Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Senior
Ph.D student
Xin Zhang1
Professor in Aerodynamics
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics,
School of Engineering Sciences,
University of Southampton,
Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
The force and pressure behavior of a generic diffuser in ground effect were investigated.
The diffuser model is a bluff body with a rear diffuser at 17 deg to the horizontal, and
side-plates. Measurements were conducted in a low speed wind tunnel equipped with a
moving ground facility. Techniques employed were force balance, pressure taps, and
surface flow visualization. The diffuser flow in ground effect was characterized by vortex
flow and three-dimensional flow separation. Four types of force behavior were observed:
(a) down-force enhancement at high ride heights characterized by an attached symmetric
diffuser flow, (b) maximum down-force at moderate ride heights characterized by a symmetric diffuser flow and separation on the diffuser ramp surface, (c) down-force reduction
at low ride heights characterized by an asymmetric diffuser flow and flow separation, and
(d) low down-force at very low ride heights, also characterized by an asymmetric diffuser
flow and flow separation. The down-force reduction near the ground is attributed to flow
separation at the diffuser inlet and subsequent loss of suction in the first half of the
diffuser. DOI: 10.1115/1.1340637
Introduction
A region of upsweep on the underbody surface of an otherwise
symmetrical body gives the body camber, which leads to negative
lift down-force. If the aerodynamic body is placed near a moving ground, a diffuser is formed with additional fluid flow mechanisms, leading to changes in the pressure field. The fluid flow in a
diffuser in ground effect represents a complex fluid dynamic problem with features such as flow separation, vortex flow, and flow
reversal. An understanding of the major flow physics is important
in developing flow control methods and assisting in the development of theoretical and numerical predictive methods. This type
of flow is important in the automobile and aeronautical industries,
and it has implications in performance and safety.
Current understanding of the diffuser flow in ground effect is
limited. There are only a small number of studies published in
open literature 14. Sovran 3 suggested that as the diffuser
delivers flow to a fixed exit pressure such as the base pressure of
a vehicle, its pressure recovery appears as a depression in pressure
at the diffuser inlet, the diffuser has pumped down the underbody pressures below that which would occur on a flat bottomed
model, the underbody flow rate increases and the result is a
greater down-force. Cooper et al. 4 found that for any one diffuser angle, the down-force exerted on the model increased as the
model was lowered from a freestream ride height to near the
ground until a maximum was reached. Below this ride height
down-force reduced sharply. They surmised that at this critical
height the sum of the boundary layer thickness under the body and
over the ground became a substantial fraction of the ride height.
They also documented a difference in the down-force curves between smaller and larger diffuser angles below a certain ride
height, the latter showed a reversal in the consistent trend in
down-force seen in all the curves above this ride height. George
1 observed a leeside vortex pair on the upsweep surface of a
diffuser which appeared to keep the flow attached to the surface
and thus maintain down-force. Streamwise corner vortices are a
well known feature of secondary flows in rectangular ducts see
e.g., Brundrett and Barnes 5. In tests on a venturi-type model
1
Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Fluids Engineering Division for publication in the JOURNAL
OF FLUIDS ENGINEERING. Manuscript received by the Fluids Engineering Division
April 27, 2000; revised manuscript received October 3, 2000. Associate Editor:
K. Zaman.
Experimental Arrangement
Tests were conducted in one of the University of Southamptons low speed closed circuit wind tunnels, which has a test section of 2.1 m1.5 m. The tunnel is equipped with a moving
ground 3.5 m in length and 1.5 m in width. The freestream turbulence level in the tunnel is 0.2 percent. Tests were run at a wind
and belt speed of 20 m/s and at a Reynolds number of 1.8106 . A
system is located upstream of the belt moving ground for removal of the boundary layer that grows along the floor of the wind
tunnel. The boundary layer is sucked away through a slot and a
perforated plate. With the boundary layer suction applied, the velocity reaches the freestream value less than 2 mm above the
moving ground, corresponding to h r /d0.013. A more detailed
description of the moving belt system can be found in Burgin
et al. 6.
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2.66 at x/d5.44, reducing to 1.429 at x/d5.91. The increase in suction is reflected in the increased curvature of the
surface flow, the curvature being greatest at h r /d0.21.
Force Reduction and Low Down-Force. The maximum
down-force occurs between h r /d0.21 and 0.217. During the
model tests it was found that the height at which the maximum
down-force occurred varied between these two heights. The
switch between the maximum down-force and the onset of the
loss of down-force appeared in a random fashion, and on occasion
the flow switched between a region-b flow maximum force and
a region-c flow force reduction between wind tunnel runs without apparent variations in model settings.
Figure 8 gives surface pressures on the diffuser surface typical
of flows in the force reduction region region-c and the low force
region region-d. On the down-force curve, the two regions are
not clearly marked. However, there is a discernible difference in
the slope of the curve. Figure 8a was taken at h r /d0.191, and
shows the flow in a region where the down-force experiences a
rapid reduction. Figure 8b gives spanwise pressures at h r /d
0.064. The loss of down-force is accompanied by the appearance of an asymmetric flow in the diffuser. The flow is now separated at the inlet on one side. The separation bubble has collapsed
and the primary separation line is now difficult to identify from
the surface flow visualization see Fig. 9. In Fig. 9, the surface
flow is no longer symmetric about the diffuser center-plane. Instead, it runs from the bottom left corner of the ramp diagonally
towards the center-plane, where the separation causes the detachment of the vortex on the top side as in the maximum force region. Although the top side vortex rolls up as normal, the bottom
side flow has begun to reverse back up the ramp, indicating a
separated flow and the collapse of the vortex at this side of the
diffuser.
