more downforce to inertial sensor designed by BOSCH is used which works
keep vehicle attached to ground and must not leave the according to the Coriolis principle, meaning it utilizes the
track.
inertia force of an oscillating mass in a rotating system. Thus,
It is known that having higher down force generates the
it collects all the dynamic data of the vehicle.
following advantages:
Pedal Position Sensors: This sensor monitors throttle and
1. Increases tires capability to produce cornering force brake pedal movement. This sensor can be either rotary or
2. Improves braking performance
linear in operation and is mounted with the operating shaft.
3. Gives better traction
The pedal position sensor offered by Active Sensors is
suitable for our use.
There is a disadvantage of high downforce during high
speed conditions as it will slow down the vehicle. The key to 4.2 Electronic control unit and User Interface
provide downforce while maintaining top speed is the
minimization of drag. The ideal scenario is one where you
To have integration between the operating mechanism
direct air pressure where it is needed to keep the car on the
and sensors output, we require an electronic control unit. An
road (downforce) without slowing down the car (drag). In
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electronic control unit is a device responsible for overseeing, aerodynamic effect of the structure of the wing and also
regulating and altering the operation of an active which angle of attack to choose in accordance with the
aerodynamics system on the basis of input data from the vehicle for best streamlined results. For the CFD analysis of
user and different sensors. The DENSO electronic control the spoiler, Ansys Fluent solver is used. Several versions of
unit is studied because of its effective user interface. After the same model of spoiler were analyzed just by varying the
synchronous reading of all the data from all the sensors the angle of attack (AOA). Starting from 0° to 40°, with a
control algorithm of electronic control unit processes the constant difference of 10°, in total 5 models were analyzed
data according to defined control laws and sends commands and all of which were set up using the k - ε turbulence model.
to the actuation algorithm which then sends the commands A virtual wind tunnel was created around the model. The
to all control units (i.e. Servo motor) of the system. User geometry was meshed in tetrahedral elements using patch
interface allows the operator to observe the collected data, conforming method. The boundary conditions such as, a
configure the controller according to dynamic conditions speed of 250 kmph (69.44 m/s) and gauge pressure of 0 Pa
(different modes of operation are possible), and can were selected. The fluid in the tunnel was air with density
manually control the aerodynamic elements. The Electronic 1.225 kg/m3 and kinematic viscosity of 1.7894 × 10-5 Kg/ms.
control unit is also configured to operate in a fully automatic
way without any user input.

Fig -4: Velocity contours for 0deg AOA

Fig -3: Data collection and Actuation system layout

4.3 Actuation of aero elements

The actuation subsystem includes the mechanism used for

operating the aerodynamic elements. The aerodynamic
wings are built into two parts (Fig - 9) and can be operated
individually to control the downward force and drag during
all dynamic conditions like accelerating, braking and high
speed cornering. PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal-
controlled servo motors are used which are connected to RS-
485 interface via signal converters. These motors are Fig -5: Velocity Contours for 10deg AOA
controlled at the frequency of 20Hz. The aerodynamic wings
are connected to the rocker arm which is then connected to
the push rod. The push rod (follower) operates on the cam
which is attached to the shaft of the servo motor. This
actuation mechanism integrated with vehicle assembly such
that no major component is directly exposed. The part of
linkages that is exposed to flow is designed aerodynamically
and so it produces less amount of drag.

5. DETERMINATION OF DRAG BY CFD

The rear wing is designed as an active aerodynamic

element. For the same we have to consider the actual

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Fig -6: Velocity Contours for 20deg AOA Chart -1: Coefficient of Drag and Downforce Vs AOA

6. ACTIVE AERO AND VEHICLE DYNAMICS

To reduce the tradeoff between high speed cornering,

braking and top speed driving performance we have
developed an active aerodynamic system at the rear wing
which is able to respond according to vehicle road condition.
These three conditions are studied to give a more collective
aerodynamic and dynamic response to road condition.

Accelerating or Top speed condition: When a high-speed car

accelerates in a straight line, it is necessary to have minimum
drag and downforce which ultimately reduces the resistance
Fig -7: Velocity Contours for 30deg AOA to the motion resulting in increment in speed. To achieve
this result, an active aerodynamic system aligns the active
rear wing at an angle of 0 deg with respect to the vehicle rear
body to minimize the pressure drag and downforce. The
aerodynamic wing will maintain the angle by analyzing data
provided by pedal position sensor, steering angle sensor and
GPS.

