A Simulation Study Of Tubercles Effect Of Aerodynamics Performance On Car Rear Spoiler

Abstract

The tubercle effect is a recently discovered phenomenon where the sinusoidal pattem ‘bumps’ on the leading edge of an airfoil can improve the aerodynamic performance. This effect was inspired by looking at the humpback whale pectoral flippers that give an exceptional acrobatic manoeuvrability in the water such as somersaults, also allowing for easier capture of prey. The objective of this research is to study the effect of implementing the tubercles concept on the car spoiler in order to see whether it bring advantage or disadvantage in the aerodynamic performance of a car. The design and simulation process are done by using Solidworks. The design of airfoil spoiler based on Selig S2091 (low Reynolds number airfoil) with sinusoidal pattern leading edge were computationally used. The Airfoil spoiler with 270 mm of the chord length (C), 1200 mm wingspan (L) and angles of attack of -5°, 0°, 5°, 10°, 15°, 20°, 25°, 30° were improvised with tubercles at 40 mm amplitude of bumps (h) and the distance of the wavelength between peaks (λ) of 1200 mm, 240 mm and 133.33 mm. The simulation was tested at 40 m/s. The investigation shown that the tubercles can improve the aerodynamic performance of car rear spoiler where the tubercles are able to increase the lift coefficient but has a significant decrease in drag only at 20° and above angle of attack.