A small company is designing a new rigid commercial vehicle. You are tasked with developing a spread sheet that allows the investigation of the road loads acting on a small rigid commercial vehicle due to aerodynamic and cornering forces.
Task 1
Using the supplied 3D model of the commercial vehicle available on Moodle and solidworks flowsimulation conduct a CFD analysis to determine the vehicles aerodynamic drag coefficient.
Task 2
Create a spread sheet in Excel that calculates the total individual wheel loads during cornering for lateral accelerations in the range 0 - 0.8g using roll centre analysis. The calculated wheel loads should consider the:
- static load
- aerodynamic load
- cornering loads
When designing the spread sheet you should consider that the coefficient of drag and the longitudinal velocity will need to be changeable.
Validate your spread sheet results via hand calculation
Report
Write a concise, professional report, at a minimum you should include:
- A description of the methodology for both task 1 and 2 including all relevant assumptions
- Validation of the spread sheet
- Evaluation of the load transfer characteristics of the vehicle including the effects on vehicle handling
Submit your report and spread sheet electronically via Moodle. The 3D model and vehicle data sets are on Moodle at the top of the Vehicle Design page.