Comparative CFD Study of Outside Rearview Mirror Removal and Outside Rearview Cameras Proposals on a Current Production Car

This study refers to the Computational Fluid Dynamics, demonstrating a comparative between the drag coefficient and the frontal area of a current production car with the same values obtained from a conceptual proposal of removing the outside rearview mirrors of this same vehicle. Both cases were simulated in a virtual wind tunnel with moving ground and rotating wheels condition at speed of 100 kph, aiming to represent the best way a car moving on a highway. The main objective of this paper is improving the efficiency of automotive vehicles by replacing the current outside rearview mirror for cameras placed in smaller structures. The first simulation showed that by removing the outside rearview mirrors both the frontal area of the car and the drag coefficient, which has direct influence on fuel economy calculation, are smaller compared to current solution. As a complement for the study, two additional cases presenting alternatives on the camera positioning were simulated in similar condition of the study presented first and the drag coefficient, velocity path lines, pressure and wake were compared, demonstrating the performance of each case.