AirShaper

For more information, visit https://www.airshaper.com
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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.

For more information, visit:
www.airshaper.com
www.facebook.com/AirShaper
www.linkedin.com/company/airshaper


#AirShaper #AerodynamicSimulation #CAD

How to run an Aerodynamic Simulation

For more information, visit https://www.airshaper.com or email info@airshaper.com
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In this video, we explain how to interpret a typical CFD simulation report. The topic is a car and we will learn how to:
- Understand the different forces & moments
- Detect sources of drag
- Read surface pressure & friction maps
- Analyse 3D streamlines
- Interpret sections of velocity & pressure
- Localize sources of wind noise

CFD Results - How to Interpret an Aerodynamic Analysis

For more information, visit https://www.airshaper.com or email info@airshaper.com
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Henrik Fisker has designed the BMW Z8, Aston Martin DB9, Fisker Karma and many more iconic cars. He's now set the target even higher:
to create the World's Most Sustainable Vehicle

History in the Car Design Business
I love designing cars, I would do it even if I didn't get paid for it - I would still be sketching cars in my spare time. It feels like my calling.

Sustainable Vehicles
Over the past 10 years, I've been inspired by people trying to create a better environment and I wanted to do something myself, on a bigger level. So I decided to create sustainable vehicles that are still beautiful, still desirable.

Sustainable vehicles will be there one day, but it will not happen over night - this industry is like an oil tanker that needs 7-10 years to take a dramatic turn. Part of the reason for this is that the lifetime of a new automotive platform, with all the development, crashtesting, investment, ... is about 7 years. Scrapping that after 2 years doesn't make financial sense.

So we'll see dramatic changes over the next 7 years, but even then, we'll need more time to ultimately manufacture truly sustainable cars.

But we cannot sit around and wait, just because they're not perfect yet, and go drive diesel cars again. That's what we are trying to do at Fisker Inc.

Aerodynamics
One key advantage of having an electric car is the flat floor [note: which helps to smoothen the flow underneath the car]. The roof shape was also tuned to help aerodynamics. And the lower front & rear end were also optimized to make sure the air goes around & leaves the vehicle without too much turbulence. Over the years, as a designer, I've learned what things you need to do to optimize this.

But honestly, the goal was not just to design the most aerodynamic car, because then it just ends up looking like most other very aerodynamic cars, which ultimately is a hatchback-style teardrop shape.


Range
The range argument is really only happening right now because we still feel there is a long distance between charging stations and we'll not sure if we'll get there [range anxiety] and have time to fill up the car with electricity.

In my view, over the next 3-4 years, we will see a dramatic increase in charging infrastructure in the US, Europe and China. We'll also get much better at assessing how long we need to stay at a charging station and in the future, we will not necessarily have to wait there for hours. Once people get used to all this, the total range will become irrelevant.


Scale
If all-electric car manufacturers/manufacturers that make electric cars today were using the same battery cell, set of modular electric motors, you would already have scale.

The only way to get scale is to partner up and create some sort of consortium. That is what we are working on and that is how we'll get our price down.

UPDATE:
this interview has also been featured on Clean Fleet Report:
https://cleanfleetreport.com/interview-henrik-fisker-talks-about-the-worlds-most-sustainable-vehicle/

Henrik Fisker Talks -  World's Most Sustainable Vehicle

For more information, visit https://www.airshaper.com
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MV Agusta is one of the teams competing in the MOTO GP - moto2 race class. In this interview, technical director Brian Gillen reveals how they blend physical & virtual wind tunnel testing to improve the aerodynamics of their moto2 race bike.

