Large eddy simulation of a road vehicle with drag-reduction devices

The flow around an idealized road vehicle at Reynolds numbers up to 105 has been simulated using large eddy simulation; the numerical technique is based on the immersed boundary approach, which allows efficient calculations to be carried out on a Cartesian grid. The effect of the Reynolds number and the wake modifications produced by drag reduction devices attached to the base have been analyzed and compared with available experimental data. Averaged drag coefficient and mean velocity profiles are in good agreement with measurement. The effect of subgrid-scale modeling (Smagorinsky and dynamic model) has also been studied.