Exp Fluids (2010) 48:116 DOI 10.

1007/s00348-009-0705-7

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Aerodynamic drag reduction by vertical splitter plates

ron Azeddine Kourta Patrick Gillie

Received: 8 June 2008 / Revised: 13 June 2009 / Accepted: 15 June 2009 / Published online: 2 July 2009 Springer-Verlag 2009

Abstract The capacity of vertical splitter plates placed at the front or the rear of a simplied car geometry to reduce drag, with and without skew angle, is investigated for Reynolds numbers between 1.0 9 106 and 1.6 9 106. The geometry used is a simplied geometry to represent estatetype vehicles, for the rear section, and MPV-type vehicle. Drag reductions of nearly 28% were obtained for a zero skew angle with splitter plates placed at the front of models of MPV or utility vehicles. The results demonstrate the advantage of adapting the position and orientation of the splitter plates in the presence of a lateral wind. All these results conrm the advantage of this type of solution, and suggest that this expertise should be used in the automotive eld to reduce consumption and improve dynamic stability of road vehicles.

HA h w Re sl st Pio P dr ~ n ~ x R RL Se Ss Sc ~0 V ~ V Vx, Vy, Vz ~; x ~; y ~ z S Cp q a

List of symbols LA Length of the Ahmed body lA Rear window length wA Width of the Ahmed body

ron P. Gillie Research Division, Fluid Mechanics & Aerodynamics, Renault Group, 1, avenue du Golf (TCR AVA 058), 78288 Guyancourt, France e-mail: patrick.gillieron@renault.com A. Kourta (&) ans, 8 rue Le onard de Institut PRISME, ESA, PolytechOrle Vinci, 45072 Orleans Cedex 2, France e-mail: azeddine.kourta@univ-orleans.fr

b k h Cd Cdref

Total height of the Ahmed body Height of the geometry front part Width of the geometry front part Reynolds number based on the geometry length Viscous shear stress tensor Turbulent shear stress tensor Fareld total pressure Static pressure Surface element Normal vector unit Vector unit in the longitudinal plane Surface of the outlet boundaries around Ahmed body (R RL Se Ss Sc ) Lateral surface Inlet section (engine compartment) Outlet section (engine compartment) Body surface Upstream velocity vector Local velocity vector Velocity components Vector unit system related to the model Transversal section immediately downstream of the bluff body Static pressure coefcient Density Angle between the rear window and the upstream ow direction Skew angle Orientation angle of the splitter plate related to the body Angle between the splitter plate and the velocity Vo Aerodynamic drag coefcient Reference aerodynamic drag coefcient

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1 Introduction The growing request on fossil energy transforms today the world energetic system becoming incompatible with the available resources and the necessity to reduce gas emission with greenhouse effects. As an example, the number of Chinese road vehicles in 20 years from now will be approximately 270 millions30 times more than that in 2002 (Passenger Cars 2006). East Europe and Africa follow the same procedure at more or less equivalent proportion and at more or less long term. In this context, the gas with greenhouse effects emission will increase of about 57% in 2030 with environmental and climate strong repercussion (IEA 2007). Solutions have hence to be searched in different physical domains, by and for transport industry, to reduce signicantly the CO2 emission. In this situation and independently of the energy used (fossil combustible, electric, hydrogen, etc.), the aerodynamic ow control for the road vehicles becomes necessary to optimise the loaded energy. Scientic researchers work to reduce the vehicle drag of about 30% and to reduce the CO2 emission of about 12 (New European Driving Cycle as NEDC) to 24 g/km (customer real cycle). All solutions and results obtained previously and currently need to be actualised, adapted and improved in the perspective use for the road vehicle. Amongst the solutions retained in previous studies (Gad-el-Hak 1996), the use of splitter plates can be a good and an interesting solution because it constitutes a simple device without any electronic (no sophisticated actuator). The use of these splitter plates has been performed before without testing their effects on specic shape related to automotive vehicle (front right side for a bus, inclined for monospace (Fastback) type, rear right side for utility vehicle (square back), inclined rear window for estate car, and so on) for Reynolds number higher than 106. Their use for real car depends on the results on simplied car geometry in the presence of lateral wind. This study is related to this subject and hence concerned by the evaluation of splitter plate effect on simplied car geometry with or without side wind. Roshko and Koenig (1978) demonstrated that it is possible to reduce by 97% the drag on a cylinder with its axis parallel to the incident ow direction V0 using circular discs placed perpendicularly upstream to the velocity direction of V0. The result is obtained for a Reynolds number based on the cylinder diameter equal to 5 9 105. Mair (1965) analysed the effect of splitter discs set downstream of the bases and perpendicular to the incident ow. Experiments performed on a torpedotype obstacle equipped with a splitter disc downstream of the base for a Reynolds number equal to 6 9 105 demonstrated that aerodynamic drag may be reduced by

