Zoheb Currimbhoy,

1125 Colonel By Drive,

Ottawa, Ontario
Canada, K1S 5B6

Dr. Cheryl Cundell,

Instructor, Communication Courses for
Disciplines and Professions
School of Linguistics and Language Studies
236 Paterson Hall, Carleton University
Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1S 5B6
cheryl.cundell@carleton.ca

22nd September, 2015

Dear Dr. Cundell,

As per your request and a requirement of the course CCDP 2100 Section I, I am submitting a

detailed Library Research Exercise (LRE).

The purpose of the following LRE is to outline primary sources that provide valuable knowledge

pertaining to the effect of car’s design on its aerodynamics. This document will also demonstrate

the IEEE referencing method. The documents that will be used as primary sources are:

Aerodynamics of Road Vehicles which is an engineering book, a patent filed by Ferrari published

under Car with an underbody provided with an aerodynamic diffuser, and finally, a scholarly

article, Aerodynamic Drag Reduction of a passenger car using spoiler with VG’s.

The engineering book, Aerodynamics of Road Vehicles provides solid information regarding

aerodynamics of vehicles in terms of design. Referencing the book it explains how the vehicle

size, and the design of the frontal section of the car are used in efforts to reduce drag in

concentrated areas and also reduce the drag coefficient [1, p. 12]. The book has all sorts of

Zoheb Currimbhoy Library Research Exercise 22nd September, 2015

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design improvements that car makers use along with equations that outline forces and

coefficients affecting the vehicle. This is a knowledgeable source written by various professors

in Germany that outline the benefits of designing an aerodynamic car but at the same time

outline the risk to the user at higher speeds.

A patent pertaining to vehicle design filed by Ferrari under the name Car with an underbody

provided with an aerodynamic diffuser gives background information about the car manufacturer

Ferrari and their idea to increase downforce the underbodies should be shaped so that at high

speeds a downward thrust can be generated which in turn increases road control. A diffuser has

been designed to fit into the body of car which reduces pressure, generating vacuum which in

turn produces downforce [2]. This patent is great way to view the advancements made by a

luxury car company like Ferrari in order to tackle to issue of aerodynamics but at the same time

aide the driver with better agility and control of his vehicle.

Finally, a scholarly journal article Aerodynamic Drag Reduction of a passenger car using spoiler

with VG’s helped me understand the technical data when that discusses aerodynamics and the

drag coefficient. The authors complied data about certain specifications a car in regards to design

which makes it most efficient and also limits the dangers to the user of the vehicle. The results

section where they found that a spoiler with an angle of 12o gives a coefficient of drag of 0.3359

which is a reduction in drag by 4.35% compared to a vehicle without a spoiler [3, p. 262].

Though this source provides insightful information, it deals with just two design aspects of the

car and not the entire body design process which is the objective of the project.

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All in all, the LRE provided reliable and knowledgeable primary sources that connect to my area

of vehicle design. In my opinion, the engineering book and the patent were the most useful

sources as they provided thorough information about aerodynamics. The book gave me a detailed

insight of what the facts of aerodynamics are and the patent gave me a general outlook of design

advancements companies are moving towards in order to solve the problem of drag but at the

same time keeping in mind the usability of the vehicle. Further areas of research would be

digging deeper into carmakers’ patents and also through engineering journals and textbooks that

discuss aerodynamics. This assignment also helped me finally understand the IEEE referencing

method that would be useful to me in my future ventures.

Best Regards,

Zoheb Currimbhoy
zohebcurrimbhoy@cmail.carleton.ca

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 REFERENCES

[1] S. R. Ahmed, H. J. Emmelmann, K. D. Emmenthal, H. Flegl, W. Gengenbach, H. Gotz, W.

H. Hucho, D. Hummel, G. A. Necati, R. Piatek, and M. Rauser, Aerodynamics of Road
Vehicles. West Germany: Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd, 1987.

[2] F. Cimatti, U.S. Patent 20140001789 A1. [Car with an underbody provided with an
aerodynamic diffuser.] 

[3] R. B. Sharma and R. Bansal, Aerodynamic Drag Reduction of a Passenger Car using Spoiler
with VGs, International Journal of engineering Research and Applications (IJERA), pp. 258-
262, March 2014.

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