Journal o f Wi nd Engi neeri ng and Indust ri al Aer odynami cs , 22 ( 1986) 149- - 167 149

Elsevier Sci ence Publ i shers B. V. , Ams t er dam - - Pr i nt ed in The Net her l ands
A BLOCKAGE CORRECTION FOR AUTOMOTIVE TESTING IN A
WIND TUNNEL WITH CLOSED TEST SECTION
E. MERCKER
Ger man- - Dut ch Wi nd Tunnel
Summar y
With r ef er ence t o t he Ger man- - Dut ch Wind Tunnel a me t hod is di scussed for cor r ect -
ing bl ockage ef f ect s on passenger cars t est ed in a cl osed t est sect i on of a wi nd t unnel
nor mal t o t he fl ow and in a cross wi nd fl ow up t o 30 . The cor r ect i on pr ocedur e
di st i ngui shes bet ween solid and wake bl ockage. The eval uat i on of t he solid bl ockage
f act or is based on t he wor k of C. N. H. Lock using t he t echni que of i mages and i nt r oduci ng
t he char act er i st i c di mensi ons of t he vehicle i nt o t he cor r ect i on f or mul a.
The wake bl ockage fact or is based on t he wor k of E. Maskell and H. Gl auert . The
cor r ect ed resul t s obt ai ned on six di f f er ent cars are di scussed and compar ed wi t h t hose
cor r ect ed wi t h t he area-rat i o met hod.
1. I nt r oduct i on
The problem of determining t he magni t ude of interference effects in sub-
sonic wi nd tunnels has been a lasting concern of experi ment ers and
theoreticians since t he early days of wind t unnel techniques. Interference
effects arise from the influence of the test section boundary, disturbances
from t he measuring equi pment and model support systems. Furt hermore,
irregularities of t he airstream itself due to non-uni formi t y, unsteadiness, flow
angularities, turbulence, and t unnel fl oor boundary layer thickness may pro-
mot e differences of t he aerodynami c quantities measured in various wi nd
tunnels wi t h t he same model.
In order to establish t he magni t ude of these deviations a considerable
number of correlation and comparison tests, especially in t he field of
aut omot i ve testing, has been execut ed during t he past five years [1--5].
St andard deviations as high as 3--4% for t he same confi gurat i on of a car
model t est ed in di fferent wind tunnels are no rarity and underline the
necessity of evaluating t he di fferent interference effects.
2. General consideration of blockage correct i on for aut omat i ve testing
It is a fact t hat t he rigid boundaries of a closed t est section of a wind
t unnel prevent a free lateral displacement of the airflow about a model
0167- 6105/ 86/ $03. 50 1986 Elsevier Sci ence Publ i shers B.V.
150
t hr ough whi ch t he vel oci t i es in t he pr oxi mi t y of t he body are hi gher t han
t he y woul d be in an unl i mi t ed st ream. The i ncrease in t he free st ream
vel oci t y is par t l y r el at ed t o t he sol i di t y of t he body (sol i d bl ockage) and t he
di spl acement ef f ect s of t he wa ke ( wake bl ockage) .
Bl ockage cor r ect i on pr ocedur es wer e originally devel oped and successful l y
appl i ed in t he fi el d of aer onaut i cal t est i ng of wings and compl et e airplanes.
However , wi t h t he i nt r oduct i on of high lift conf i gur at i ons of mode r n wings
t hese cor r ect i on me t hods suf f er f r om poor accur acy [ 6] . This is mai nl y due
t o t he di f f i cul t y of eval uat i ng t he pr of i l e drag and t he i nduced drag.
The same ki nd of pr obl em is exper i enced in t he field of car testing.
Al t hough t he overall lift may be zero, consi der abl e i nduced drag can be
cr eat ed due t o posi t i ve- - negat i ve part i al -l i ft s at t he f r ont and rear axles.
Maskell [7] has s hown t hat onl y drag due t o mo me n t u m loss causes
bl ockage ef f ect s whi ch, in t ur n, shows t hat t he i nduced drag has t o be sub-
t r act ed f r om t he meas ur ed drag in t he appr opr i at e cor r ect i on f or mul a.
In def aul t of exper i ment al evi dence, bl ockage cor r ect i on me t hods f or
a ut omot i ve t est i ng have of t en been di r ect l y a dopt e d f r om aer onaut i cal t est -
ing wi t hout consi der i ng t he special bounda r y condi t i ons of t he pr evi ous ki nd
of t est s.
The mos t obvi ous i nconsi st enci es are:
(1) Sol i d bl ockage is usual l y negl ect ed.
(2) Maskel l ' s cor r ect i on f or mul a f or ful l y separ at ed f l ow ( separ at i on at t he
l eadi ng edge of t he body) is of t e n appl i ed al t hough separ at i on occur s
mai nl y at t he rear par t of t he car model .
(3) In oppos i t i on t o ai rcraft s meas ur ed at t he cent er l i ne of t he t unnel , t he
car model is pl aced at t he t unnel fl oor.
(4) Bl ockage ef f ect s on el ongat ed model s, like t r ucks, whi ch are appr eci abl y
larger t han t he br eadt h of t he t unnel need t o be appr oached f r om an
al t ernat i ve poi nt of view, because it is doubt f ul t hat t he vel oci t y is
al t er ed in t he same rat i o at all poi nt s of t he sur f ace of t he mode l by t he
t unnel i nt er f er ence. It is t hi s assumpt i on whi ch is ant i ci pat ed in mos t
cor r ect i on pr ocedur es.