35%. A second splitter disc placed downstream of the rst disc achieved drag reductions of nearly 55%. However, these geometries remain very far from the road vehicle geometries and, the ground effects have never been considered. Signicant results have to be obtained on representative and simplied geometry representing better the automotives to convince the industry for the splitter plates use. The work proposed here is conducted on the Ahmed body, geometry commonly used as one representative of automotive aerodynamics. Some studies have been conducted on this geometry with longitudinal splitter plates (Baudoin and Aider 2008) and vertical splitter plates ron 2005). (Levallois and Gillie This work completes previous studies and aims to characterise the inuence of splitter plates on aerodynamic drag with simplied geometry hatchback and MPV- or utility-type vehicles. Swept angle effect on the efciency of the splitter plates placed front or behind the model (with inclined front and square base) is analyzed. The experiments were performed in a wind tunnel, around Ahmed body, varying the position, orientation and dimensions of the splitter plates. The splitter plate, with different skew angle, placed at front or rear of the geometry is also examined.

2 Theoretical bases Aerodynamic drag is dened as an integral over the surface vehicle of the static pressure, friction and turbulence stresses. It can be also obtained by a simplied analytical model based on the momentum equation applied to the air inside a stream tube enclosing the vehicle (see Fig. 1). From the pressure, viscosity and turbulent stress distribution over the vehicles boundary surface Sc (Fig. 1), the aerodynamic drag is given by 2 3 Z Z 6 7 ~dr sl st ~ Fx 4 PIn ndr5~ x 1
Sc Sc

Fig. 1 Integral momentum balance

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where sl ;, st and PI represent the viscous, turbulent and pressure stress tensors, respectively. The vector ~ n is a unit vector moving towards the outside of the uid domain, and ~ x is a unit vector with the same direction, collinear to the ! far eld velocity V0 . Viscous and turbulent stresses are connected to the formation and development of boundary layers on the vehicle surface. The aerodynamic pressure forces depend on the vehicle geometry and also on a distribution and evolution of the pressure related to the wake vortices. The aerodynamic drag given by Eq. 1, and averaged over a duration Dt, was measured in a wind tunnel using an aerodynamic balance. For an estate car, the aerodynamic pressure and friction contributions represented, respectively, 90 and 10% of the total aerodynamic drag (classical result). The aerodynamic pressure forces deduced from Eq. 1 and expressed as a function of the static pressure coefcient Cp is dened by Cp P P0 q 2 2 V0 2

turbulence effects are considered negligible compared to the pressure effect (Cousteix 1989). These simplications lead to the Onorato expression of the aerodynamic drag, given in Eq. 5. ! Z qV 2 Vx 2 Fx 0 1 dr 2 V0
S

qV 2 0 2 Z
S

Z "
S

Vy V0

2  2 # Vz dr V0 5

Pi 0 Pi d r

where P0 is the static pressure, V0 is the upstream fareld velocity and q is the density of air, and the aerodynamic drag is given by Z q 2 Fx V0 Cp~ n~ x dr 3 2
Sc

With a rounded front face-like Rankines half-oval without ow separation, aerodynamic drag is directly controlled by a static pressure distribution on the base. In general, on an automotive vehicle, the static pressure coefcient Cp on the base is between -0.05 and -0.20. Controlling the ow therefore consists of obtaining a zero static pressure coefcient on the base. Aerodynamic drag can also be analysed using pressure, viscous and turbulent information distributed over the boundary surface R (Fig. 1), and contained essentially in the wake (classical momentum equation, see Eq. 1). In this case, its expression is given by 2 3 Z Z ~dr sl st ~ Fx 4 PIn ndr5~ x
R

Z
R

~~ ~~ qV xV n dr

where Pi0 is the reference total pressure, V0 is the external ow velocity, q is the density, Pi is the total pressure and Vx, Vy, Vz are the components of the velocity vector. The expression (5) is then used to dene the aerodynamic drag of a motor vehicle according to velocity and total pressure elds measured in the wake cross section S, downstream from the base (Ardonceau and Amani 1992). The rst term of the expression (5) represents the drag associated with the longitudinal velocity decit measured inside the near-wake zone. Far downstream, in the wake, the longitudinal velocity component Vx becomes approximately equal to Vo and hence this term is equal to zero. This term is related to the development of transversal vortices at the base (Onorato et al. 1984). The second term corresponds to the vortex drag, associated with the development of longitudinal vortices on the geometry. Finally, the third term expresses the drag induced by the total pressure loss between the upstream and the downstream of the motor vehicle, associated with the formation and maintenance of separated swirling structures in the wake. According to the Onorato expression (5), the aerodynamic drag of a motor vehicle is mainly due to the formation of separated ow on the geometry, and on the formation of transversal and longitudinal swirling structures in the wake. Therefore, the drag reduction can be obtained by reducing, or even eliminating, the longitudinal vortices (second term, 20% of a total drag), by reducing the wake cross section S or by limiting the total pressure loss in the wake (third term, 80% of a total drag). The separation locations depend on the local wall curvature, the longitudinal static pressure gradient (Cousteix 1989), the inow turbulence intensity (Arnal et al. 1976) or the roughness (Granville 1985).

