Fluids, Heat and Mass Transfer, Mechanical and Civil Engineering

Aerodynamic Study of the Ahmed Body in Road-Situations using

Computational Fluid Dynamics
R. Manimaran
Thermal and Automotive Research Group
School of Mechanical and Building Sciences
VIT University (Chennai campus)
Vandalur – Kelambakkam road, Chennai, Tamilnadu 600127
India
manimaran.nr@gmail.com

Abstract:- The vehicle aerodynamics is of day to day interest in upcoming new concept vehicles
owing to the fuel savings. The present work aims to discover the flow pattern of Ahmed body on the road
during the acceleration and overtaking the vehicle to the right. The aerodynamic characteristics such as lift
and drag ceofficients are compared. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations predict the on-road
condition after validation with the experimental results in the wind tunnel. OpenFOAM software is used for
CFD analyses. Further drag reduction is achieved by constructing the platoon of two vehicles separated by
0.2 and 0.3 vehicle lengths and the associated interference drag with the isolated case are compared.

Key-words:- Ahmed body, Flow field, Drag coefficient, Overtaking, Platooning, Computational fluid
dynamics.

1. Introduction van through driving tunnels. Himeno et al. (1990)

analyzed numerically the airflow around vehicles
Aerodynamic drag of a typical passenger car using multi-block structured grids. Kitoh et al.
arises from the styled upper surfaces and the (1986) used K-ε model to study the effect of
underbody and wheels. The major drag boundary layer conditions on flow around a two-
component comes from the upper surfaces, dimensional vehicle. Ahmed and Hucho (1977)
especially in the separated flow regions at the rear used the panel method to calculate the flow past a
base of the car. While a significant amount of van. Minato et al. (1991) carried out an
research has been conducted on the effect of base experimental research to clarify the wake structure
cavities on drag reduction for axi-symmetric behind trucks. Results of flow visualization and
bodies at high Mach numbers relevant to missile image processing were compared with the finite
aerodynamics, very few studies have been at the volume results using K-ε model. They stated that
low subsonic Mach numbers relevant for the drag coefficient in overtaking process depends
automobiles. on the relative position of the two vehicles during
the process.
In contrast, road driving is in the influence of
turbulent atmospheric winds and traffic wakes. Smoke flow visualisations show a clear difference
These factors influence the relative wind in the wake pattern for various inter-vehicle gaps,
environment experienced by the moving vehicle as the gap is varied. In the platooning of 0.2 and
to one which has significant temporal and spatial 0.3 vehicle length spacings, the drag coefficientis
variations. Recently, road vehicle aerodynamic is observed to be less. The value of drag
research has increasingly been focussed on coefficient agrees with typical values from the
understanding the flow field in the environment. literature (Ahmed et al., 1984). The present aim of
Much data are obtained from the wind the work is to study the flow field around the
engineering simulation of a correctly scaled Ahmed body during acceleration conditions and
model in the wind tunnel. overtaking the vehicle at the right side. Further the
stream lines and pressure contours of the flow
Abdel Azim and Abdel Gawad (2000) carried out field are investigated. The turbulent kinetic energy
a flow visualization study of the aerodynamic is compared between different cases and
interference between passenger cars in different computed. The literature survey gives a variety of
moving arrangements. Abdel Azim and Abdel computational to experimental studies. In this
Gawad (2000) performed a numerical present study, consideration is emphasized on
investigation of the aerodynamics of a bus and a CFD for overtaking and platooning like in roads.

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2. Methodology
CFD tool is presently used nowadays to explore
the flow phenomena as depicted in real life
situations.The modeling of the Ahmed body (Fig.
1) is performed in Salome software. The model is
meshed using the SnappyHexMesh tool under
OpenFOAM.