Ther ef or e, t he last i t em will also be excl uded f r om t he f ol l owi ng con-
si derat i ons of bl ockage ef f ect s. For such model s a mor e or less r i gor ous
empi ri cal appr oach seems t o be mor e appr opr i at e.
Wi l l emsen and Mer cker [8] appl i ed a modi f i ed c ont i nui t y- me t hod t o
t r uck model s of di f f er ent scales. At a l at er st age Bechst ei n [9] carri ed out
some exper i ment s on ful l and 1 : 2. 5 scale t r ucks at DNW. The agr eement of
t he dat a f r om bot h t est s cor r ect ed wi t h t he above me nt i one d pr ocedur e was
ver y sat i sf act or y and of t he or der of 1%.
The domi nant ef f ect of bl ockage is usual l y t aken t o be equi val ent t o a
si mpl e i ncrease in t he free st r eam vel oci t y.
U~ = Uo + AU (1)
151
where U0 is t he velocity in t he empt y tunnel, Uc is t he velocity correct ed for
blockage, AU is t he increase in axial velocity due to blockage.
With e = AU/ Uo eqn. (1) takes t he form
Uc = U0( l +e )
or, expressed in t he form of dynami c pressure
qc = q0 (1 + e) 2 (2)
Expandi ng eqn. (2) and dropping higher order terms, a close order of
approxi mat i on is given by
q = q0 (1 + 2e) (3)
The t ot al blockage fact or e consists of solid and wake blockage terms: e =
es + ew (e~ = solid, ew = wake blockage factors). Thus, eqn. (2) becomes
q = q0 ( l +e ~+e w) 2 or
q = qo (1 + 2e~ + 2ew) (4)
It is well known t hat beside solid and wake blockages, additional effects due
to t he constrained flow occur and may influence t he flow about a model.
These effects are t hought to be of mi nor i mport ance for aut omot i ve testing
since t he corrected data, given in section 6, lie within t he bandwi dt h of the
measuring accuracy.
3. Solid blockage correct i on
3. 1. Pas s enger cars n o r ma l t o f l o w
Lock [10] has shown t hat t he solid blockage correction for a revolving
body in a closed t unnel is given, t o a close order of approxi mat i on, by
/S~3n
es = r ; ~[ C ) (5)
where r is a fact or dependent onl y on t he shape and t he cross section of t he
t unnel , ~. is a fact or dependent on t he meridian shape of t he body, S is t he
maxi mum cross sectional area of t he body, C is t he cross sectional area of
t he tunnel.
The mat hemat i cal approach, in order to attain eqn. (5), is based on the
met hod of images. Lock considered an equivalent body in t he form of a
doubl et , which is t he combi nat i on of sources and sinks produci ng t he same
velocity field at a distance as large as t hat from t he original body. The
straight, parallel sides of t he t unnel axe t hen simulated by a doubl y infinite
series of images of t he doubl et . All doubl et s have t he same strength and are
equally spaced dependi ng on t he hei ght and wi dt h of t he test section. The
proport i onal i t y fact or for t he i nduced velocity at t he centerline of t he t est
152
section from all doublets, wi t h t he original doubl et removed, can be calcu-
lated by numerical summat i on
T - - 27r3/2 ~_ 2 b 2 + n 2 h 2 (6)
where m and n denot e all pairs of integers except (0, 0) and b is the width
and h the height of t he test section.
The convergence of the series reveals t he t unnel shape fact or r which is,
however, const ant for a given t unnel shape. This calculation has been done
by various authors and the results can be t aken most comprehensively from
t he work of Wuest [11] for di fferent t ypes of test sections and dimensions.
For aut omot i ve testing it has to be considered t hat the model is usually
placed on the t unnel floor in order to simulate road interferences. Therefore,
t he model and its image with t he fl oor as t he plane of symmet r y have to be
t aken into account. The floor is reduced to a flow sheet and accordingly the
cross sectional area of t he test section is doubl ed and twice the t unnel height
will be used in order to calculate r. Furt hermore, a symmet ri cal distribution
of doublets is again at t ai ned leaving t he form of eqn. (6) unchanged.
The magni t ude of the i nduced velocity is furt her det ermi ned by the
strength of t he doubl et which is proport i onal to X, t he model shape factor,
and which is shown in ref. 10 t o be
Q ~r
- ) ~ t 3 ( 7 )
U0 4
where Q is the strength of t he doubl et and t is t he maxi mum thickness of the
body. The model shape fact or )~ can be calculated for any shape for which
the theoretical flow in an infinite stream is known. Unfort unat el y, this is
known onl y for a few simple cases like a Rankine-Ovoid or a Spheroid,
unless laborious panel calculation wi t h modern comput ers is involved. In
the absence of such calculations t he magni t ude of )~ has to be interpolated
from known cases for any i nt ermedi at e shape, which seems to be a rather
questionable approach particularly because this paper is concerned with car
shapes which are anti-symmetric wi t h respect t o their centerline.
Considering revolving bodies first, Young and Squire [12] have shown
t hat t he strength of t he doubl et representing t he model is given by t he prod-
uct Q = VM U0, where VM is t he body volume.
The maxi mum thickness t of t he body can be expressed by the cross
section of t he model normal to t he stream and thus, as shown in ref. 12,
eqn. (7) may be rewri t t en as
_x/~ VM
2 S 3/2 (8)
For bodies of arbitrary cross sectional area F t he maxi mum thickness t of
eqn. (7) may be defi ned as t he equivalent di amet er of a circle
153
/ r t 2
S - 4 - KI F (9)
wher e KI is a pr opor t i onal i t y f act or , whi ch is char act er i zed by t he geo-
met r i cal shape of t he obj ect and is assumed t o be a f unct i on of t he b o d y
vol ume, l engt h and cross sect i on.