High Speed Cornering: During high speed cornering, there is

a requirement of comparatively higher downforce to pin the
vehicle to the ground so that it won't lose traction. As per
dynamic behavior, during cornering, overall weight will be
transferred to the outer side providing more downforce to
outer wheels and relatively less downforce to inner wheels.
So due to this condition, there are chances of the inner wheel
Fig -8: Velocity Contours for 40deg of AOA to lose traction and the vehicle will spin and go out of road
or track. To avoid this situation, we have splitted the rear
The flow features for different angles of attack of wing are wings in two halves (Fig -9) and each part works
shown in Fig 4-8. From that we can conclude that, as angle of independently. So during high speed cornering, the inner
attack is changing, at initial angles flow is adjusting itself side wing will attain required angle to produce maximum
without much disturbance but as angle is increasing, there is downforce and the outer side wing will attain such a position
formation of a recirculation zone behind the wing structure from which it will reduce drag and produce required
and hence creating more drag. Chart 1 clearly shows the downforce. Thus, balancing the vehicle dynamics by using
increase in drag and downforce coefficient with increase in active rear wing. The actuation of the rear wing will be done
angle of attack validated by CFD simulations. on the input data from steering angle, pedal position, yaw
rate, lateral acceleration and all the parameters measured by
inertial sensors.

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active state (inflated) change their shape and at the same

time modify the shape of the vehicle. Such a change in shape
would change the value of the aerodynamic forces acting on
the car while driving [5].

8. CONCLUSIONS

Study is done on the basic forces in aerodynamics,

boundary layer, flow separation and finding out the regions
with aerodynamic inefficiency by determining the flow
Fig -9: Representation of Active Independent Rear Wing around the vehicle. The key to provide downforce while
maintaining top speed is the minimization of drag and is
Braking: In order to increase braking efficiency during high achieved by an active rear wing. This active wing gets
speed, an active rear wing is used. For effective braking, it is actuated by the vehicle brain i.e. electronic control unit by
necessary to have grip and drag to slow down the vehicle. So taking input data from pedal positions, steering angle, yaw
the active rear wing takes the input data from the brake rate, lateral acceleration etc. from different sensors. CFD of
pedal position and inertial sensor to actuate the rear wing to the active rear wing is successfully done to determine the
its maximum possible angle to provide increased drag. This nature of flow, drag and downforce at various angles of
increased drag reduces the vehicle speed. This kind of attack.
braking is also called aero brake or aerodynamic brake.

7. ADD-ON AERODYNAMICS SYSTEMS An advanced active aerodynamic system with divided rear
wing improvised dynamic performance of the vehicle and
thus created the strong relation between aerodynamics and
1. The MP4-X F1 concept design revealed by McLaren
vehicle dynamics. Various add on systems are studied to
involving plasma flow controllers is in research and
improvise aerodynamics efficiency. Overall active
development currently. The idea of the active aerodynamic
aerodynamics helps to increase downforce or reduce it
using the electronic devices having minimum or no drag but
according to road conditions by using advanced data
can be actuated when required to produce drag by electronic
acquisition systems without compromising speed.
devices placed inside bodywork, High-voltage alternating
current is passed across two electrodes, which creates low-
temperature plasma. This plasma can ionize air molecules REFERENCES
passing over a surface, speeding up the airflow. This type of
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creating much drag and aero disruption as modern active Edition), McGraw-Hill
wings do. Activate the plasma flow controllers when extra [2] John D. Anderson Jr., (2005), Computational Fluid
grip is desired, shut them off when it isn't. It will require Dynamics.
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3. The concept of Active Rims helps to change the
aerodynamics of the vehicle in running mode. The active
rims alter their cupping with the aid of centrifugal force from
certain designed distance to 0 millimeters, transforming
them from sporty spoke wheels into flat disc wheels offering
exemplary aerodynamic characteristics.
4. A different kind of flexible deformable surfaces placed in
various locations on the vehicle. These deformable surfaces
can have the form of airbags, which in an inactive state
adhere closely to the body of the vehicle, whereas in an
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