Figure 3. Mesh (0.8 million) shown in rear end of

Ahmed body

The analyses were performed in steady state,

adiabatic, fully turbulent conditions, for a
reference pressure and temperature of the air p∞
=1 bar and T∞ = 15 °C. These were used for
computation of the rest of the air free stream
parameters, as density and viscosity. The
reference velocity of free stream was v∞ =40m/s
Figure 1. Model of the Ahmed body (Re = 2.63x106, Reynolds number computed with
the Ahmed body length, l) and the turbulence
The mesh population is varied from from 0.1 intensity was set to 0.2 %.
million to 1.5 million. From the Figure 2., it is
found that average coefficient of drag does not To model the turbulent flow around the Ahmed
vary after 0.8 million. The cell count near to 0.8 body, large eddy simulation model is used. The
million is considered during all the simulations. main idea behind LES is to reduce this
The OpenFOAM results are in close conformity computational cost by reducing the range of time-
with the software. PisoFOAM solver is and length-scales that are being solved for via a
implemented to represent the steady and low-pass filtering of the Navier–Stokes equations.
incompressible flow situation in this problem. Such a low-pass filtering, which can be viewed as
Large eddy simulation model is considered in the a time- and spatial-averaging, effectively removes
simulation. Paraview software is used for post- small-scale information from the numerical
processing the steady state results of pressure solution. This information is not irrelevant and
contour and velocity streamlines. Grid needs further modeling, a task which is an active
independancy test (Fig. 2) is carried out and area of research for problems in which small-
matched with the experimental results of Ahmed scales can play an important role such as near-
et al (1984). The inlet condition is specified as the wall flows. Large turbulent structures in the flow
velocity inlet, while the outlet as pressure outlet. are resolved by the governing equations, while the
No slip conditions are specified on the surfaces of effect of the sub-grid scales (SGS) are modelled
the Ahmed body and walls. The meshing of the using LES-Smagorinsky model [8]. The scale
Ahmed body is presented in Figure 3. separation is obtained by applying a filter to the
governing equations which also influences the
form of the SGS models.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1 Validation

Following the grid independency study,

studies are conducted to validate the geometry and
compare with the published results in literature.
The results of the simulation are validated with
Figure 2. Grid independency test

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the experimental data from the literature [9] for

the base case i.e. when the Ahmed model is not
accelerated and not overtaken. From the Figure 4,
it can be found that five stations are considered at
the rear end of the Ahmed body. The velocity and
turbulent kinetic energy are compared between the
present work using LES model and the
experimental work by Emmanuel [9]. Figure 4
shows the results obtained in the OpenFOAM
code at the rear end of the Ahmed body as
illustrated in the same figure. Five stations a-e are
identified and the velocity magnitude and
turbulent kinetic energy data are obtained and
found to be within 5 % of the experimental data
from Emmanuel [9]. The freestream velocity
value converges to 50 m/s as flow is out from the
boundary layer.

3.2 Acceleration of Ahmed model

The Ahmed model is simulated at wind speeds of Figure 5. Pressure contours during acceleration,
20, 30 and 40 m/s and the lift and drag values are top to bottom : 20 m/s, 30 m/s and 40 m/s
monitored and tabulated in Table 1. It is found
that the drag and lift coefficients increase with
wind speed. The converged results are obtained Table 1. CD and CL for the acceleration of the
after 419 iterations. The pressure contours are Ahmed body
shown in Fig. 5 for the speed 20 m/s, 30 m/s and
40 m/s. It can be easily verified that the pressure Speed Coefficient of Coefficient of
increases in the fore front of the Ahmed body (m/s) Drag, CD Lift, CL
while the pressure decreases to a much wider re-
gion around the Ahmed body in the upper and rear 20 0.284 0.514
parts of the Ahmed body. The pressure arises due
to the presence of bluff body feature while facing 30 0.286 0.528
the flow (compression) and decreases due to sharp
40 0.287 0.536
turning of the flow causing the expansion at the
rear end of the body.
The flow field is better visualized with the help of
streamlines and shown in Figure 6. The vortex
structure behind the wake of Ahmed body is no-
ticed from the Fig. 6. Vortices are formed behind
the end of Ahmed body. The stream lines show an
increase in the vortex motion as the wind speed
progresses with the greatest unsteadiness occur-
ring around the periphery of the trailing vortices.
This is expected from the difference in the pres-
sures near the rear-pillar, results in the rear-pillar
trailing vortices. The comparisons encourage the
investigation of the flow details by utilizing the
CFD simulation results. the two strong counter-
rotating vortices emanating from the slant are
present and the flow separates in the middle re-
gion of the top edge and reattaches on the slant.
The attached flow on the diffuser generate an un-
der-pressure that forms longitudinal vortices on
each side of the body. They counter-rotate to the
Figure 4. Validation of present model with longitudinal vortices coming from the rear end i.e.
experimental data [9] the upper part of the vehicle. They are created