Ther ef or e, i t is possi bl e t o r ewr i t e eqn. (8) as
X X/ Tr VM
- ~ - F~ K2 (10)
wher e K2 = KT 3n
The f or m of t he governi ng equat i on f or K2 ma y be der i ved f r om Gl auer t ' s
[ 13] anal ogy of r epr esent i ng a revol vi ng b o d y by an equi val ent spher e of
di amet er d = ( 4S/ ~) 1/2 X pr oduci ng appr oxi mat el y t he same vel oci t y fi el d at
a di st ance as large as t hat f r om t he original body.
It can be s hown t hat k is t hen t he r at i o o f t wo vol umes
X = 6 = Yc ] ( 11)
wher e Vs is t he vol ume of t he equi val ent spher e and Vc = Sd is a cont r ol
vol ume, whi ch is an envel opi ng cyl i nder of r educed l engt h d of t he body.
Hence, t he same appr oach ma y also appl y f or K2 yi el di ng
K2 = 3 FL] ( 12)
wher e L is t he overal l l engt h of t he body.
The t ri pl e pr oduc t ( 1/ K3) FL denot es t he envel opi ng cyl i nder. The
cl osur e pr obl em of eqn. (5) will be sol ved i f p r o o f can be f ur ni shed t hat K3
is a const ant .
In sect i on 5 it will be de mons t r a t e d wi t h exper i ment al evi dence t hat K3 =
1/ x/ ~ f or all t ypi cal car model s t o a cl ose or der of appr oxi mat i on. Thus,
wi t h eqns. ( 10) and ( 12) , eqn. (5) can be r ewr i t t en as
T {VM. ~ 3/2
= A ( 13)
where VT= CL is the tunnel control volume, and A = L/x/F is a measure of
the fineness ratio of the body. The volume ratio in parentheses denotes how
the model volume is distributed inside the test section.
3. 2. Passenger cars in a cross wi nd f l ow
The aer odynami c quant i t i es o f passenger cars meas ur ed under cross wi nd
condi t i ons are usual l y r ef er r ed t o t he st abi l i t y axis syst em whi ch is n o t
r el evant i f bl ockage cor r ect i on comes i nt o oper at i on.
154
Determining t he blockage fact or for models yawed with regard to the
onfl ow direction t he corresponding wi nd axis system yields di fferent model
dimensions to be considered in eqn. (13). The t unnel cont rol volume is t hen
additionally a funct i on of the yaw angle/3 and the maxi mum breadt h d M of
the model. Thus
V w = (L cos/3 + d M sin/3) C /3 = I/3]
The same applies to t he reference area of t he model
F --- FF c os / 3+F s sin/3
and t he overall length of t he model which is denot ed by t he sum of product s
(L cos/3 + d M sin/3). F F and F~ denot e t he front al area and t he side area of
the model, respectively.
Hence, e~ can be calculated from t he entire solid blockage correction
formul a for all yaw angles
_ T L COS/3 q- d M sin/3 [
es - 2 (F F cos/3 4- Fs sin/3)1J2 [C(L
Al t hough of little technical relevance
be used wi t h some caut i on for large
assumed t hat in a cross wi nd flow of
leading edge of t he side area and t he
wake flow.
cos/3 q- d M sin/3 (14)
it is not ewor t hy t hat eqn. (14) should
yaw angles. For example, it may be
/3 = 90 fl ow separation occurs at t he
model mi ght be compl et el y buried in
The breakdown of the streamline flow past a model is not t aken into
account by eqn. (14), but it should be emphasized t hat from t he physical
poi nt of view solid blockage vanishes under such ext reme condi t i ons because
blockage effects are t hen created due to loss of moment um only, which is
t he subject of t he following section.
4. Wake blockage correction
4.1. Passenger cars normal to the f l ow
Maskell [7] i nt roduced a concept for correcting blockage effects which
are caused by flow separation from bl uff bodies. It is emphasized t hat onl y
moment um drag creates blockage and it is essential t hat additional com-
ponent s of drag due to lift and cross wi nd forces, which are known as
induced drag, have to be separated before t he blockage correct i on met hod is
applied:
1 F 1 1 F
ew 4 CD0 C 2 Cec C CDs (15)
where CDs = CDm - - CDi - - CD0 , e w is t he wake blockage factor, Cec is the
155
cor r ect ed base pr essur e coef f i ci ent , CDs is t he drag coef f i ci ent due t o
separ at ed f l ow, CDm is t he meas ur ed drag coef f i ci ent , CDi is t he i nduced drag
coef f i ci ent due t o l i ft and cross wi nd f or ces, CD0 is t he pr of i l e or vi scous
drag coef f i ci ent .
Equat i on ( 15) is successf ul l y appl i ed t o nor mal ai r cr af t t est i ng, al t hough
in t he absence of t he meas ur ed base pressure, Cp is of t e n r epl aced by - - 0. 4,
yi el di ng
1 CD0 F/C + 5 F ( 16)
- 4
As me nt i one d above, eqn. ( 16) has t o be used wi t h s ome caut i on f or high-lift
conf i gur at i ons of wings, because i t is di f f i cul t t o est abl i sh t he ri ght drag due
t o separ at i on of f l ow.
