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http://www.deskeng.com/de/bigger-sims-win-the-race/
By Alex Read
In auto racing, bigger is better. Nowhere is this more true than in the world of
motor-sport computational fluid dynamics (CFD) where teams regularly push
the envelope by running simulations involving hundreds of millions of cells.
Why so big?
Race teams use CFD as an aid and extension to physical testing. It is used to
optimize expensive wind-tunnel time by identifying the best designs to work
with, and to provide information that is difficult to obtain via testing. For
NASCAR underhood thermal management, this can take the form of detailed
visualizations of the flow and thermal field in the engine compartment. For
external aerodynamics, it may be the cars front and rear down-force balance
when a driver drafts another.
Race teams other requirements, common to all simulation engineers, are
accurate results and rapid and robust model turnaround. This presents a
particular challenge in areas like external aerodynamics where components
demonstrate a strong interdependence. For example, the performance of the
rear wing of an F1 car will vary depending on the setup for the components in
front of it and vice-versa.
F1 teams opt for running detailed models of the full car to ensure accurate
aerodynamic resolution for all parts of the car. Similarly, in NASCAR, the
interaction between cars aerodynamic and even physical contact is a key
part of racing. Because cars are bumper to bumper and door handle to door
handle much of the time, understanding the effect this has on front and rear
down-force and airflow to the engine compartment can make the difference
between success and failure.
Historically, this need for more and more data has presented problems: is my
computer big enough to store and solve for hundreds of millions of cells? If it is, is
my CFD tool sufficiently adept at using this enormous computing resource
with hundreds of processors operating in parallel to let me create, set up, run,
and postprocess my case within a reasonable timeframe?
Users as partners
CD-adapco has a proud history of solving these problems for race teams. It has
supplied CFD tools to, among others, the current double World Championshipwinning ING-Renault F1 team since its inception in 2001. Now, the companys
latest offering, STAR-CCM+, has been specifically designed for motor-sport
CFD, with regular evaluation and specification being carried out by top motorsport teams during its development.
Around five years ago we were starting to develop STAR-CCM+ from a blank
sheet of paper, explains Richard Johns, CD-adapcos director for the automotive
industry, which allowed us to use everything wed learnt in the previous 20
years of developing and using CFD, as well as the latest computing technology. In
addition, at CD-adapco, we see our users as partners and not just clients. As well
as using our own know-how, our motor sport partners were integral in defining
STAR-CCM+s specification and reviewing its progress.
The result is a code thats revolutionizing motor sport CFD, enabling teams to
run ever more detailed models, with ever more computational cells, while
shortening case turnaround times.
introduced and analyses were performed with the cars directly in line, and with
an offset as if one was beginning an overtaking maneuver.
The drivers goal when drafting is to reduce the drag on both cars, making them
collectively faster. If the second car is in the correct position, it has the effect of
increasing the pressure at the rear of the lead car, reducing its overall drag.
However, the effects are highly dependent on the car positions. At times, the
drag on the second car is reduced as the first car deflects the air over it. In other
configurations the drag force on the rear car is actually greater than that on the
lead car as it sits in the dirty, highly turbulent wake. Handling is also affected as
the front and rear lift on each varies with the car positions and strong yaw forces
occur on the rear car when in the offset position.
These simulations provided the aerodynamicists with detailed visualization of
the complex flow patterns around the cars.
The model was then extended to evaluate what happens in highly complex race
conditions, with many cars unevenly spaced and positioned. Engineers use a
building-block approach whereby one car and its close proximity to another are
meshed, then that mesh is copied and pasted with an offset to produce two cars
side-by-side or nose-to-tail. A spacer mesh section is created to vary the
distance between the vehicles. Using this technique, analysts create a model of
40 unevenly distributed cars with a total mesh count of one billion cells.
Although this is impressive by todays standards, according to Johns, multibillion
cell calculations will be commonplace in the not-too-distant future.
As the hardware vendors continue to produce even bigger and faster machines,
Johns says, so the model sizes ]that] race teams want to run increases. Its our
goal to make sure STAR-CCM+ can efficiently handle these enormous
calculations. So far weve made it to one billion, we dont see any reason why in
the future we cant go much larger than that.
Alex Read studied engineering and CFD at the University of Leeds, UK, and wrote his
thesis on simulation of vehicle aerodynamics. He is now the engineering manager of
CD-adapco responsible for supporting clients in the UK, Scandinavia, and Holland in
their efforts to simulate vehicle aerodynamics and aeroacoustics. To comment on this
article, send an e-mail to DE-Editors@deskeng.com.