Case Study:

Computed Flow Over Land Speed Record Car

Client:

In-House

Project Scope:

Research & Development

Methods:

Computational Fluid Dynamics, Fluid Dynamics, Design & Testing

The image shows velocity contours over a jet powered car designed to win back the land speed record set by the British Thrust SSC car in 1997. The design was developed by Bill Fredericks, who designed the Budweiser Rocket Car that broke the sound barrier in 1979. The flow around the car was simulated using a commercial finite element code, Floworks.

This simulation involves the solution of the three dimensional, steady, compressible Navier-Stokes equations with Newtonian viscosity. The computational domain was chosen to simulate the environment as closely as possible and to make the boundary conditions, especially the problematic ground boundary condition. This simulation led to a number of improvements in the vehicle design.