Wind tunnel testing process
Wind tunnel testing is great: you get a lot of empirical data. But there are a number of steps involved before you get there:
- Test definition: set up the goals & methods of the test plan, which sensors to use, which loads to expect, ...
- CAD design: design the parts for the prototype in a 3D CAD package
- Component prototyping: manufacture the components using 3D printing, carbon fiber, CNC machining, ...
- Mounting on a test bike: mount all the components on a frame (which can be the frame of an existing bike)
- Transportation: move all the required people, equipment and the prototype to the wind tunnel.
- Wind tunnel test: execute the wind tunnel test, monitor the forces, log the data, apply different visualization techniques, set different angles of attack, test at multiple speeds, apply tufts, ...
- Post-processing: process the data into a comprehensive report and draw conclusions

Wind tunnel testing advantages and disadvantages
+ Accurate force & moment data
+ Live feedback
- Indirect visualization
- Challenging to find causality

Wind tunnel simulations
- Traditional CFD programs: the time required to prepare a CAD model (close all gaps & holes) and manually set up a simulation is too long compared to the rapid steps of evolution of the bike in the development process. By the time simulation results were in, they were already 3 steps past with the real prototype.
- AirShaper: take a non-closed model and very quickly put it through the CFD algorithms to get back data. This allowed for very fast iterations to understand where they were in terms of fluid dynamics around the bike.

Data validation
For them, as engineers, data means nothing if it is not validated.
They were able to validate the AirShaper data versus data from the wind tunnel test and found an almost complete convergence in terms of forces & moments on the vehicle.

Virtual iterations
That allowed them to build a virtual avatar around the bike as a mirror image of the physical world. From there on, they could dive into the virtual world for an iterative process before going back to the real world, where testing costs a lot of money. Designing, constructing, testing & scrapping prototypes when they do not work is very expensive.

Track testing
On the track, the drivers can test the real performance of the bike and give qualitative & quantitative feedback to the development team (vibrations at certain speeds, wind buffeting affecting visibility, aerodynamic stability, ...). 
Here too, like in the wind tunnel, you need to be able to correlate numbers to sensation. For this to be possible, the rider has to be very lucid & clear in his description of what he's experiencing on the track (what & where is he experiencing an issue) so that this can be matched to data to find a mathematical reason.

Race Talk with MV Agusta - How to Improve Moto GP Aerodynamics

For more information, visit https://www.airshaper.com
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MV Agusta is one of the teams competing in the MOTO GP - moto2 race class. In this interview, technical director Brian Gillen reveals the top priorities when it comes to race bike/motorbike aerodynamics.

Brian Gillen
Brian is originally from Buffalo, New York, America. He grew up in a family that had a multi-line motorcycle dealership for over 40 years, selling Italian motorcycle brands (Ducatti, MV Agusta, ...), Swedish brands (Husqvarna), German brands (Maico), ...
He's now technical director of the R&D group at MV Agusta: engine design/testing, vehicle design/testing, homologation, styling.

Moto 2
MV Agusta joined the moto2 championship in 2019 with an official team with their technical partner FORWARD RACING (www.forward-racing.com). In 9 months time, they designed a completely new bike from the ground up.

MV Agusta had been following the moto2 series and when the new 3-cylinder engine was introduced, this was a good time for them to get on board: they had been competing with a 3-cylinder racebike in the world championship world supersport. They had a good understanding of what makes a motorbike powered by a 3-cylinder engine perform well.

Aerodynamics
To make the difference within the tightly regulated race class (standard electronics, tires, ...) they looked for areas where they could make a difference and aerodynamics was one of them. Main aspects:
- Coefficient of drag: most want to reduce the coefficient of drag to increase the top speed. But the amount of time you spend over an entire lap at top speed, with wide-open throttle and high rpm, is very limited. Even big gains in top speed advantage result in a limited overall lap time advantage.
- How not to benefit your competitor: on a straight line, people try to get in behind you to go faster by drafting.
- Rider comfort: the engine dissipates a lot of heat and in ambient temperature conditions (like in Thailand) this decreases the mental performance of the rider. Keeping the rider cool is very important to keep his/her mental performance high. A better thermal comfort, relative to the competition, is a strong advantage for the rider.
- Wind buffeting: the air coming off the wind screen can be highly turbulent with frequencies around 20Hz for example which can shake the head of the rider. This reduces the focus, reducing the capability to detect the correct braking point. With just hundreds of seconds to decide on when to brake, this is very crucial.

