AirShaper

https://www.airshaper.com

How to run an AirShaper simulation

Hi, and welcome to AirShaper, the cloud-based simulation platform for external aerodynamics.
In just three easy steps you can obtain all the data & insights you need to understand and improve the aerodynamics of your design.

Fixed wing drone

Step 1 - The Set Up

Start a new project and select the required accuracy. If you’re just exploring initial concepts or simple shapes, a concept simulation will do. If you’re working on the final details or a very complex 3D model, our ultimate simulation is the best choice.

Give the project a name and simply drag & drop your 3D file into AirShaper. By the way, AirShaper is capable of working directly with open surface models. So there is no need to spend weeks to make your 3D model watertight.

On the setup page, first, choose your simulation type. This drone, for example, is above the ground and moving. Fill in the velocity and rotate the model if needed. Finally, let us know the units of your 3D model and if needed, add a scale factor. That’s all there is to it for the setup!

Simply fill in your details on the payment page and submit the simulation.


STEP 2 – The Cloud Simulations

Our automated algorithms will now automatically build a virtual wind tunnel around your 3D model and analyze the aerodynamics. And because it’s a cloud platform, you don’t need any software or hardware and we can use high-performance computing to deliver fast and accurate results.

STEP 3 - The Results

Once the simulation is finished, a full simulation report will be in your mailbox.

You can also view the 3D flow results directly in your browser. Look at pressure, for example, to find sources of drag, analyze streamlines to understand vortex structures and even get insights into which areas are generating wind noise!

And it that is not enough, you can download the full flow results to perform your own post-processing.

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The AirShaper videos cover the basics of aerodynamics (aerodynamic drag, drag & lift coefficients, boundary layer theory, flow separation, reynolds number...), simulation aspects (computational fluid dynamics, CFD meshing, ...) and aerodynamic testing (wind tunnel testing, flow visualization, ...).

We then use those basics to explain the aerodynamics of (race) cars (aerodynamic efficiency of electric vehicles, aerodynamic drag, downforce, aero maps, formula one aerodynamics, ...), drones and airplanes (propellers, airfoils, electric aviation, eVTOLS, ...), motorcycles (wind buffeting, motogp aerodynamics, ...) and more!

For more information, visit www.airshaper.com

How to run an Aerodynamic Simulation

For more information on sports car aerodynamics:
- Lotus Evija: https://youtu.be/WaLxG9CT3RI
- 300 MPH custom Lamborghini: https://youtu.be/N9kMQBBMUdM
- Porsche Taycan - part 1: https://youtu.be/K2jgsgihZ_w
- Porsche Taycan - part 2: https://youtu.be/kyHjWGnrByQ


Cars by Gordon Murray
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Brabham BT46
Inspired by the ground-effect Lotus Type 78 featuring side skirts and the Chaparral 2J “sucker car”, featuring 2 fans at the rear, Gordon Murray and the team installed a massive fan at the rear of the Brabham Formula One car. Because ‘moveable aerodynamic devices’ were not allowed, its official purpose was actually to improve cooling, which it did. What it unofficially also did, was to draw air from underneath the car. With side skirts around the car closing off the underfloor area from the outside air, the fan was able to maintain a low pressure underneath the car. This led to high amounts of downforce, enabling crazy cornering speeds.

McLaren F1
On sports cars, you’ll often see a diffuser, the upward sloped rear part of the underfloor. It’s there to increase the airspeed underneath the car, which will help to create suction because of the Bernoulli effect. If the upward angle is too aggressive, the air will not be able to follow the curvature and will continue on its own, more horizontal path. This is what we call a “stalled” diffuser. To activate it and make the air follow the curvature, the fans draw air away at the beginning of the diffuser step. This helps to remove the boundary layer and makes the airflow stick to the underfloor surface. It increased downforce by 5% and reduced drag by 2%.

