Experimental Investigation of the Aerodynamics of a Squareback Ahmed Body in Sidewind and Turbulent Flow Condition

Journal article, 2025

Current research on vehicle aerodynamics often neglects the effects of sidewind and turbulence on the road. In this work,the influence of both sidewind and turbulent flow conditions on the aerodynamics of a squareback Ahmed model is experimentally studied. The aerodynamic drag force,surface pressure and wake are measured at different yaw angles (β∈[0°,5°]) and free-stream turbulence (Ix∈[0%~15.4%]). At β =0° with turbulence, Cd and Cb increase monotonically with turbulence intensity,when Ix< 8.7%,Cd and Cb are lower than uniform inflow condition. At β =5°,the sensitivity of the aerodynamic force to turbulence intensity decreases. When Ix< 8.7%,little effect has been noted for Cd,but at Ix= 15.4%,Cd increases significantly. The wake length decrease monotonically with increasing turbulence intensity,and it is insensitive at β =5° compared to β =0°. The Reynolds stress are also more insensitive to the increase of turbulence intensity at β =5° compared to β =0°. This study can provide some reference for the impact of real road turbulence on vehicle aerodynamics.