Drafting Ahmed Bodies

About this project

Four times a year the National Association for Stock Car Automotive Racing (NASCAR) visits oval tracks larger than 2.0 miles in length (Daytona and Talladega). These four events utilize restricted intake motors in order to decrease the overall horsepower and, ultimately, the overall speed of the vehicles. A consequence of this reduced horsepower is the increased dependence on the aerodynamic drag advantage gained by drafting behind either another car or a group of cars. Previous work has studied the effects of the draft between two Ahmed Bodies as well as two NASCAR style vehicles, but there is limited information about the draft effect on more than two vehicles. This project uses the simplified Ahmed Body with a minimal grid to study the relative effects of the draft as the number of vehicles in line increases. The goal is to find the optimum number of vehicles for total draft reduction.