CFD software cuts drag for record-breaking diesel
An
Ansys product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Sep 19, 2006
The UK designers of the JCB Dieselmax car employed the Fluent CFD software package to engineer the vehicle's aerodynamics totally without any wind tunnel testing.
The UK designers of the JCB Dieselmax car employed the Fluent computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package to engineer the vehicle's aerodynamics totally without any wind tunnel testing.
The JCB Dieselmax car achieved over 563km/h to break the world land speed record for diesel-powered cars for the second time in a week on 23rd August 2006 at the world-famous Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, a record that had been standing for more than 30 years.
The car was piloted by Wing Commander Andy Green, who also set the first-ever (and current) supersonic world land speed record of 763 mile/h in 1997 in ThrustSSC.
The JCB Dieselmax car is twice as powerful and twice as fast as a Formula 1 car; however, it weighs four times as much.
To power the car, JCB developed the world's most powerful automotive diesel engine from an enhanced version of its standard JCB444-LSR engine.
The project aerodynamicist, Ron Ayers, used CFD software from Fluent, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ansys, to design the car; his goal was to achieve an optimal balance between aerodynamic drag, skin drag and downforce.
A wind tunnel was not used to test the car's design because of compressibility effects that occur at such high speeds, and the long, slender aspect ratio of the car made it difficult to get a wind tunnel with a rolling road that was suitable.
The overall result of the design process was an outstandingly beautiful and effective car with a drag coefficient of 0.174, extraordinary even by land speed record standards.
"This is a fascinating and exciting application of our flow modelling software", said Ferit Boysan, Vice President and General Manager at Ansys.
"We are seeing more and more projects of this type in the automotive industry in which CFD results are being used with minimal or no wind tunnel testing".
"Such is the maturity of the technology these days".
"The JCB Dieselmax car is proof positive of this trend, even in leading edge automotive applications".
JCB Dieselmax was the brainchild of JCB Chairman Sir Anthony Bamford, born of his desire to showcase the extreme performance of the JCB444 diesel engine that normally powers the company's backhoe loaders and Loadall telescopic handlers.
After watching the record-breaking runs, he said: "We have proven that we have the world's fastest diesel car and engine".
"The JCB Dieselmax team has worked at times in adversity and faced numerous heartaches with fortitude".
"These record-breaking successes prove to the world the excellence of British engineering and teamwork".
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