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Using Race Car Aerodynamics to Teach Mechanical Engineering Students About Fluid Mechanics

Ann M. Anderson and Jeremy Losaw Department of Mechanical Engineering Union College Schenectady, NY

Abstract

The study of racecar aerodynamics provides an interesting application for illustrating principles of fluid mechanics. Racecars are aerodynamically designed to minimize drag force and maximize downforce (unlike airplanes which are designed to minimize drag and maximize lift). Drag forces limit maximum speed and affect fuel consumption while downforce is used to provide stability when driving around corners. Racecars use various “appendages” and body contouring to provide downforce and decrease drag force. This paper describes a 2-3 week wind tunnel lab exercise designed to study the aerodynamics of racecars. The lab is used in a junior level introductory fluid mechanics course to teach mechanical engineering students about the principles of lift and drag and the relationship between pressure and velocity as described by Bernoulli’s equation. We use several types of model racecars and students measure the lift (downforce) and drag as a function of velocity. In addition the students measure the pressure distribution on the surface of the model racecars and use Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to quantitatively measure the flow field around the car that contributes to the lift, drag and pressure measurements. By comparing the data from different car types students learn about lift and drag. This paper describes the experiments, explains how to instrument the cars, and presents a set of typical results for five different model car types.

Introduction

An automobile is one of the most basic mechanical engineering systems. Cars, and in particular racecars, are one of the things that attract students to the study of mechanical engineering, and the study of automobiles has entered the undergraduate mechanical engineering curriculum in a variety of ways. Many schools participate in the SAE sponsored Mini Baja or Formula Competitions which are seen as an effective way to motivate students to learn (see for instance Rencis, 1999 or Morris and Fry, 2001). Another example is a program at the University of South Carolina which uses an instrumented Legends-class race car in a capstone mechanical engineering course to teach students to develop a systems approach to problem solving (Lyons and Young, 2001; and Lyons Morehouse and Young, 1999). Several schools such as the Milwaukee School of Engineering (Musto and Howard, 2001; Musto, Howard and Rather, 2000), and the University of Arizona (Umashankar et al, 2001) report using racecar design in outreach programs to high school students. In addition a number of schools now offer motor sports programs as part of a Mechanical Engineering curriculum.

At Union College we have developed a racecar aerodynamics laboratory exercise that is used in a junior year fluid mechanics course to teach students about the relationship between pressure and “Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright Ó 2002, American Society for Engineering Education ”

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Losaw, J., & Anderson, A. (2002, June), Using Race Car Aerodynamics To Teach Mechanical Engineering Students About Fluid Mechanics Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--11294