Performance of NACA Cambered and Symmetrical Airfoils as Rear Spoilers on Race Car Aerodynamic Drag & Lift: Computational Fluid Dynamics Study

Abstract

In the current study, the aerodynamic effects of NACA 2412 cambered & NACA 0012 symmetric airfoils as rear spoilers on a race car were analyzed using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique. Overall nine simulations have been conducted: one with the flow around the simplistic high-speed sports car model with no spoiler and eight for the representation of the flow across the sports car model with spoilers constructed of NACA 2412 and NACA 0012 airfoil having-6°,-3°, +3° and +6° angles of attack, accordingly. The study was conducted using the k-epsilon method as well as for a velocity of 40 m/s. Grid independence study had been conducted and the CFD analysis had been checked by contrasting the results with the famous vehicle aerodynamics experimental study of Ahmed. Among the spoilers studied, this was found that the NACA 0012 with a +6 ° angle of attack ensures a drag reduction of 2.16% and a significant lift reduction of 111.22%. The results of the rear spoiler were described from an aerodynamics viewpoint.