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from the low pressure generated by the diffuser at Table 2. Aerodynamic coefficients during the
the rear underhood of the Ahmed body. Further overtaking case
downstream the upper vortices will dominate and Overtaking vehicle Vehicle to be overtaken
their core of rotation was located close to ground.
This would eventually decay and transfer into CD CL CD CL
longitudinal components leading to turbulence. 0.282 0.521 0.283 0.521
(behind)
0.294 (side) 0.531 0.276 0.507
0.299 (front) 0.542 0.279 0.494

Figure 6. Velocity streamlines during the

acceleration
3.3 Overtaking

The overtaking vehicle is at the right (at 40 m/s)

and the vehicle to be overtaken (at 30 m/s) is at
the left as shown in pressure contour (Fig. 7a and
Fig. 7b). The flow generated by the movement of
a another vehicle is found to influence on drag
and lift as shown in Table 2. The drag coefficient
decreases for the vehicle to be overtaken and
increases for the vehicle that overtakes. The
reason could be clearly explained with the help of Figure 7a. Pressure contours during the
Fig. 7 as the pressure contours show increase in overtaking, top to bottom : yet to overtake,
upstream pressure in the case when the vehicle is starting to overtake, overtaking accomplished
overtaken. The pressure build up upstream and net
pressure change between the upstream and
downstream contributes to high drag. The lift is
generated mainly by the pressure difference
between the under and upper surfaces of the car.
So it is benefit to improve the understanding of
the influence of the combined flow on lift by
examining the distribution of static pressure on
the model surface. The results show that the
vortices which originate at the rear of the vehicle
have a major impact on the bluff body
aerodynamics. By checking the horse shoe
vortices in wake region, it is noticed that, at lower
speeds, the upper vortex is the dominant vortex;
with the increase of speed, the lower vortex is
intensified, and becomes the dominant vortex at
higher speeds. When the upper and lower vortices
achieve a relative equilibrium, the drag reaches
the minimum value. The momentum increase
intensifies the lower vortex, and results in the
relative equilibrium of upper and lower vortices
being achieved at a lower speed.

Figure 7b. Stream lines during the overtaking, top

to bottom : yet to overtake, starting to overtake,
overtaking accomplished

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The overtaking vehicle faces a high pressure

region at the front as compared to the vehicle to
be overtaken. The low pressure exists in the rear
end of the overtaking vehicle and vehicle to be
overtaken due to the wake region. Intense
recirculation of stream lines is clear from the rear
view.

Two stations are obtained from each case during

overtaking and velocity and turbulent kinetic
energy quantities are compared and shown in
Figures 8, 9 and 10. Mutual interference of the
various separated flow regions, triggered by
changes in vehicle speed induces abrupt changes
of the overall flow field. Road vehicles move in
Figure 9. Velocity and turbulent kinetic energy
close proximity to each other and the interaction
about to overtake
is common. As observed in Figure 8, the rear
point on the slant height (point ‘b’) is at high
velocity on the exterior and shows high intensity
in turbulent fluctuations. This is due to the
presence of thicker boundary layer growth in the
slant surface as opposed to point ‘a’ that has
slightly lower velocity and turbulent kinetic
energy. There is a free stream shear layer that
merges at a velocity of 38 m/s, while another
shear layer created by overtaking vehicle drives
the flow at 52 m/s. The drop in turbulent kinetic
energy is significant at half the height of the
normal distance from the slant height points ‘a’
and ‘b’. The above said trend could also be clearly
made for the points ‘c’ and ‘d’ on the vehicle to be
overtaken, but the intensities are less as found in
the overtaking vehicle. This contributes to
increase in drag for the overtaking vehicle.
Figure 10. Velocity and turbulent kinetic energy
after the overtaking

