Human-Powered Vehicle Fairing Velocity Study
Human-Powered Vehicle Fairing Velocity Study
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Effect of air velocity on fairing aerodynamics.
Effect of air velocity on fairing aerodynamics.
This study was conducted to aid in drivetrain decision making. I was tasked by a drivetrain team member to create a plot and interpolated equation which could be used ot estimate required pedal speed based on drag.
Process
Process
Using the same meshing and simulation process as explained in the main Human-Powerd Vehicle Fairing CFD Analysis page, speeds ranging from 10-80 mph were each analyzed with the same fairing model. This was achieved using design points as seen in the image.
After running each design point simulation, the following data was taken and used in the analysis.
Analysis
Analysis
After running simulations at each airspeed, I plotted drag and drag coefficient (based on frontal area) versus airspeed. Interpolated quadratic trendlines gave equations which I sent to the drivetrain team to interpret.
These trends had R^2 values of 1, meaning the data strongly fit to the quadratic trend. This result was expected, as the drag force scales proportionally with velocity squared, while the drag coefficient shows a gradual decrease across the evaluated high-Reynolds-number range before approaching a constant value. Along with this, the same model, mesh, and simulation process were used for each, with high levels of accuracy in the convergence criteria I set. This convergence criterion was smaller than that of the R^2 values rounded to a few digits, giving a value of 1.
The resulting plots and equations can be seen below.
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