! where V is the local velocity vector.Onorato et al. (1984) proposed a simplied analytical model based on the momentum equation applied to the ow inside a stream tube enclosing the vehicle (see Fig. 1). The mean ow is assumed to be steady and incompressible, and gravity and

3 Experiment conditions The experiments were performed in the wind tunnel at the rieure dArts & Paris ENSAM [Ecole Nationale Supe

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4 Fig. 2 Sketch of wind tunnel

Exp Fluids (2010) 48:116

Fig. 3 Circular cylinder to control roof boundary layer thickness (indicated by an arrow)

Fig. 4 Geometry, scale 0.75 compared to the Ahmed body reference (Ahmed et al. 1984): the line A represents the end of the roof and the start of the rear window

tiers] Aerodynamics Laboratory. This Prandtl-type Me closed wind tunnel has a working section of 2.00 m long, 1.65 m wide and 1.35 m in height. It is an open work section wind tunnel (Fig. 2). The maximum turbulence level of this wind tunnel is less than 1%, and the maximum inow velocity Vo may reach 40 m/s. This wind tunnel is equipped with a three-component aerodynamic balance allowing the measurement of the drag, the side force and the yawing moment. The experimental model is placed on a circular cylinder raised from the wind tunnel oor (Fig. 3). This element allows to reduce the boundary layer thickness up to 80% at the wind tunnel roof and to model the lateral wind (side wind). The experiments were performed on a simplied automotive geometry (Fig. 4), namely, Ahmed body at scale ron and Chometon 1999). 0.75 (Ahmed et al. 1984; Gillie The Ahmed body lengths LA and lA, width wA and height

HA used are, respectively, equal to 783, 158, 216 and 292 9 10-3 m. In these conditions, the blockage ratio is less than 3%. The model is positioned on the aerodynamic balance with the help of three circular cylinders (diameter 2 9 10-3 m), and the distance between the model and the plateau representing the road is 7 9 10-3 m. For this geometry, the angle a represents the rear window inclination relatively to the horizontal plane. Tests were performed at two angles a = 0 and 25 (Fig. 4). With the angle a equal to 0, the ow is separated at the periphery of ron and Chometon the base to form a tore vortex (Gillie ron 2002). The Ahmed body is also 1999; Spohn and Gillie representative of a square-back vehicle. When the angle a equals 25, the separation at the end of the roof interacts with the two contra-rotating longitudinal vortices issued from both sides of the rear window. The separation on the rear window reaches the wake. Inside this separation,

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5
x/H
Reduced abscissa

appear two ow rotations centred on two focuses which contribute to the base separation. Detailed description of ron these phenomena was presented by Spohn and Gillie (2002). The Ahmed body can be also likened to a simplied vehicle with tailgate-type rear section. The splitter plates are attached to the experimental model with circular cylinder having 4 9 10-1 m length and 10-2 m diameter. To x correctly these connections and stop translation and rotation motions, sharp pressure screws are used. The error on the measurement of the distance between the splitter plate and the Ahmed body is less than 10-3 m.

