Reducing aerodynamic drag of road vehicles by cooling airflow control and improved wheel designs

​Research Motivating Problem:
With higher focus on energy efficiency and sustainability in transportation, aerodynamic optimization becomes more and more important as gains in other fields shrink. Wheel designs and thermal management have been an area of focus over the past few years.

Research question:

• How does wheel aerodynamics interact with cooling flow?

Deliverables:

• Method for simulating tyres in CFD
• Method for quantifying cooling flow in wind tunnel tests

• Teddy Hobeika

  PhD Student
• Lennart Löfdahl

  Full Professor at Mechanics and Maritime Sciences, Division of Vehicle Engineering and Autonomous Systems

  Lennart Löfdahl has been full Professor of Fluid Dynamics since 2000. His research areas include flow transition, turbulence, it´s modelling and the use of Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS)...
• Simone Sebben

  Professor at Mechanics and Maritime Sciences, Division of Vehicle Engineering and Autonomous Systems Head of Division Vehicle Engineering and Autonomous Systems

  Simone Sebben is Professor in Aerodynamics and manager of the division VEAS. Her research interests are in the fields of Aerodynamics and Thermal Management with application to road vehicles. Her...