The asymmetry of the flow is unlikely to be caused by errors in
setting the model height. Its appearance occurs at random, during
Journal of Fluids Engineering
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localized areas of the diffuser before the vortex pair detach from
the surface. This is sufficient to continue the generation of an
overall, larger down-force on the model.
The increase in down-force is terminated at very low model
ride heights when the 3D flow separation occurs at the inlet. This
3D flow separation is asymmetric, leading to the apparent collapse
of one of the counter-rotating vortices. As a result the suction
level at the inlet is reduced. Although the large single vortex still
generates a high suction level near the diffuser exit as seen in Fig.
10b, the overall down-force is reduced.
Conclusion
A study of a generic diffuser-equipped bluff body in ground
effect was performed, using correct ground conditions. The study
established the major flow features and provided an insight into
the flow physics, particularly the force reduction phenomenon at
low ride heights. Four flow regions were identified.
Based on the results discussed, the following conclusions can
be drawn:
height change. The size of the boundary layer (O(0.096d)) suggests a merging of boundary layers on the model and the ground is
likely to lead to a reduction in the flow entering the diffuser,
hence the low level of down-force in this region. The basic flow
features, though, remain similar to those in region-c. In Fig. 2, the
down-force level and drag at the lowest ride height (h r /d
0.064) show a further reduction. From the surface pressure
measurement Fig. 3 and flow visualization not included, it can
be surmised that, at this height, the flow entrainment in front of
the diffuser inlet is reduced substantially, leading to the very low
levels of down-force and drag.
Further Discussions. The mean flow behavior exhibits different characteristics in the four main flow regimes over the ride
heights tested. For flows in the force enhancement region, surface
flow visualization and pressure measurements suggest that a major
part of the down-force is produced across the diffuser inlet due to
the diffuser pumping 3 and near the sides of the diffuser
where the additional suction is created by the streamwise vortices
near the diffuser surface. This feature of the flow can be seen in
the surface pressure distributions e.g., Figs. 4 and 10a. With
the suction peak at a fixed ride height occurring at the inlet of the
diffuser, the suction level in the first part of the diffuser is constrained by the suction peak and varies accordingly, which contributes to a large part of the overall down-force.
At a critical height near to the ground the pressure gradient
between the diffuser inlet and the fixed exit pressure becomes too
large to prevent the 3D boundary layer separation on the ramp
surface inside the diffuser and the vortex detachment from the
surface. Even so, in the maximum down-force region, down-force
increases in the presence of the separated flow as h r is reduced.
Although the region of separated flow inside the diffuser becomes
larger, the under-body pressures become increasingly negative in
110 Vol. 123, MARCH 2001
1 In the force enhancement region, the diffuser flow is characterized by a pair of counter-rotating streamwise vortices formed
from separation at the edges of the side-plates. The diffuser flow
remains attached to the ramp of the diffuser. The vortices detach
from the surface towards the exit of the diffuser due to flow deceleration and adverse pressure gradient.
2 In the maximum force region, flow separates on the ramp of
the diffuser. However, the flow remains symmetric about the
center-plane of the diffuser, and the suction level at the diffuser
inlet continues to rise as the ride height is reduced, leading to a
high down-force level.
3 Increasing down-force is terminated at a critical ride height
due to 3D flow separation at the diffuser inlet, leading to the
apparent collapse of one of the counter-rotating vortices and
asymmetric flow in the diffuser.
4 At lower ride heights still, a low level of down-force exists,
which could be indicative of a boundary layer blockage at the
diffuser inlet at very low ride heights.
5 Correct ground conditions should be used in investigating the
force behavior in the proximity of ground, in particular the force
reduction phenomenon.
Certain issues were not covered by the present study, but nevertheless could be important. For example, the diffuser flow is
likely to be unsteady as one of the two large counter-rotating
vortices collapses or a flow reversal occurs. If the flow is indeed
unsteady then the flow physics would be of both fundamental and
practical importance.
Acknowledgments
Andrea Senior wishes to thank British American Racing for
providing a scholarship, and the authors would like to thank
Willem Toet and Professor G. M. Lilley for their advice and
suggestions.
Nomenclature
CD
CL
Cp
d
D
h
hr
l
L
p
q
Re
S
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References
1 George, A., 1981, Aerodynamic effects of shape, camber, pitch and ground
proximity on idealized ground-vehicle shapes, ASME J. Fluids Eng., 103,
Dec., pp. 631638.
2 George, A., and Donis, J., 1983, Flow patterns, pressures, and forces on the
underside of idealized ground effect vehicles, Proceedings of the ASME Fluids Engineering Division Symposium on Aerodynamics of Transportation-II,
Vol. 7, Dec., pp. 6979.
3 Sovran, G., 1994, The kinematic and fluid-mechanic boundary conditions in
underbody flow simulation, Proceedings of the CNR-Pininfarina Workshop
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