V0 + <0
Skew angle

Plate orientation angle

Fig. 5 Denitions of skew angle b and orientation angle k

4 Results Experiments are performed with splitter plates placed at the rear of the base and in the front of the Ahmed body. Analysis is performed only by comparing the drag forces. In the case where the splitter plates are placed behind the base, analysis is performed only for the rear window angle equal to 0 (a = 0). When the splitter plates are positioned in front of the model, three different shapes of the model front are examined by varying or not the model orientation (rotation of 180). The skew angle effect on the standard Ahmed body with square back and by using splitter plates in the front and in the back of the experimental model is then examined. For all these congurations, the goal consists on reducing the surface of the wake that contributes to the drag force (see Eq. 5). To limit the side force on the splitter plates, the working velocity does not exceed 30 m s-1. Taking into account the ow velocity (20 and 30 m s-1) and the reduced size of the used model, the aerodynamic coefcient cannot be directly compared to the Ahmed study performed at 60 m s-1 and using one model at size 1. In this study, for the square-back geometry without adding a splitter plate, the aerodynamic drag coefcient is equal to 0.305 at 30 m s-1. For the conguration with a rear window inclined at 25 (used in the front side), it is equal to 0.448. In the following, only the percentages of the deviation from the aerodynamic coefcients obtained on the reference geometry are specied. The height and width of splitter plates were between 0.6 and 0.9 times the height and width of the Ahmed body. The analysis was performed by comparing the aerodynamic drag coefcient values measured with and without a splitter plate. If Cd and Cdref are the aerodynamic drag coefcients measured, respectively, with and without a splitter plate, the relative drag reduction 100[Cdref - Cd/Cdref] were plotted and analysed below for various skew angles b and various splitter plate orientations k, as dened in Fig. 5.

Fig. 6 Vertical splitter plate downstream the rear of the square-back Ahmed body (a = 0)

4.1 Vertical splitter plates effects The experiments were performed with splitter plates positioned downstream and upstream of the Ahmed body, and with a zero skew angle (b = 0) (see Fig. 6). The analysis is performed by varying the distance between the base and splitter plate (Mair 1965). The Reynolds number used in all the experiments is based on the model length L. 4.1.1 Downstream vertical splitter plates The vertical splitter plates were positioned on a squareback-type model (a = 0). The origin of the coordinates in this case is in the plane of the base, and the position of the plate in the x direction is kept non-dimensional by dividing x by the base height HA. The results plotted in Fig. 7 are obtained for three different plate sizes and for an upstream velocity V0 = 30 m s-1. With each splitter plate size, the results show that the drag reduction increases with the distance from the base x/HA, reaches a minimum and then decreases. It can be observed that the maximum aerodynamic drag reduction, close to 12%, is obtained with a splitter plate measuring 0.9HA 9 0.9wA, placed at x/HA = 0.5. An enhancement of the drag is observed for the splitter plate 0.6 when the non-dimensional distance x/HA becomes higher than 1.3. This result suggests an amplication of the shear layer instabilities (issued from

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11%

z
9%

Drag Reduction %

7%

5%

3%

splitter plate 0.6 splitter plate 0.8

1%

splitter plate 0.9

-1%

0,0

0,3

0,5

0,8

1,0

1,3

1,5

Reduced Abscissa x/HA

Fig. 7 Aerodynamic drag coefcient reduction versus x/HA with splitter plates of 0.9HA 9 0.9wA, 0.8HA 9 0.8wA and 0.6HA 9 0.6wA (V0 = 30 m s-1)

Fig. 8 Vertical splitter plate downstream the rear of the square-back Ahmed body (a = 0)

the separation at the end of the roof) that increases the pressure force on the front side of the splitter plate. This phenomenon is like the one observed in a deep cavity. For the cavity ow, when the aspect ratio (width over deep) is small, the upstream-separated shear layer from the corner does not interact with the downstream corner and hence does not affect the fareld ow. When this aspect ratio increases, the instability of the shear layer amplies and interacts with the downstream vertical wall of the cavity inducing retroactive pressure wave. These pressure oscillations amplify the shear layer instabilities, increase the parietal pressure distribution along the downstream cavity vertical wall (Rossiter 1964; Kourta and Vitale 2008) and contribute to increase the splitter plate drag. So the drag of the global geometry (body ? plate) increases. The results show clearly that the efciency of the plate increases when the relative distance x/HA is reduced. Considering h the angle between the upper part of the plate and the rear plane of the model, the higher drag reduction is obtained for h = 5.7, 7.1 and 11.3 (Fig. 8). These angles are lower than critical angle a = 12 corresponding to the appearance of rear window separation (Ahmed et al. 1984). Figures 9 and 10 show, respectively, the vertical and the horizontal planes of the oweld for different longitudinal plate positions. The formation and the evolution of two vortical tore structures between the base of the model and the splitter plate are clearly observed in the vertical planes ron 2005). When the longitudinal (Levallois and Gillie position x/HA increases, the upper vortex centre moves downstream, near to the splitter plate. At the same time, the lower vortex moves from the model base to the bottom side

