Aerodynamics of Vehicles: An In-Depth Analysis of Drag, Lift, and Downforce

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
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Introduction
During the movement of the vehicles, it displaces the air that is around it. This particular air then
attempts to occupy the space that would otherwise be left behind the vehicle itself. The
displacement of the air results into the production of forces which act on the body of the vehicle
in a bid to slow it down, push it down or lift it up(Islam et al.2017). In this particular research
paper, the term “drag” has been used to describe the air as it tries to slow down the vehicle. The
term “lift” has been used to describe the effect of moving air as it tries to lift up the vehicle and
finally the term downforce has been used to describe the effect of the air as it tries to push down
the vehicle. In the case of the racecars, the effects of lift and drag are really bad. The downward
force effects are good considering that it provides the grip on the ground for which corners can n
be properly negotiated by the cars on the race tracks(Mancini et al.2015).
It is however regrettable that the components of the car body which are responsible for the
production of the down wards forces are also responsible for the production of the drag and lift.
The study of the air motion alongside other gases is normally related to the evaluation of the
parameters of the fluids. The study of aerodynamics is related to the interactions of the particles
of air with the other objects that are in motion. Aerodynamics is actually a branch of fluid
dynamics and also gas dynamics with a reflection of the theory shared between them. In most
cases, the term aerodynamics is used simultaneously with gas dynamics. The variation in these
terminologies is that the gas dynamics is used for the study of all gasses.
In order to understand and possibly calculate the magnitude of the forces that re are around the
moving objects, the motion of the air must be properly and comprehensively understood.

The problems of aerodynamics can be identified in several ways. The first classification of the
flow environment defines the criterion completely. The external aerodynamics involves the study
of airflow around solid objects with different shapes. The valuation of lift and drag on the
airplane or just the shock waves which normally form intron of the nose of the rockets are
considered to be some of the best examples of external aerodynamics. Internal aerodynamics, on
the other hand, refers to the study of the air passages through the interior solid particles(Uhlig,
and Selig 2013). The best example of the internal aerodynamic is the flow of air in the air
conditioning pipework. The objectives of the improvements on the aerodynamic include
reduction in the consumption of fuel.
Aerodynamic Drag
In the fluid dynamics, drag is sometimes referred to as air resistance. It is regarded as one of the
frictions of the fluid or a face that opposes the motion of any object that is moving with respect
to the surrounding fluid. This can possibly exist between the layers of the fluid and a solid
surface. Unlike the other types of friction that are independent of the speed, the drag forces are
dependent on the velocity. In the case of laminar flow, the drag force is directly proportional to
the velocity and squared velocity for the case of flow that is turbulent(Giahi and Dehkordi 2016).
Despite the fact that the ultimate cause of drag as viscous friction, turbulent drag is independent
of viscosity.
The classification of the drag acting on a body is dependent on its applications. The drag force
variation as a function of the speed of air will generate a graph that is almost the same parabola.
This basically implies that the drag will initially reduce as with velocity of air and later increase
as the air velocity increases. This is an indication that certain parameters are responsible for the

reduction of drag as the speed increases while other parameters will increase drag as the speed
increases.
From the formula that is indicated above, it is clear that drag is directly proportional to the square of
speed or velocity. The coefficient of drag, on the other hand, depends on the shape of the object and its
Reynolds number that use expressed as
When the Reynolds number is low, the coefficient of drag is asymptotically proportional to the
inverse of the number of Reynolds. This implies that the drag is proportional to the speed. Also
when the Reynolds number is high the coefficient of drag will be less or more constant.
Types of drag