PASSIVE STRUCTURAL CONTROL OF A MODEL CAR DRAG BY TRANSVERSE SEPARATING PLATES

Reduction of aerodynamic drag is essential in optimizing the energy used regardless of its source and consequently to reduce emissions of pollutants. Passive structural control is simple to implement without additional energy, and it ensures the absence of electronic or sophisticated actuator. In this area very little research has been investigated and little work is done compared to active control. Among the techniques for passive structural control, shape optimization includes the addition of Transverse Separating Plates (TSP) soldered to the reduced model, positioned at the rear and arranged perpendicularly to the incident flow. The aim is to undertake a series of simulations on a reduced and simplified vehicle model (Ahmed body) placed in a channel by imposing a uniform speed of V-0 = 40 m/s and a Reynolds number of Re = 2.75.10(6) and rear window angles of 15 degrees, 35 degrees and 90 degrees. TSPs soldered to the body are positioned at the rear and arranged perpendicular to the direction of flow. We altered the plate dimensions (width and height), the different distances connecting the plate to the body, we successively analysed the size and distance of the TSP in order to optimize the embarked energy.