towards the wind tunnel wall. When the maximum drag reduction is reached, the upper vortex centre is near the cavity centre. Moving the splitter plate downstream, this vortex centre moves towards the splitter plate and at the same time the aerodynamic drag increases. In all cases, the drag reduction is correlated with the transversal wake section diminution (the surface S in Eq. 5). From the horizontal planes (Fig. 10), for x/HA \ 0.6, between the base and the splitter plate, no vortex appears. For x/HA higher or equal to 0.6, two vortices are observed. When x/HA increases these vortices move from the splitter plate towards the base and the drag increases. For x/HA = 0.7, the vortex centres are located at the mid distance between the base and the splitter plate. Behind the splitter plate, the wake exhibits the classical tore structure. The Reynolds number effect was also analysed at two inow velocities, V0 = 20 m s-1 and V0 = 30 m s-1, corresponding, respectively, to a Reynolds numbers of 1.0 9 106 and 1.6 9 106. The obtained results are plotted in Fig. 11. It can be observed that the Reynolds number has small effect on the drag reduction obtained by using vertical splitter plates. The value and the maximum of drag reduction position are not affected by the Reynolds number. This result conrms the weak inuence of the Reynolds number on the aerodynamic drag beyond 25 m s-1. The inuence of a second splitter plate positioned downstream of the rst one measuring 0.9HA 9 0.9wA at x/HA = 0.5 was also analysed. This conguration allows to reduce the surface S of Eq. 5 and to decrease the aerodynamic drag for the same wake topology. The fact that this result is not obtained suggests the existence of cavity instability producing additional aerodynamic drag due to the front side of the last or of the both splitter plates.

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Exp Fluids (2010) 48:116 Fig. 9 Mean velocity distribution and streamlines for different longitudinal splitter plate positions: a x/HA = 0.4. b x/HA = 0.5. c x/HA = 0.6. d x/HA = 0.7 (splitter plates of 0.9HA 9 0.9wA, vertical plane at y = -27.5 mm)

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8 Fig. 10 Mean velocity distribution and streamlines for different longitudinal splitter plate positions: a x/HA = 0.4. b x/HA = 0.5. c x/HA = 0.6. d x/HA = 0.7 (splitter plates of 0.9HA 9 0.9wA, horizontal plane at z = 27.5 mm)

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12% 10%

8% 6% 4%
splitter plate 0.6 - 20m/s splitter plate 0.8 - 20m/s splitter plate 0.9 - 20m/s splitter plate 0.6 - 30m/s splitter plate 0.8 - 30m/s splitter plate 0.9 - 30m/s

2% 0% 0,00

0,25

0,50

0,75

1,00

1,25

1,50

Reduced Abscissa x/HA

Fig. 11 Reynolds number effect on aerodynamic drag coefcient reduction: Inow velocity of 20 and 30 m s-1, Re = 1.044 9 106 and 1.566 9 106

4.1.2 Upstream vertical splitter plates Signicant drag reductions could also be achieved by positioning vertical splitter plates upstream of the model (Roshko and Koenig 1978). The experiments were performed with various front section forms and various splitter plate sizes and positions. In each test, the reference height h and width w were related to the front section geometry (see Fig. 12).

The rst test series were performed on the Ahmed body, for which the height h and width w are dened in Fig. 12, conguration (a) where h = HA and w = wA. When the rear window inclination a is equal to zero (see Fig. 4), the geometry is a square back. When this angle equals 25, it corresponds to a rear window for a simplied vehicle with tailgate rear window. The second and third test series were obtained by swinging round the Ahmed body by 180 on its own yaw axis (vertical). For the second conguration, the rear window angle of inclination from horizontal was 25 (Fig. 12, conguration (b)). The reference height h and width w can therefore be likened to the height and width of the straight base underneath the rear window. This conguration is representative of an MPV (Espace) or utility vehicle front (h = HA and w = wA). For the third test series, the base was still facing the wind, but with a rear window angle of inclination of zero (a = 0, Figs. 4 and 12, conguration (c)). This conguration corresponds to a front part of truck or bus. In this case, the reference height h and width w can be likened to the Ahmed body height HA and width wA. For these three congurations, the experiments were performed using two splitter plates with a height and width values of 0.8 and 0.9 times the reference height h and width w. The origin of the abscissas in this case belonged to the splitter plate plane. As above, the effect of each splitter plate is analysed when the reduced distance x/h between the plate and the front of the model increased. The aerodynamic drag coefcient reduction percentages obtained with these three congurations are plotted in Figs. 13, 14 and 15, respectively.