From the flow field for the overtaking cases, the

velocity in boundary layer increases parabolically
and found to merge with the other point on the
vehicle to be overtaking. This is due to strong
interaction between two vehicles at the same
location. This improves the flow field and shear
layer is reduced as the downstream velocities
between two vehicles arise to form an unique and
common flowfield at the interface. However, the
fluctuations in the flow field indicate the change
in turbulent flow field as the disturbance of
vehicle is influenced by the other. The points on
the rear slant for the overtaken case are mostly
similar to the situation of two vehicles side by
side. The magnitude of velocity and turbulent
Figure 8. Velocity and turbulent kinetic energy kinetic energy merges to the same value for the
before starting to overtake points ‘a-c’ and ‘b-d’.

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3.4 Platooning lift of the rear vehicle is significantly less than the
front due to the low velocity region at the rear
In the isolated model case, drag and lift vehicle.
coefficients were equal to 0.287 and 0.536,
respectively. The concept of vehicle behind
another travelling at same speed seems to be of
practical interest. The cross-sectional mesh view
(Fig. 11) for two cases i.e. inter-vehicle spacing of
0.2 and 0.3 times the vehicle length. However,
this case is too complicated in the actual condition
on the road. But presently intelligent vehicle for
transport can accommodate the inter-vehicular
distance of 0.3 times the vehicle distance as the
control is purely computerised leading to precise
and accurate prediction for braking condition. It
has also been observed that vehicle platooning
significantly reduces the drag that each vehicle
experiences. This reduction of drag translates into
Figure 12. Velocity vectors for platoon separated
less fuel consumption, greater fuel efficiency and
by (a) 0.2 times vehicle length (b) 0.3 times the
less pollution. Drag reduction is found out to be
vehicle length
most effective when the distance between vehicles
in the platoon is significantly reduced [10].

Figure 11. Mesh shown in cross section (side

view) for platoon separated by (a) 0.2 times
vehicle length (b) 0.3 times the vehicle length
Figure 13. Static pressure contours for platoon
Table 3. Aerodynamic coefficients for platooning separated by (a) 0.2 times vehicle length (b) 0.3
case times the vehicle length

Gap = 0.2 x vehicle Gap = 0.3 x vehicle

spacing spacing The velocity vectors of the two cases of
platooning are shown in Fig.12. The flow in the
CD CL CD CL gap between the spacing is similar to lid driven
cavity flow but tilted at an angle of 2 degrees at
0.225 0.519 0.217 0.514 the top wall. The intensity of circulation decreases
(front) (front) (front) (front) with the increase in the gap between two vehicles.
0.313 0.452 0.293 0.462 The static pressure contours are illustrated in Fig.
(back) (back) (back) (back) 12. The pressure at the end of the leading Ahmed
body is high in the case of higher vehicle spacing.
Table. 3 shows the lift and drag coefficients for This leads to the effective reduction in drag for
the platooning of two cases as said before. The case (b). For the lead vehicle, the pressure is
drag coefficient of the front vehicle is less than higher as it faces the flow whereas the rear vehicle
that of the rear due to the reduction in wake experiences low pressure. It can also be observed
region for the front vehicle. The drag increases for that the pressure intermediate to leading and
the rear vehicle as the drag continues to increase trailing vehicles connects in case (a) well as
along as the inter vehicular spacing is short, as compared to case (b). It was concluded that the
noticed in the case of flow over the flat plate. The effect of the strong pressure drop arising from the

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slant back of the leading vehicle was the cause of

the drag and lift changes of the rear vehicle. Since
traffic spacing is likely to reduce with the
increasing use of intelligent transport systems
(ITS), much attention is required in understanding
these effects. The effect of the strong vortex
system arising from the slant back of the leading
vehicle is clearly visible and shown in Fig. 14.
The stream lines are much closer to each other in
case (a) as compared to case (b). This shows that
the higher velocity, thereby leading to lower
pressure. The increase in pressure drag is clearly
evident in this consideration.