The fi rst t er m of eqn. ( 16) is a dopt e d f r om Thom [ 14] who r el at ed t he
bl ockage ef f ect t o t he meas ur ed b o d y drag b y i nt r oduci ng a sour ce at t he
model base and a si nk o f equal st r engt h far downs t r eam. The appr opr i at e
wake bl ockage f act or can t hen be cal cul at ed by an i nfi ni t e array of sour ce
and si nk images. The second t er m added by Maskel l [ 7] , account s f or t he
i ncreased vel oci t y out s i de t he wa ke and its c ons e que nt l y l ower ed pressure.
The di r ect appl i cat i on of eqn. ( 16) f or t he cor r ect i on of wake bl ockage
ef f ect s is, in def aul t of f ur t her evi dence f or a ut omot i ve t est i ng, not possi bl e,
because t he vi scous and t he i nduced drag f or car model s is not det er mi ned
st r ai ght f or war dl y and cannot be cal cul at ed on t heor et i cal grounds. However ,
eqn. ( 16) is i mpor t ant f or cor r ect i ng t he aer odynami c quant i t i es in a cross
wi nd f l ow whi ch will be cons i der ed later.
For cars nor mal t o t he f l ow, t he pr of i l e drag of t he fi rst t er m of eqn. ( 16)
will be r epl aced by t he meas ur ed drag and it ma y be s hown t hat t he er r or f or
t he cor r ect ed dat a is r at her small.
The second t er m of Maskel l ' s cor r ect i on f or mul a may be r epl aced by
Gl auerUs anal ogy of a Hel mhol t z f l ow [ 15] . Gl auer t suggest ed t hat t he wake
bl ockage ef f ect coul d be r epr es ent ed b y
F
ew = ~ C
w h e r e ~ F is the effective w i d t h o f the w a k e s o m e distance d o w n s t r e a m o f
the m o d e l .
A l t h o u g h it is felt that t h e use o f the factor ~7 is unsatisfactory, it is s h o w n
in section 5 that ~ is, to a close o r d e r o f a p p r o x i m a t i o n , a c o n s t a n t factor.
For ~ = 0 t he ent i re wa ke bl ockage cor r ect i on can t hen be wr i t t en as
1
6w - - C ODi n0 + 77 ( 17)
wher e CDm0 denot es t he drag coef f i ci ent meas ur ed at 0 yaw.
156
4.2. Passenger cars in a cross wi nd f l ow
For a car model exposed to a cross wi nd flow t he situation is somewhat
more distinct, because the displacement of the model with /3 reveals a
funct i on bet ween drag and lift and side forces.
To assess the i nduced drag (lift-force and side-force dependent drag) the
drag coeffi ci ent measured in the wind axis syst em should be pl ot t ed against
C D i ~ ( C2L "~- C 2 ) for di fferent / 3 (where CL is t he lift-coefficient, and Cy is
t he side-force-coefficient).
Figure 1 shows such a pl ot for a normal passenger car. The dashed line for
> 30 is qualitatively drawn in default of experi ment al data. Following the
example of Sachs [15] the linear port i on of this graph (2.5 < ~ < 15 )
represents t he quasi-attached flow region where t he increase in drag is only
due to i nduced drag. The port i on up to ~ ~ 60 is t he i nt ermedi at e region
where an additional drag cont ri but i on represents loss of moment um due to
separation. The distinct region is the domai n up to /3 = 90 where the
separated flow extends over t he whole model. The most interesting region
for aut omot i ve testing is of course t he region of quasi-attached flow and the
intermediate region (0 < ~ ~ 40 ). From t he conclusions drawn above it is
eqn. (16) which qualifies for correction
C w = ~- CDm 0 "~-~ + ~ ( CDm - - C Di - - C Dm0 ) (18)
including t he additional Glauert t erm from eqn. (17).
To assign t he operational area of eqn. (18) t he poi nt of deviation from the
linear funct i on CD ~ (CZL + C2v ) can be evaluated from a smaller angle of
-- iIiiii T
2.0-
'f.6-
1.2-
I
i
0.8-
0.4-
0-
0 0.5
Fig. 1. Wi nd axis drag as a f unct i on of i nduced drag.
( CL 2 + CV 2)
1.0
157
y a w becaus e i t is as s ume d t hat passenger cars general l y reveal a l i near po r t i o n
b e t we e n drag and i nduc e d drag f o r a cert ai n y a w angl e range.
Fo r t he di s t i nc t regi on o f f ul l y separat ed f l o w, Maskel l [ 7] suggests a
r e duc e d vers i on o f hi s c or r e c t i on f or mul a
5F
ew - 4 C ( CDm - - CDi ) (19)
becaus e i t is t ho ug ht t hat all c ont r i but i ons o f quasi - at t ached f l o w (CDm0) are
buri ed i n t he wa ke f l o w.
Onl y in t he abs ence o f i nduc e d drag c o mp o n e n t s and wi t h separat i on at
t he l eadi ng edge o f t he mo de l , doe s eqn. ( 1 9 ) reduce f urt her i nt o a f or m
whi c h has o f t e n f al sel y be e n used as a general c or r e c t i on f or mul a f or
bl oc kage e f f e c t s
5F
{~w 4 C Cv m ( 2 0 )
5. Wi nd t unne l me as ur e me nt s and cal cul at i ons
In order t o recons i der t he deri vat i on o f t he bl ockage c or r e c t i on f or mul ae
above, wi nd t unne l e xpe r i me nt s we r e e x e c u t e d at DNW.
