Spoiler Modes Comparison for F1 Car Aerodynamics, ANSYS Fluent Tutorial

In this project, two different Spoilers in open and closed modes are compared using CFD simulation in ANSYS Fluent software to observe the lift and drag force difference between these two modes. We perform this CFD project and investigate it by CFD analysis.

As a moving device, the car has always been involved with air flow, so the science of aerodynamics has helped engineers bring the best performance to the car.

In recent years, the science of aerodynamics has experienced tremendous progress because, in the past, only a wing or spoiler was installed on a car to study its impact.

However, the process has become so complex today that engineers spend many hours researching and developing wind tunnels and computer simulators.

The present model is designed in three dimensions using SOLIDWORKS and then imported into the Design Modeler software.

We generate the mesh in Ansys meshing software. The elements are first used as tetrahedral. Then Fluent meshing converts them into the polyhedral mesh, which has fewer cells and better quality.

This mesh includes 1832373 Tetra elements for open mode and 1988126 for closed mode. Also, the number of polyhedral elements is about 450000 elements.

Spoiler Methodology

One of the problems with cars at high speeds is that the lift force increases, and then the vehicle loses control. Spoilers are designed to control the passage of air through vehicles. However, the precise design of this device has always been a challenge for researchers.

When a car reaches speeds above 145 km / h, the spoiler can show the difference between life and death, so simulating spoilers in computing software is essential.

Aerodynamics comes in two parts: increasing the downforce for traction and stability of the car and reducing drag or air resistance with the help of the chassis at high speeds and secondary accelerations.

Aerodynamic engineers have always sought to strike the right balance between these parameters. For example, in Formula One races, cars are allowed to use a dual-mode spoiler to reduce the lift force by opening the spoiler on straight routes, which significantly reduces drag and makes the car accelerate about 340 km/h.

This simulation aims to compare the open and close modes of the spoiler and observe the difference between the lift and drag force between these two modes. This simulation is performed using the k-w SST turbulence model.

Spoiler Conclusion

At the end of the solution process, we obtain two- and three-dimensional contours related to pressure, velocity, streamlines, and velocity vectors.

Furthermore, The comparison between the two modes shows that the lift force in the closed mode is about 700 Nm higher, which is the main reason for using the spoiler to make the car more stable on winding routes and momentary accelerations.

On the other hand, the drag force in the open state is less than 450 Newtons, which also indicates that in cases where it is not necessary to use the downforce force, and the speed is more desirable, opening the spoiler and using the drag reduction system, the drag force can be significantly reduced.

The results also showed that the wider angle profile performs better than the closed spoiler (zero degrees angle).