Flow and Turbulence Structure in the Wake of a Simplified Car Model

A comprehensive study using LDA (Laser Doppler Anemometry), HWA (Hot-Wire Anemometry) and static pressure measurements was performed in order to investigate the flow and turbulence structure around a simplified car model. The aim was to supply a detailed data set acquired under well defined boundary conditions to be used as reference data for numerical simulations in general and the validation and verification of refined turbulence models in particular. Because of the fact that the losses in the detached wake region make the major contribution to the aerodynamic drag and the prediction accuracy of the wake is a quite selective criteria for the turbulence models the study focused to the wake behind a simplified car model.