Fig. 12 The various congurations and denitions of the Ahmed body (height h and width w)

Drag Reduction %

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10
2%

Exp Fluids (2010) 48:116

50%

0%

40%

Drag Reduction %

-2%

Drag Reduction %

30%

-4%
splitter plate 0.8 - 20m/s splitter plate 0.9 - 20m/s

20%
splitter plate 0.6 - 20m/s splitter plate 0.8 - 20m/s splitter plate 0.9 - 20m/s splitter plate 0.6 - 30m/s splitter plate 0.8 - 30m/s splitter plate 0.9 - 30m/s

-6%

splitter plate 0.8 - 30m/s splitter plate 0.9 - 30m/s

10%

-8 %

0,0

0,2

0,4

0,6

Reduced Abscissa x/h

Fig. 13 Percentage of aerodynamic drag coefcient reduction with splitter plates measuring 0.9h 9 0.9w and 0.8h 9 0.8w as a function of relative x/h positions. Splitter plates upstream of Ahmed body (Fig. 12, conguration (a))

0% 0,00

0,50

1,00

1,50

Reduced Abscissa x/HA

Fig. 15 Percentage of aerodynamic drag coefcient reduction with splitter plates measuring 0.9HA 9 0.9wA and 0.8HA 9 0.8wA as a function of reduced position x/HA. Straight front geometry (Fig. 12, conguration (c))

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

splitter plate 0.6 - 20m/s splitter plate 0.8 - 20m/s splitter plate 0.9 - 20m/s splitter plate 0.6 - 30m/s splitter plate 0.8 - 30m/s splitter plate 0.9 - 30m/s

0% 0,00

0,25

0,50

0,75

1,00

1,25

1,50

Reduced Abscissa x/h

Fig. 14 Percentage of aerodynamic drag coefcient reduction with splitter plates measuring 0.9h 9 0.9wA, 0.8h 9 0.8wA and 0.6h 9 0.6wA upstream, as a function of reduced abscissas x/h. Upper front part inclined 25, estate or MPV conguration (Fig. 12, conguration (b))

With vertical splitter plates measuring 0.9h 9 0.9w and 0.8h 9 0.8w positioned upstream of the rounded part of the Ahmed body (Fig. 12, conguration (a)), the experimental results show that aerodynamic drag decreases, reaches a minimum and then increases rapidly as the reduced distance x/h increases (Fig. 13). The results obtained with a fareld velocity of 20 and 30 m s-1 demonstrate that the

drag reduction decreases as the Reynolds number increases. At these two velocities, the maximum drag reduction values observed in the vicinity of x/h = 0.15 are 2.00 and 0.15%, respectively. These reductions are insignicant, but the inuence of the relative position of the splitter plate appears to be important. The experiments performed on MPV- and/or utility-type fronts (front end inclined 25/horizontal, Fig. 12 conguration (b)) are more interesting. With splitter plates measuring 0.8h 9 0.8wA, drag reductions of nearly 28% were obtained with the reduced position x/H equal to 0.3 (Fig. 14). Drag reduction remains greater than 25% over the reduced position interval [0.30.6]. The Reynolds number has very little inuence on the results. Also, through a geometry adaptation designed to recover the ow for engine cooling, this type of solution could be a mean of progress for reducing automotive drag. With a straight front end (a = 0, Figs. 4, 12 conguration (c)), drag reduction is particularly signicant (Fig. 15). This reduction reaches 45% with a vertical splitter plate measuring 0.8HA 9 0.8wA placed at the reduced position x/HA = 0.3. It remains greater than 40% as x/HA increases from 0.3 to 1.0. The sensitivity to the x/HA relative position in this case appears to be less signicant than above. By enabling a reduction in the surface area of the transverse section separated from the upstream end of the model, the results obtained in this case conrm the advantage of rounding vehicle front end connection surfaces (transversal wake surface reduction).

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Drag Reduction %

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11

Fig. 16 Mean velocity distribution and streamlines (conguration (a)) for different longitudinal front splitter plate positions: a x/h = 0.24. b x/h = 0.4. c x/h = 0.56 (splitter plate of 0.9h 9 0.9wA, vertical plane at y = 26.8 mm)

For the conguration (b) with front splitter plate, PIV measurement can provide explanation of the drag reduction. Figures 16 and 17 show the vertical and horizontal planes, respectively, for three different plate positions. In

Fig. 16, for the vertical plane, the separation zone is at the beginning near to the body, and when the plate moves upstream, this separation zone grows and moves far from the body so it does not inuence the aerodynamic

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Fig. 17 Mean velocity distribution and streamlines (conguration (b)) for different longitudinal front splitter plate positions: a x/h = 0.24. b x/h = 0.4. c x/h = 0.56 (horizontal plane at z = 26 mm)

