Yaw angle effect on the aerodynamic performance of hatchback vehicle fitted with wing spoiler

Abstract

Research on spoiler available to date was mainly done to optimize the performance of spoiler in non-zero yaw condition. However, the effect of spoiler is most needed during cornering to ensure the stability of the vehicle. Therefore, this study aims to inspect the effect of yaw angles change on the aerodynamic performance of the NACA 0018 wing spoiler and the subsequent influence on the flow characteristics of the hatchback vehicle. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been applied to model the flow. Comparison between numerically obtained results and experimental data was done to validate the CFD method. The findings show that both the drag coefficient, Cd, and lift coefficient, Cl have increased with increasing yaw angle. However, the spoiler has performed in favor of reducing the Cd and Cl even with increasing yaw angle. The averaged proportion contributions from the spoiler to the overall Cd and Cl are 2.7% and 4.1%, respectively. The other body parts that have contributed to the Cd and Cl reductions were the base and slant, and the roof.