Aerodynamic analysis of the Gordon Murray T50
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Fan
The fan has an 8.5kW electric motor and can spin up to 7.000 rpm. It will eject the air into the wake behind the car, helping to reduce drag by virtually creating a long-tail car. And the 15kg of thrust it produces is around 2.5% of the total drag on the car, so that effect is actually significant as well. Even more so – from what we understand from various interviews, it’s actually more efficient to provide 8.5kW to the fan and not to the drive shafts to increase top speed. Now let’s see how the fan works together with other parts of the car in different aero modes. 

Downforce mode
In down force mode, the fan will source air from the diffuser channels. The car has 2 very pronounced diffuser channels which fit between the engine bay and the rear wheels. Without fan assistance, the air is not able to follow this profile and the diffuser stalls, creating just a mild diffuser effect. But in downforce mode, the fan draws its air from the beginning of the diffuser, at the steep part of the step. This helps to remove the boundary layer and to make the air to stick to the profile. This not only creates downforce at the rear, it also helps to accelerate the air underneath the entire car, creating down force at the center and front of the car as well.  In total, down force mode will generate 50% more overall downforce on the car.

Streamline mode
The rear spoilers drop by 10° to reduce base suction, which is the pressure just behind the car, holding it back. And the fan will now source its air from the top air inlets. This again helps to remove the boundary layer which will help to reduce drag on the parts downstream of these inlets. Together with the virtual long-tail effect, drag is reduced by an impressive 12.5% in streamline mode.

Vmax mode
This is basically the same as streamline mode, but the fan is now powered by the battery instead of the engine, to free up engine power.

Brake mode
The flaps rise even further to their maximum angle of 45°. This mode provides a 100% increase in downforce, which provides more grip for braking. And because the flaps are positioned relatively high on the car, the drag on them creates a backward tilting moment, counteracting the forward tilt caused by the deceleration. This greatly improves the balance of the car under braking. All this reduces the braking distance from 150mph to standstill by 10 meters.


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The AirShaper videos cover the basics of aerodynamics (aerodynamic drag, drag & lift coefficients, boundary layer theory, flow separation, reynolds number...), simulation aspects (computational fluid dynamics, CFD meshing, ...) and aerodynamic testing (wind tunnel testing, flow visualization, ...).

We then use those basics to explain the aerodynamics of (race) cars (aerodynamic efficiency of electric vehicles, aerodynamic drag, downforce, aero maps, formula one aerodynamics, ...), drones and airplanes (propellers, airfoils, electric aviation, eVTOLS, ...), motorcycles (wind buffeting, motogp aerodynamics, ...) and more!

For more information, visit www.airshaper.com

Gordon Murray T50 Aerodynamics - Successor to the McLaren F1 supercar

For more information on how to interpret CFD results: https://youtu.be/XntO27S5Urc


In this video we explain how to use Paraview to analyze CFD data:

Installing paraview
Visit https://www.paraview.org/download and select the release & operating system that you need.

Loading data
How to load the mesh & field data in Paraview.

Surface Methods
- Surface pressure map
- Surface friction map
- Surface velocity map
- Surface streamlines using SurfaceLIC

Volume Methods
- 2D slices (sections)
- 2D streamlines
- 3D Isosurfaces

State files
Saving & loading your project setup using paraview state files


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The AirShaper videos cover the basics of aerodynamics (aerodynamic drag, drag & lift coefficients, boundary layer theory, flow separation, reynolds number...), simulation aspects (computational fluid dynamics, CFD meshing, ...) and aerodynamic testing (wind tunnel testing, flow visualization, ...).

We then use those basics to explain the aerodynamics of (race) cars (aerodynamic efficiency of electric vehicles, aerodynamic drag, downforce, aero maps, formula one aerodynamics, ...), drones and airplanes (propellers, airfoils, electric aviation, eVTOLS, ...), motorcycles (wind buffeting, motogp aerodynamics, ...) and more!

For more information, visit www.airshaper.com

CFD Results - How to analyse OpenFOAM data with ParaView - 25-minute Tutorial

CFD Results - How to analyse OpenFOAM data with ParaView - 25-minute Tutorial

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