An experimental study on the influence of tubercles on aerodynamics performance of car rear spoiler

Abstract

In this study, the aerodynamic performance of a car spoiler with tubercles configurations that was inspired by Humpback whale flipper morphology was investigated. This was done by producing three (T0, T3, and T9) spoiler designs where, tubercles sinusoidal protrusions pattern was applied at the leading edge of the spoiler. T0, is a base line spoiler that has no tubercles, T3, that contains three tubercles protrusions, and T9, contains nine tubercle protrusions. The baseline spoiler design was based on the Selig s2091 spoiler and the spoiler has a chord length (C) 100mm and 290mm wingspan. The spoiler was tested angle of attack from - 20 to 30° and at Reynolds number 60000 in an open circuit subsonic wind tunnel. The aerodynamic performance of the spoiler was measured by the recorded time averaged lift and drag. From the recorded it was observed that at certain angles of attack, the presence of a tubercle pattern can bring a significant aerodynamic improvement.