Race Talk with MV Agusta - Top Aerodynamic Priorities for moto GP bikes

For more information, visit https://www.airshaper.com
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The Italian company Dallara has been building race cars for decades, like the IndyCar IR18, the Formula 3 F3 2019 and the Formula E gen1 and gen2. The founder of Dallara, Giampolo Dallara, has long dreamed of building their own road car and now it's finally there: the Dallara Stradale (Stradale means "road-going"). It has been featured on Top Gear, driven by Chris Harris!

Lowie Vermeersch & Granstudio have once again applied their magic to merge high-performance aerodynamics with pleasing aesthetics. And this video also covers his take on the future of sports cars and their place in our (possibly autonomous) future.

Dallara are super experts in aerodynamics. Still, through the interaction with Granstudio, some aspects of the aerodynamics were changed. The essence of this car is the combination of low weight and aerodynamics. The car creates a lot of vertical pressure, pushing the car against the ground. As it weighs just 800kg, there's not a lot of force wanting to push it out of the corner and thus the relative importance of aerodynamics (and the increase in normal pressure/friction on the tires it provides) makes the car go a lot faster through the corners. The speeds are so high that your mind thinks it's not possible. It creates so much downforce that it could almost drive upside down: the car weighs 850kg and it creates around 820kg of downforce!

But will pure sports cars still be relevant in the future, when we're all driving around in autonomous vehicles? The future that Lowie & Dallara see is the following:

We'll need to move ourselves in much more efficient ways (shared vehicles, ...) to help society. We'll need to take a bit of individuality out of our daily movements.

On the other hand, it's important to leave room for the Homo Ludens, the playful person, to satisfy what Lowie calls "the pleasure principle":
no plan for society will work if it asks us to act according to numbers.

They like to see a future where during the day you move yourself using public transport, shared vehicles and perhaps your own efficient car. And then you go to the track to use (not own) a race car to get that very physical special experience. That's the place they see for a vehicle like the Dallara Stradale in a multi mobility society.

For more information:
www.dallara.it
www.granstudio.com
www.airshaper.com

Lowie Vermeersch talks #4 - The Dallara Stradale

For more information, visit https://www.airshaper.com
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In this 3rd part of our video with Lowie Vermeersch, we're looking at the future of autonomous vehicle design and how aerodynamics will play a role in this!

Lowie Vermeersch questions whether aerodynamics will impact autonomous vehicles or vice versa. The general aspect is that the future needs to move towards higher efficiency to become sustainable and to lower the cost of use.

To provide access to electric cars for many people, the cost still needs to come down. Higher efficiency can further reduce the size & cost of the battery. Aerodynamics is a big part of this efficiency.

This applies to both autonomous & privately owned cars, which will for a long time not look very different. Despite nice concept cars, which are marketing tools to enrich a brands value, actual production cars are always tailored to the human body and physical needs/constraints.

Current car design & layout are determined by drive train layout, fashion, and to a large extent the fundamental functions of a car. That's why a Tesla Model 3 doesn't look too different from other cars. It's largely determined by where the people sit, where they sit compared to the wheels, how you build the cabin around them and so on. So Lowie doesn't see it happening that autonomous cars will look entirely different.

That could happen when we reach totally different laws for autonomous cars (level 5). The visibility you need now is more or less defined by the position of the A-pillar. If you can change that, you can change the design in a more fundamental way and move towards more mono volume shapes.

Vehicle safety is also a big aspect: full active safety will change the structure of a car, which is now strongly determined by passive safety. Lowie Vermeersch did a study at Pininfarina in 2006 forecasting this (the Pininfarina Sintesi Concept Car): the moment that digital systems allow for full active safety (not like the passive safety of today, which is designed to allow cars to crash well) to avoid crashes, then you can get rid of the built-in passive safety.

With fully proven active safety, you can make cars much lighter. This can have a much bigger impact on the layout of the car, as many aspects of the current layout are determined by safety.

Lowie Vermeersch Talks #3 - Autonomous Vehicle Design

For more information, visit https://www.airshaper.com
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Lowie Vermeersch is a famous Belgian Car Designer.
In this second part of the interview, we cover the Lightyear One: the hyper-innovative solar-powered electric car.

