Study of the passive flow control mechanism applied to a generic (DrivAer) car

Abstract

From this last ten years on, the last trend of the automotive industry has been to produce daily driver cars as efficient as possible. This decision has permitted aerodynamic performance to be one of the most important aspects in a car’s development. From slender designs, through the implementation of splitters or diffusers and right up to deployable spoilers at certain speeds, there are multiple aerodynamic components. However, when this elements are mentioned, nobody thinks of vortex generators, those geometries located on the car’s roof, usually with a shark fin design. At first, one could think they only are used as covers, while the reality is far from that. In this work, a study of these vortex generators will be carried out, from the design of several geometries to its aerodynamic behaviour, to finally understand if their implementation is purely aesthetic or if they indeed improve the vehicle’s aerodynamic performance