Figure 15. Velocity and turbulent kinetic energy

for vehicle separated by 0.2 times vehicle length

Figure 14. Streamlines comparison top: 0.2 times

vehicle length, bottom : 0.3 times the vehicle
length
As long as the flow is able to follow the contours
Figure 16. Velocity and turbulent kinetic energy
of the tail and stays attached the drag reduces.The
for vehicle separated by 0.2 times vehicle length
influence of the incoming flow is investigated,
since flow characteristics are changing along the
length of the vehicle. The influence of the 4. Conclusion
turbulence kinetic energy on the case (a) leads to a
steep rise, where as the velocity increases to a free Airflow over the Ahmed body is investigated
stream value at the exterior (Fig. 15). The using the open source software, OpenFOAM to
boundary layer growth behind the vehicles shows understand the flow processes involved in drag
fluctuation in the leading vehicle for case (a). Fig. production. The grid independancy tests are
16 shows the change in the free-stream velocity carried out and compared with the experimental
and sudden change in turbulent kinetic energy at results of Ahmed model. From the study
the middle of the normal distance chosen. This conducted for the acceleration of Ahmed body, it
contributes to change in the path of flow leading is found that the maximum drag and lift for an
to the drag reduction as compared to case (a). Ahmed body vehicle is at higher speeds.
Streamlines and pressure contours for the
overtaking configurations are studied and
compared. The platooning case is numerically
investigated to understand the drag reduction for
the lead vehicle followed by rear separated by 0.2
and 0.3 times the vehicle lengths. The drag and
lift coefficients are significantly reduced for the
lead vehicle and rear vehicle respectively.

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With the increase in computational power, CFD

has become a valuable tool for performing the
different cases in vehicle motion simulation and
predicting the drag coefficients. Further
information on intelligent transport systems in
accompanying the drag reduction devices could
be the extension from the present work.

References:
[1] Abdel-Azim, A. F., And Abdel Gawad, A. F.,
2000, “Numerical Investigation of Vehicles
Aerodynamics Through Driving Tunnels,” 2000
Future Car Congress, Hyatt Regency Crystal City,
Arlington, VA, USA, April 2-6, paper No. 2000-
01-1579.
[2] Abdel Azim, A. F. and Abdel Gawad, A. F.,
2000, “ A Flow Visualization Study of the
Aerodynamic Interference between passenger
cars,” SAE 2000 world Congress, Detroit,
Michigan, USA, March 6-9, paper No. 2000-01-
0355.
[3] Himeno, R., et al., 1990, “Numerical Analysis
of the Airflow Around Automobiles Using Multi-
block Structureed Grids,” SAE paper 900319.
[4] Kitoh, K., et al., 1986, “Effects of Boundary
Conditions on Numerical Turbulent Flow Around
a Two-Dimensional Vehicle by K-ε model,” IIS
Annual report of Group, pp. 67-72.
[5] Ahmed, S. R., and Hucho, W. H., 1977, “The
Calculation of the Flow Field Past a Van with the
Aid of a panel Method,” SAE paper 770390.
[6] Minato, K., Ryu, H., and Kobayashi, T., 1991,
“Aerodynamics of Road Vehicles in Tunnels-
Flow Visualization Using the Laser Light Sheet
Method and Its Digital Image Processing,” Int.
Congress and Exposition, Dertroit, MI, USA,
SAE
[7] Ahmed, S.R., Ramm, G., Faltin, G., 1984.
Some salient features of the time-averaged ground
vehicle wake. SAE Paper 840300.
[8] OpenFOAM user guide version 2.3.1
[9] Emmanuel Guilmineau, 2008. Computational
study of flow around a simplified car body,
Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial
Aerodynamics, Vol. 96 pp. 1207–1217.
[10] Simon Watkins, Gioacchino Vino (2008), The
effect of vehicle spacing on the aerodynamics of a
representative car shape, Journal of Wind
Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 96 (6–
7) pp. 1232-1239.

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