Just imagine how difficult it must have been to go from the proportions of a solar-powered prototype racer, all the way to an aesthetically pleasing & technically impressive production car. Here's how they were involved from the first sketches to the final production car.

White sheet of paper
They started with some of the work & research that the team of Lightyear had done. They have a lot of expertise in solar power systems & efficient drive trains. When they started developing the packaging, the proportions, the length/width/height, aerodynamics were really on the plate. An additional requirement was 5m² of solar cell surface. And of course good ergonomics & aesthetics.

Monovolume
Solar race cars typically have a teardrop, monovolume shape. That didn't work for the production, because the visibility lines dictate a huge windshield. This resulted in 3 disadvantages:
- Glass is very heavy
- Less room for solar cells
- Greenhouse effect - the inside of the car heats up. Cooling would require extra energy

Camera's instead of mirrors
The Lightyear One solar-powered car has been fitted with camera's instead of mirrors to further reduce aerodynamic drag. In this case, the camera supports actually improve the aerodynamics.

Covered rear wheel
This was a no-compromise car and covering the rear wheel again helped to reduce the drag. The black stripe around it avoids the visual impression that the car is dragging itself. Together with the strong shoulder, you have an aesthetically pleasing result without compromising aerodynamics.

Wind tunnel testing
The results were record breaking: a drag coefficient Cd of less than 0.20 is the best drag coefficient for a car in this class.

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AirShaper: www.airshaper.com
Gran Studio: www.granstudio.com
Lightyear: www.lightyear.one
Connect with me on Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/wouter-remmerie

Lowie Vermeersch #2 - The Lightyear One Solar Car

For more information, visit https://www.airshaper.com
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Lowie Vermeersch is a famous Belgian Car Designer.
In this first part of the interview, we walk through his career: starting at the TUDelft in Holland all the way to running his own design studio Granstudio in Turin, the heart of the Italian Car Design Industry.

He has the unique skill to design pure, timeless & elegant cars without any form of machoism.
At Pininfarina, he designed the legendary Ferrari 458, an extremely beautiful, legendary sports car. At his own design studio, they worked on a.o. cars like the Dallara Stradale and the Lightyear One solar-powered car.

Lowie likes to talk about aerodynamics: it's an aspect that is often not highlighted when they present their designs, even though it's a very fundamental aspect, for vehicle design as a whole. This links back to his studies at the TUDelft, the Dutch University famous for its expertise in aerodynamics. There, he studied material science, physics, ... which has provided him with a holistic take on car design, which still typifies him as a designer today.

Lowie Vermeersch comes from an artist family (sculptors, painters, ...) and perhaps this has been part of the reason for his desire to have an independent position. He had been fascinated by the independent Italian Car Design studios and went on to do his internship and later work at Pininfarina. A combination of hard work, some merit, some luck, being the right guy at the right moment, allowed him to do great things there. He became responsible for design for the entire studio.

He later founded Gran Studio, where they are capable of working on anything that you can see with the naked eye. They have worked on cars like the Dallara Stradale and the Lightyear One solar-powered car, next to other projects in the broader mobility scene.

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AirShaper: www.airshaper.com
Gran Studio: www.granstudio.com
Connect with me on Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/wouter-remmerie

Our Latest Videos Gain aerodynamic insight by watching our videos

How to run an Aerodynamic Simulation

CFD Results - How to Interpret an Aerodynamic Analysis

Henrik Fisker Talks - World's Most Sustainable Vehicle

Race Talk with MV Agusta - How to Improve Moto GP Aerodynamics

Race Talk with MV Agusta - Top Aerodynamic Priorities for moto GP bikes

Lowie Vermeersch talks #4 - The Dallara Stradale

Lowie Vermeersch Talks #3 - Autonomous Vehicle Design

Lowie Vermeersch #2 - The Lightyear One Solar Car

Lowie Vermeersch #1 - Ferrari 458 to Lightyear One

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