A speci al l y prepared car mo d e l ( MI RA mode l , see Fi g. 2) has be e n t e s t e d
in DNWs t hree di f f e r e nt l y si zed c l os e d t e s t s e c t i ons ( 6 x 6, 8 6, 9. 5
9 . 5 m 2 ). The mo d e l can be c onve r t e d i nt o t hree di f f e r e nt t ypi c al car
c onf i gur at i ons wi t h i nt erchangeabl e parts ( not c h- bac k car, f as t - back car,
1055 1 7 ~ 1320
. . . . . . . ,oo
~J H 708 ! I ~ ~'~ i
REMOVABLESPATS REMOVABLEUNDERTRAY
TO ALLOW FULL EXPOSI NG' ROUGH' CENTRAL
STEERING LOCK UNDERBODY SECTION
m
812
~ _j .1 i . . . . .
I
I_ 1270
' ~TRACK :
BASIC MODEL WITH THREE
ALTERNATI VE REAR END SHAPES
~ ) ( ~ A N D ( ~ HAVI NG FLUSH
JOI NT LINE AT ( ~
AL L BODY EDGE RADI I 152 m m
EXCEPT REAR EDGES OF
BASIC BODY AND OF
REAR- END SHAPE ( ~
FRONT AREA 1. 856m 2
AL L DIMENSIONS IN mm
Fig. 2. Si mpl i f i ed car mode l for bl ockage study.
158
wa ggon- ba c k car). Th e mo d e l is ma d e f r o m p l y wo o d a nd pr i mi ng ma t e r i a l
a nd is c a r r i e d o n a n o r ma l p r o d u c t i o n car chassi s wi t h r u b b e r t yr es . No
c ool i ng ai r f l ow i nt a ke is f or e s e e n a nd all gaps at t he whe e l a r c he s ar e seal ed
wi t h br us hes in o r d e r t o p r e v e n t t h r o u g h f l ow. Pr evi ous t o t hi s mo d e l t est , a
n o t c h - b a c k Vol ks wa ge n 1 6 0 0 whi c h was e xt e ns i ve l y us e d as a c a l i br a t i on
mode l , was al so t e s t e d in DNWs 8 x 6 and 6 x 6 m 2 t es t sect i ons. F o r t he
speci al c ha r a c t e r i s t i c s of t hi s mo d e l r e f e r e n c e is ma d e t o refs. 1 and 5.
In a d d i t i o n t o t he t es t s me n t i o n e d a bove s ome s u p p l e me n t a r y t es t s we r e
car r i ed o u t on n o r ma l p r o d u c t i o n cars. The s e car s we r e t e s t e d in DNWs
9. 5 x 9. 5 and 8 x 6 m 2 t e s t s ect i ons on be ha l f of Ope l AG in t h r e e d i f f e r e n t
c onf i gur a t i ons each. The s e c o n f i g u r a t i o n wer e:
( 1) No r ma l de l i ve r y c ondi t i on.
( 2) Moc k- up ver s i on o f (1).
( 3) Op e n c ool i ng ai r f l ow i nt a ke o f ver s i on (2).
Th e c ha r a c t e r i s t i c vehi cl e di me ns i ons f r o m al l car s a n d mo d e l s can be
t a k e n f r o m Ta bl e 1. Al l car s and mo d e l s we r e t e s t e d u n d e r t he s ame f l ow
c o n d i t i o n s in each t e s t campai gn. Th e f l ow q u a l i t y o f t h e wi nd t u n n e l is
me a s u r e d and s u mma r i z e d in var i ous c a l i br a t i on r e p o r t s [ 1 6 , 1 7 ] . For c e s a nd
mo me n t s o f t h e car s we r e me a s u r e d wi t h a s i x - c o mp o n e n t u n d e r f l o o r bal ance.
Al l me a s u r e me n t s , car r i ed o u t wi t h t he MI RA mo d e l we r e r e p e a t e d six t i me s
wi t h t he mo d e l s di s pl aced a nd r e mo u n t e d o n t he pa ds i n b e t we e n d i f f e r e n t
r uns. Thi s p r o c e d u r e was e x e c u t e d in o r d e r t o es t abl i s h a s t a nda r d de vi a t i on
o f mo u n t i n g er r or s , as t h e mo d e l ha d t o be r e mo v e d f r o m t h e pads wh e n e v e r
d i f f e r e n t t e s t s ect i ons c a me i nt o ope r a t i on.
TABLE1
Charact eri st i c vehi cl e di mensi ons
Model S F (m 2 ) S s (m 2) V M (m 3 ) L (m) d M (m)
MI RA not ch- back 1. 86 3.6 5.9 4,2 1.63
MI RA fast -back 1. 86 3.8 6.2 4.2 1. 63
MI RA waggon- back 1. 86 4.2 6.7 4.2 1.63
VW 1600 1. 86 - - 5.1 4.2 - -
Opel not ch- back 1.72 3.4 4.5 4.0 1. 54
Opel fast -back 1.87 3.8 5.7 4.3 1.67
Th e me a s u r e d a e r o d y n a mi c qua nt i t i e s o f t h e MI RA mo d e l s we r e f i r st
s ubj e c t e d t o a r egr es s i on anal ys i s as a f u n c t i o n o f ge ome t r i c a l bl oc ka ge r a t i o
F/C. I t can be e s t a bl i s he d t h a t t h e f u n c t i o n CDm = Cnm (F/C) f ol l ows an
e x p o n e n t i a l c ur ve v e r y ni c e l y wi t h a c o r r e l a t i o n o f 9 8 - - 9 9 %
CD m __-- I'~DeP'~F/C ( 21)
wh e r e CDe is t h e dr ag c o e f f i c i e n t whi c h ma y be a c hi e ve d in an i nf i ni t e l y
l arge t e s t s ect i on.
159
The power fact or ~ of t he exponent i al funct i on is di fferent for each
model and has a magni t ude between uni t y and t wo yielding a regression
which is onl y slightly di fferent from t hat of a linear funct i on in the range of
blockage ratios investigated. In fact, t he correlation for a linear regression is
onl y about 1% smaller.
