Predicting Vehicle Aerodynamics Using Computational Fluid Dynamics - A User's Perspective

Many computational techniques are now available that provide solutions to the problem of the external airflow over vehicle shapes. For such techniques to be of use within the automotive design process, not only must the solutions provide useful aerodynamic information, but also they must be successfully integrated into the design process. This paper relates the limited experiences in this field of one automotive user, highlighting the possible benefits of such techniques, as well as areas that have deficiencies at present.