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13
Plate orientation angle

performance. The bubble is somewhere between the splitter plate and the front body. The ow is no more separated on the body. For the horizontal plane, the ow conguration near the front body does not change when the splitter plate moves upstream. The velocity owelds show that the local evolution at the bottom (Fig. 16a, c) and lateral sides (Fig. 17a, c) of the body changes the upstream velocity direction. The transversal size decreases with the increase of the relative distance x/h. Hence, the drag related to the transversal wake surface S (Eq. 5) decreases. 4.2 Splitter plates with non-zero skew angle The inuences of skew angle b and the effects of orientation angle k on aerodynamic drag evolution were analysed using splitter plates applied on type (b) and (c) geometries; see Figs. 12, 18 and 19. All the results, expressed as percentages, were determined relatively to values measured without a splitter plate for the same skew angles b. 4.2.1 Downstream vertical splitter plates The experiments were performed on a straight base model (conguration (a) representative of the rear of a Renault Espace-type vehicle, with a = 0), tted with a vertical splitter plate, with height and width values of 0.90HA and 0.86wA, respectively. The aerodynamic drag measured with a splitter plate was always less than its value observed without a splitter plate, but the splitter plates inuence decreases as the skew angle b increases (Fig. 20). Drag reductions greater than those obtained with splitter plates positioned parallel to the base demonstrate the advantage of adapting the splitter plate orientation k (orientation/ vertical) to the skew angle b. Finally, the changes observed as a function of the orientation angle with a skew angle b = 5 suggest the existence of strong interactions between the splitter plate and the base. The inuence of longitudinal spacing between the vertical splitter plate and the base was analysed with a skew angle b = -15, varying the reduced position x/HA at various orientation angle k values (Figs. 21, 22). With
x/H = 0.6 Reduced abscissa

V0 <0
Skew angle

Reduced abscissa x/h = 0.4

Fig. 19 Skew angle b and orientation angle k of upstream splitter plate, type (b) geometry
14% 12%

Drag reduction (%)

10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% -20

-20 skew -5 skew

-15 skew 0 skew

-10 skew

-10

10

20

Orientation angle ()
Fig. 20 Rear splitter plate 0.90HA 9 0.86wA with x/HA = 0.6: Percentages of aerodynamic drag coefcient reduction as a function of orientation angle k with various skew angles b

V0 + <0
Skew angle

Plate orientation angle

Fig. 18 Skew angle b and orientation angle k of downstream splitter plate, conguration (a) with a = 0 (Fig. 2)

orientations angle k greater than -15, the aerodynamic drag observed with a splitter plate at skew angle b = -15 was always less than its value observed without a splitter plate, and the optimum aerodynamic drag reduction position was poorly inuenced by the orientation angle k on the angular domain [-20, ?20]. This optimum position is closer to the base (from x/HA = 0.3 to x/HA = 0.4) at nonzero, when positive value of the orientation angle k is increased (leeward part nearer the base than the windward part), and is further from the base when its negative absolute value is increased (from x/HA = 0.4 to x/HA = 0.5). At skew angle b = -15, the maximum drag reduction (10.6%) is observed at x/HA = 0.4 with orientation angle of k = 5 (Figs. 21, 22). In addition, at all x/HA positions less than 0.4 (maximum drag reduction with k = 0, Fig. 21), the drag observed at positive orientation angle k values was less than its value observed with vertical splitter plate (k = 0). The maximum drag reduction was therefore obtained by moving the windward part (the leeward part respectively) of the splitter plate away from (respectively closer to) the base. All these

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14
12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% -2% -4%
-20 orientation -15 orientation -10 orientation -5 orientation 0 orientation 5 orientation 10 orientation 15 orientation 20 orientation

Exp Fluids (2010) 48:116

8% 6%
x/h = 0,23 x/h = 0,3 x/h = 0,4 x/h = 0,5 x/h = 0,6

Drag reduction (%)

Drag reduction (%)

4% 2% 0% -2% -4% -6% -8% -20

HA = 0,6

0,2

0,3

0,4

0,5

0,6

-10

10

20

Reduced abscissa x/HA

Fig. 21 Rear splitter plate 0.90HA 9 0.86wA: Percentage aerodynamic drag coefcient reduction as a function of reduced position x/HA with various orientation angles k and skew angle b = -15

Orientation angle ()
Fig. 23 Front splitter plate 0.8 h 9 0.8wA: Percentage of aerodynamic drag coefcient reduction versus the orientation angle k at various reduced abscissas x/h, and skew angle b = -15