Therefore, its was justified t o analyze t he aerodynami c quantities of t he
VW 1600 and t he product i on cars, wi t h onl y t wo di fferent geometrical
blockage ratios available, wi t h t he aid of a linear regression curve. Extra-
pol at i on of these curves for an infinitely large cross sectional area of a wi nd
t unnel ( F/ C = O) finally reveals t he quantities measured in an unconst rai ned
stream. In t he following t hey are called "ext r apol at ed values" (CDe). In
order t o apply the entire blockage correction formul a t he const ant K3 of
eqn. (13) for solid blockage and ~ of eqn. (17) for wake blockage have to be
evaluated beforehand. This can be achieved t o a good order of approxi mat i on
by a parameter-variation of K3 and ~ for the drag coefficient of t he MIRA
model and its three configurations measured in the 8 6 m 2 test section
wi t h the model normal to t he flow*.
With knowl edge of t he ext rapol at ed values an opt i mum for bot h par-
ameters is found t o be K3 = 0.564 = 1/x/~r and ~? = 0.430, respectively.
Int roduci ng these factors into t he corresponding correction formul a it turns
out t hat t he drag coefficients measured in the 8 6 m 2 test section are, in
compari son with the "ext r apol at ed values", undercorrect ed for t he waggon-
back and fast, back models by 0.1 and 0.3%, respectively and overcorrected
by 0.1% for t he not ch-back model.
6. Application of blockage correct i on and di scussi on of results
The entire solid and wake blockage correction formul a for t he dynami c
pressure is given by
qo = qo CDmo +0. 4 + (CDm--CD --CDmo)
Equat i on (22) is valid for car-shaped bodies placed at t he fl oor of a wi nd
t unnel wi t h square or rectangular closed t est section and t est ed normal to
t he wi nd or in a cross wind flow.
For the region of yaw angle where a linear regression of t he proport i onal
induced drag as a funct i on of t he measured drag is present in t he wi nd axis
system, t he t erm ~ (CDm -- CDi -- CDmo ) will be zero. For t he distinct region,
where t he separated flow ext ends over t he whol e model a reduced version of
*The 8 6 m 2 t est s ect i on is c hos e n becaus e mos t a ut omot i ve t es t s ar e car r i ed out in t hi s
t es t s e c t i on at DNW.
160
eqn. ( 22) qualifies for correcti on
3/2 2
F 5 ( CDm CDi) + 2 rA (23)
qc = qo 1 + C4
Figure 3 shows the application of eqn. ( 22) on the uncorrected drag coef-
ficients of all cars and model s measured in different test secti ons of 0 yaw.
The corrected values are displayed in compari son wi th their corresponding
extrapol ated values, yielding ACD*. Except for the MIRA waggon-back
NB ~ Notch-back
FB ~ Fast-back
WB ~ Waggon-back
PC & Production-car
MU ~ Mock-up-version
CF ~ Cooling-air-flow open
A C D = CDC - CDT
CDC = Corrected Drag-Coefficient
C D T = T r u e Drag-Coefficient
SD
Range of uncorrected
C D = 0.23 0.42
C D corrected with
new correction method
C D corrected with
area-ratio method
= S t a n d a r d - D e v l a t i o n o f Repeat-Measurement
Fig. 3. Co mpa r i s o n o f di f f e r e nt bl o c ka g e c or r e c t i on me t ho ds .
* AC D o f t he order o f 10 -3 is cal l ed o n e drag c ount .
161
model measured in DNWs 9.5 9. 5 m 2 t est section all cor r ect ed dat a coi nci de
wi t h t he ext r apol at ed value bet ween a bandwi dt h of appr oxi mat el y + 0.5
drag count s. To assess t he results it shoul d be emphasi zed t hat t he error
bandwi dt h of t he mount i ng- r epeat measur ement s yi el d t he same or der of drag
count variations. It is t he averaged value of t hese measurement s whi ch is
consi dered here. The range of t he uncor r ect ed measured drag coeffi ci ent s lies
wi t hi n a bandwi dt h of Cvm = 0. 23--0. 42 which is t he most i mpor t ant one
for moder n designed cars.
For compari son, Fig. 3 also displays t he dat a correct ed wi t h t he area-ratio
met hod
CDc --~ CDm ( 1 - - Fi e ) 2 (24)
where CDc denot es t he cor r ect ed drag coeffi ci ent .
Deviations f r om t he ext r apol at ed values are as high as 13 drag count s for
t he VW 1600 measured in DNWs 6 6 m 2 t est section. The quant i t i es
measured in t he 9.5 9. 5m 2 t est section are generally closest t o t he extra-
pol at ed values. This can be expect ed because eqn. (24) approaches t he
unconst r ai ned values for C at infinity. Hence, it can be stated t hat this correc-
t i on met hod is i nadequat e f or blockage cor r ect i on of aut omot i ve testing.
However, a modi fi ed f or m of eqn. (24) seems t o be mor e appropri at e
CDc = CDm -- (25)
It should be poi nt ed out t hat f or model s t est ed in a cross wi nd flow t he
f r ont al area in eqns. (24) and (25) is not a f unct i on of t he yaw angle.
- 10 0 10
i
2o 30 /3
Fi g. 4. Cr os s wi n d p o l a r o f t he corrected drag coef f i ci ent for t he Op e l n o t c h - b a c k .
1 6 2
- 1 0
: ) . 3 - L
0
I
i
i
!
