1433 Underbody floor height versus aerodynamic lift and drag - Vehicle Technology https://www.beyonddiscovery.org/vehicle-technology/1433-underbody-floor-height-versus-aerodyna...

1433 Underbody �oor height versus aerodynamic lift and drag

Last Updated on Wed, 28 Jun 2023 | Vehicle Technology

(Figs 14.21(a and b) and 14.22) With a large under�oor to ground clearance the car body is subjected to a slight negative lift force
(downward thrust). As the under�oor surface moves closer to the ground the under�oor air space becomes a venturi, causing the air to
move much faster underneath the body than over it, see Figs 14.21(a) and 14.22. Correspondingly with these changing conditions the air
�ow pressure on top of the body will be higher than for the under-body reduced venturi effect pressure, hence there will be a net down
force (negative lift) tending to increase the contact pressure acting between the wheels and ground. Conversely a further reduction in
under�oor to ground clearance makes it very restrictive for the underbody air �ow (see Figs 14.21(b) and 14.22), so that much of the
airstream is now compelled to �ow over the body instead of underneath it, which results in an increase in air speed and a reduction in
pressure over the top to cope with the reduction in the under�oor air

Upthrust

Upthrust

Higher stagnant Slower moving air Direction Drag air pressure slight reduction of motion resistance in pressure

Higher stagnant Slower moving air Direction Drag air pressure slight reduction of motion resistance in pressure

(a) Large ground clearance (negative lift downthrust)

Small reduction in air speed

(a) Large ground clearance (negative lift downthrust)

Small reduction in air speed

(b) Small ground clearance (positive lift upthrust)

Fast air �ow

Fast air �ow

movement. Thus the over and under pressure conditions have been reversed which subsequently now produces a net upward suction,
that is, a tendency toward a positive lift.

14.3.4 Aerofoil lift and drag

(Figs 14.23(a-d), 14.24(a and b) and 14.25) Almost any object moving through an airstream will be subjected to some form of lift and drag.
Consider a �at plate inclined to the direction of air �ow, the pressure of air above the surface of the plate is reduced while that underneath
it is increased. As a result there will be a net pressure on the plate striving to force it both upwards and backwards, see Fig. 14.23(a). It will
be seen that the vertical and horizontal components of the resultant reaction represents both lift and drag respectively, see Fig. 14.23(b).
The greater the angle of inclination, the smaller will be the upward lift component, while the backward drag component will increase, see
Fig. 14.23(c and d). Conversely as the angle of inclination decreases, the lift increases and the drag decreases; however, as the angle of
inclination is reduced so does the resultant reaction force. If an aerofoil pro�le is used instead of the �at plate, (see Fig. 14.24(a and b)),

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1433 Underbody floor height versus aerodynamic lift and drag - Vehicle Technology https://www.beyonddiscovery.org/vehicle-technology/1433-underbody-floor-height-versus-aerodyna...

the airstream over the top surface now has to move further and faster than the underneath air movement. This produces a greater
pressure difference between the upper and lower surfaces and consequently greatly enhances the aerodynamic lift and promotes a
smooth air �ow over the upper pro�led surface. A typical relationship between the CL, CD and angle of attack (inclination angle) is shown
for an aerofoil section in Fig. 14.25.

14.3.5 Front end nose shape (Fig. 14.26(a-c)) Optimizing a protruding streamlined nose pro�le shape in�uences marginally the drag
coe�cient and to a greater extent the front end lift coe�cient.

Fig. 14.22 Aerodynamic lift versus ground, �oor height

With a downturned nose (see Fig. 14.26(a)) the streamlined nose pro�le directs the largest proportion of the air mass movement over the
body, and only a relatively small amount of air �ows underneath the body. If now a central nose pro�le is adopted (see Fig. 14.26(b)) the air
mass movement is shared more evenly between the upper and lower body surfaces; however, the air viscous interference with the
under�oor and ground still causes the larger proportion of air to �ow above than below the car's body. Conversely a upturned nose (see
Fig. 14.26(c)) induces still more air to �ow beneath the body with the downward curving entry gap shape producing a venturi effect.
Consequently the air movement will accelerate before reaching its highest speed further back at its narrowest body to ground clearance.
Raising the mass air�ow in the space between the body and ground increases the viscous interaction of the

0.6 0.8 1.0 h/b air with the under body surfaces and therefore forces the air �ow to move diagonally out and upward from the sides of the
car. It therefore strengthens the side and trailing vortices and as a result promotes an increase in front end aerodynamic lift force.

The three basic nose pro�les discussed showed, under windtunnel tests, that the upturned nose had the highest drag coe�cient Cd of
0.24 whereas there was very little difference between the central and downturned nose pro�les which gave drag coe�cients Cd of 0.223
and 0.224 respectively. However the front end lift coe�cient CL for the three shapes showed a marked difference, here the upturned nose
pro�le gave a positive lift coe�cient CL of +0.2, the central nose pro�le provided an almost neutral lift coe�cient CL of +0.02, whereas the
downturned nose pro�le generated a negative lift coe�cient CL of —0.1.

Fig. 14.22 Aerodynamic lift versus ground, �oor height

(a) Reaction force on an inclined plate (b) Lift and drag components on an inclined plate

Large lift component

Large lift component

Resultant reaction

Small drag component

Resultant reaction

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1433 Underbody floor height versus aerodynamic lift and drag - Vehicle Technology https://www.beyonddiscovery.org/vehicle-technology/1433-underbody-floor-height-versus-aerodyna...

Small drag component

Smaller lift component

Smaller lift component

Resultant reaction

Larger drag component

Resultant reaction

Larger drag component

(c) Small angle of inclination (d) Large angle of inclination

Fig. 14.23 (a-d) Lift and drag on a plate Inclined at a small angle to the direction of air �ow

Continue reading here: 1452 Exposed wheel air �ow pattern

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