12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% -2% -4% -20

x/HA = 0,2 x/HA = 0,3 x/HA = 0,4 x/HA = 0,5 x/HA = 0,6

-10

10

20

Orientation angle ()
Fig. 22 Rear splitter plate 0.90HA 9 0.86wA: Percentage of aerodynamic drag coefcient reduction as a function of orientation angle k with various reduced abscissas x/HA, skew angle b = -15

results demonstrate the advantage of adapting splitter plate orientation to external conditions. 4.2.2 Upstream vertical splitter plates The vertical splitter plate was positioned on the front of a type (b) model, front conguration of a RenaultEspace (Square-back)-type vehicle (Fig. 19). Its height and width values were 0.8 times the height h and width w = wA dened

in Fig. 12. The set-up geometry restricted the x positioning of the splitter plate, and the lowest possible value for the x/h ratio increased with the orientation angle a. The measurements were performed at a skew angle b = -15. At a skew angle b = -15, and beyond a maximum positive orientation angle k, the value of which increases with reduced longitudinal spacing x/h, the aerodynamic drag rapidly decreases, and its value may fall below its value observed without a splitter plate (Fig. 23). In this conguration, unlike the results observed with the downstream splitter plate, the maximum drag reduction was obtained by moving the leeward part (the windward part respectively) of the splitter plate away from (respectively closer to) the vehicle, see Figs. 19 and 23. Drag reductions of approximately 7.1% were obtained with the orientation angles k = 15 and 20. At a skew angle b = -15 and zero orientation (k = 0), the splitter plate always has an adverse effect on the aerodynamic drag coefcient value (Figs. 23, 24), orientation curve k = 0. Analysis of the results demonstrated that the reductions are greater when the splitter plate was placed as close as possible to the model (Fig. 24). At a given reduced position less than 0.35, the maximum reductions were observed at maximum positive orientation angle values (with negative b).

Drag reduction (%)

5 Conclusion In the worldwide context strongly constrained by the climatic consequence of CO2 emission and the fossil

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Exp Fluids (2010) 48:116

8% 6% 4% 2% 0% -2% -4% -6% -8%
-20 orientation -15 orientation -10 orientation - 5 orientation 0 orientation 5 orientation 10 orientation 15 orientation 20 orientation

15

0,2

0,3

0,4

0,5

0,6

Reduced abscisse x/h

Fig. 24 Front splitter plate 0.8: Percentage of aerodynamic drag coefcient reduction versus x/h at various orientation angles a and skew angle b = -15

combustible rarefaction, automotive industry has to search for a new solution to increase the loading energy efciency (fossil energies, hydrogen or electric). In this situation, many works on passive and active separation control have been initiated both in industry and academic research laboratories. The obtained results conrm the interest of using splitter plates to reduce the aerodynamic drag for the road vehicle. By choosing adapted positions and orientations with respect to the ow conditions, drag reduction can be obtained. By using the splitter plate alone or with another control solution (vortex generators or active control systems), these solutions allow to reduce for at least 10% the drag of the road vehicles. For vehicles with square back, the gas consumption will be reduced by 0.8 L for 100 km at stabilized vehicle velocity of 130 km h-1. If the added mass related to the splitter plates is compensated by the reduction of engine mass due to the engine size reduction (downsizing), at this velocity, the CO2 will be diminished by 20 g/km and by 3.5 g/km on the NEDC (New European Driving Cycle) reference. The nal goal is to integrate these solutions on road vehicle at the horizon of 2015. The solutions obtained on different models studied here show the complexity of physical phenomena and the necessity to continue the development of knowledge in this case. Noise, instabilities or at least interactions with vortex structures coming from front part of the model or from the rear window have to be carefully analysed to improve the control performances. With vertical splitter plates positioned downstream of a straight base, drag reductions of nearly 12% were obtained. The reductions increased with increasing splitter plate

transverse dimensions and decreasing distance between the splitter plate and the base. The inuence of the Reynolds number remained low, with apparently no inuence on the physical phenomena, whereas drag reduction increased with increasing Reynolds numbers. The inuence of vertical splitter plates positioned upstream was also analysed. Drag reductions of nearly 27 and 45% were obtained, respectively, using splitter plates positioned upstream of an angled front face with or without an inclination from vertical. The Reynolds number inuence appears to be less signicant than for splitter plates positioned on the rear of the models. For splitter plates mounted downstream, the optimum longitudinal position of the splitter plates was poorly inuenced by the skew angle and the angular variations of the splitter plate from vertical. For orientation angle k less than -15, the aerodynamic drag observed with a splitter plate at a skew angle b = -15 was always less than its value observed without a splitter plate. The greatest reductions were obtained with optimum x/H position observed with zero skew angle by moving the windward part of the splitter plate away from the base. Drag reductions of nearly 10.6% were observed. With splitter plates positioned upstream in parallel to the front face of a straight base-type model, the skew effect had an adverse effect on aerodynamic drag, and the results demonstrated the need to adapt the splitter plate orientation to the skew angle. Drag reductions of nearly 7% were observed, and the maximum drag reductions were obtained by moving the leeward part of the splitter plate away from the vehicle. Finally, the results presented herein conrm the advantage of splitter plates in reducing aerodynamic drag, and demonstrate the need to develop systems capable of adapting their position and angular orientation to external conditions.

Drag reduction (%)

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