I
] _ i
1 0
T
L } ; J
i i 1 ~ i
, V 8 x 6 m 2 T e s t S e c t i o n |
x i 9 . 5 x 9 5 m 2 T e s t S e c t o n I
I 1 " " - - / L i n e a r a p p r o x i m a t i o n 'J
2 0 3 0 /~
Fi g. 5. Cr o s s wi nd pol ar o f t he corrected drag coef f i ci ent for t he Opel fast-back.
c o w I
I
1 . 4
1,2
I . G
0 . 8
0 . 6
0 . 4
0
[
T T
o ~ o 5 o.8 c c ~ + c ~ 1
Fi g. 6. Wind axi s drag as a f unc t i on o f i nduced drag for the Opel notch-back.
Fol l owi ng t he procedure used in order t o correct t he drag coef f i ci ent of
trucks [ 8] it may be s hown t hat ~ = 1. 288 f or passenger cars. Thi s val ue for
5 approxi mat es t he ext rapol at ed val ue qui t e wel l wi t h a maxi mum devi at i on
of 5 drag c ount s f or t he waggon- back mode l t est ed i n t he 6 6 m 2 t est
sect i on. The average devi at i on for all cars t est ed is of t he order of + 2 drag
c ount s and hence, in def aul t of any mode l di mens i on e xc e pt t he f ront al area,
t hi s correct i on me t ho d may be used as a first es t i mat i on of bl ockage effects.
1 6 3
/
/ / /
[
: #
-25
~ 0 . 3 8 ~
- o . ~
- - - 0 . 3 0 -
I
-20 -10
% I I ~x m 2 T e s t S e c t i o n u n c o rr.
" ~ ' " d 8 xl~ Test S e c t i ' 2 . . . . . . . . .
/ j . ~, ~ . vg,~ x 9,5 m T e s t S e c t i . . . . . . . .
/ " ~,~ C o r r e c t e d f o r b lo c k a g e
10 20 25
Fi g . 7. C o r r e c t e d a n d u n c o r r e c t e d dr a g c o e f f i c i e n t s a s a f u n c t i o n o f ~ f o r t h e M I R A
w a g g o n - b a c k m o d e l m e a s u r e d i n t h r e e d i f f e r e n t t e s t s e c t i o n s .
/
f
ICD,
0.3e,
0.34
0.32-
0. 26
- 10
/ no~oh-~,ck _ _ _
V 6 x 6 rn 2 T e s t S e c t io n
t
O 8 x 6 m 2 T e s t S e c t io n
x 9.5 x 9.5 m 2 T e s t S e c tio n
- - l e s t - b a c k
0 -25 -20 10 20 25
Fi g . 8. C o r r e c t e d d r a g c o e f f i c i e n t a s a f u n c t i o n o f / ~ f o r M I R A n o t c h - b a c k a n d f a s t - b a c k
mo d e l .
Fi gures 4 and 5 s h o w s o me r e pr e s e nt at i ve res ul t s o f c or r e c t e d drag c oe f -
f i c i e nt s o f t h e Ope l no t c h- ba c k and f as t - back car me a s ur e d i n t he s t abi l i t y-
axi s s ys t e m. The c o r r e c t e d dat a c ol l aps e qui t e ni c e l y a l mo s t o n t o a si ngl e
curve. In t hi s c o n n e c t i o n t he i mp o r t a n c e o f eqn. ( 1 8 ) , whi c h qual i f i es f or t h e
i nt e r me di a t e r e gi on f or wa ke bl o c ka g e c or r e c t i on, s o u l d be e mpha s i z e d.
164
Fi gur e 6 s hows a p l o t o f t h e wi n d axi s dr a g c o e f f i c i e n t agai ns t t h e p r o p o r -
t i ona l i n d u c e d dr a g f o r t he Op e l n o t c h - b a c k car me a s u r e d in t h e 9. 5 x 9. 5
a nd 8 x 6 m 2 t e s t s ect i ons , r e s pe c t i ve l y. Th e a d d i t i o n a l b l o c k a g e c o n t i b u t i o n
due t o mo me n t u m dr a g is, f o r e x a mp l e , CDs = 0 . 3 2 5 a nd CD~ = 0 . 2 9 5 in t he
i n t e r me d i a t e r e gi on a t 30 ya w.
Ap p l y i n g eqn. ( 17) f o r wa k e b l o c k a g e c o r r e c t i o n a n d ne gl e c t i ng t he
- 2b -ZU - ] U 10 20 25 /~
Fig. 9. Corrected lift coefficient as a function of/~ for MIRA notch-back model.
~25 -ZO - 1 0 10 20 25
Fi g. 10. Correct ed si de f orce c o e f f i c i e nt as a f u n c t i o n o f ~ f or t he MI RA no t c h- ba c k
mode l .
1 6 5
i nf l uence of CD, on t he magni tude of the correcti on (CD, = Cnm - - Cv i -
Cvmo = 0), correct ed drag coef f i ci ent s Cvc = 0. 6130 and Cvc = 0. 6211 are
attai ned f or the larger and smaller test secti ons, respecti vel y. In compari son
wi t h t he ext rapol at ed value, Cve = 0. 6015, the devi ati ons amount t o 1. 9 and
3.2% or about 12 and 21 drag counts.
t - p M
o. :
. i : /
- - - - , 1 - . . . . . . L O ; 8 x l 6 r n 2 1 T e s : S e c t l i o n
- - - \ 0 . 0 4 , - - H - ~ I p = =
- 2 5 - 2 0 - 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 2 5 / ~
Fig. 11. Co r r e c t e d p i t c h mo me n t c o e f f i c i e n t a s a f u n c t i o n of ~ for the MIRA n o t c h - b a c k
model.
C R M
[
- - 2 A '
- - - 2 . 0
1 . 6
- 1 . 2
0 . 8
0 . 4
I]11
Z~ 6 x 6 m 2 Test Section
I ~ I I
O 8 x 6 m " Test Section
x 9 . 5 x 9 . 5 m " Test Section
Y
/
/
//
~k=== ~ ~---. L ~ t = = = = ~ /
~ 2 5 - 2 0 - 1 0 1 0 2 0 2 5 / J
Fig. 12. Corrected roll moment c o e f f i c i e n t as a f u n c t i o n of ~ for the MIRA notch-back
model.
166
Giving t he preference of eqn. (18) for wake blockage correction and
introducing the corresponding values for CD~ the corrected drag coefficients
are CD~ = 0.6036 and CD = 0.6050, respectively. The maxi mum deviation
from CD is t hen onl y 0.5%.
Figure 7 displays the correct ed and the uncorrect ed drag coefficients as a
funct i on of yaw angle fl for the MIRA waggon-back model t est ed in three
di fferent test sections, whereas Fig. 8 shows t he results obt ai ned with the
not ch-back and fast-back models. The collapse of the corrected dat a wi t h
regard to t he mount i ng-repeat accuracy is very satisfactory. Figures 9--13
finally display, by way of example, the corrected lift and side force coef-
ficients as well as t he pitch-, roll-, and yaw- moment coefficients measured
wi t h the MIRA not ch-back model in DNWs three closed test sections. Again,
the collapse of the corrected dat a is persuasive.
-25 - 20 -10
LX 6 x 6 m 2 Test Section
oL8 x 2
x 9.5 x 9.5 m 2 Test Section
10 20 25 /~
Fig. 13. Cor r ect ed yaw mome nt coef f i ci ent as a f unct i on of ~ for MI RA not ch- back
model .
7. Concl usi ons
Formul ae are given for correcting t he aerodynami c quantities due to solid
and wake blockage in a wind t unnel with solid walls. It is proven t hat the
correct i on procedure remains valid for cars exposed to a cross wind flow up
to 30 of yaw. Furt her experi ment s are necessary to show whet her or not
t he given formul ae are capable of reproducing physical reality beyond this
region.
167
Ac k n o wl e d g e me n t s
The a ut ho r wi s he s t o r e c or d hi s appr e c i at i on t o Mr. A. Be r ndt s s o n o f
Vo l v o Car Cor por at i on; Mr. D. Hi c k ma n and Mr. R. St a pl e f o r d o f MI RA and
t he DNW c r e w wh o carri ed o u t t he t es t . Thanks are al s o gi ven t o Mr. H.
E mme l ma n o f Ope l AG f or t he pr o v i s i o n o f dat a and t o Dr. D. Eckert o f
DNW f or t he e ndl e s s di s c us s i o ns a b o u t bl o c ka g e pr obl e ms .
Re f e r e nc e s
1 R. Buchheim et al., Comparison tests between major European automotive wind
tunnels, SAE 800 140, Detroit, 1980.
2 A. Cogotti et al., Comparison test between some full-scale European automotive
wind t unnel s- - Pininfarina reference car, SAE 800 139, Detroit, 1980.
3 A. Costelli et al., FIAT research center reference car: correlation tests between four
full scale European wind t unnel s and road, SAE 810 187, Detroit, 1981.
4 G.W. Cart, Correlation of aerodynamic force measurements in MIRA and other
aut omot i ve wind tunnels, SAE 820 374, Detroit, 1982.
5 R. Buchheim et at., Comparison tests between major European and North American
aut omot i ve wind tunnels, SAE 830 301, Detroit, 1983.
6 H. Kamber, Die praktische Anwendune der "Wake Blocking" -- Korrekturen nach
Maskell, DGLR-Tagung K61n, 1980, Vortrag 80-112.
7 E. Maskell, A theory of the blockage effects on bluff bodies and stalled wings in a
closed wind tunnel, ARC, R + M 3400, 1961.
8 E. Willemsen and E. Mercker, Emperical blockage correction for full scale automotive
testing on straight trucks in a wind t unnel , NLR, TR 83065 L, 1983.
9 H.D. Bechstein, Ermi t t l ung yon Korrekturwerten fiir Messungen an Nutzfahrzeugen
in natiirlicher Gr6sse in einem Windkanal bei hohem Versperrungsgrad, Aerodynami c
des Kraftfahrzeugs, Vortrag im Hause der Technik, 1984.
10 C.N.H. Lock, The interference of a wind t unnel on a symmetrical body, ARC, R + M
1275, 1929.
11 W. Wuest, Verdr~ingungskorrekturen fiir rechteckige Windkan~ile bei verschiedenen
Strahlbegrenzungen und bei exzentrischer Lage des Modells, ZFW 9, Heft 1, 1961.
12 A.D. Young and H.B. Squire, Blockage correction in a closed rectangular tunnel,
ARC, R + M 1984, 1945.
13 H. Glauert, Wind t unnel interference on wings, bodies, and airscrews, ARC, R + M
1566, 1933.
14 A. Thorn, Blockage correction in a closed high speed tunnel, ARC, R + M 2033,
1943.
15 P. Sachs, Wind Forces in Engineering, Pergamon Press, Oxford, Vol. 3, 1972.
16 DNW, Compilation of calibration data of German--Dut ch Wind Tunnel, MP-82.01,
1980--1985.
17 M. Seidel, Construction 1976--1980, design, manufacturing, calibration of the DNW,
1982.