Hood 2
Hood 2
Hood 2
2009-01-1156
ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION
A study was performed to determine the fluid structure Fluid structure interaction, or FSI, remains important to
interaction (FSI) for a prototype truck hood for transient many disciplines of engineering, automotive being one
aerodynamic loads. The growing need to make vehicle of the important ones. Automotive designs are
panels lighter to enhance the fuel economy of vehicles has constantly in a state of flux, driven by ever changing
made hood panels more prone to deformation and market needs and government regulations. However,
vibration from aerodynamic loads. Moreover, as global the challenges faced by the automotive industry and the
pedestrian crash standards become more stringent to need to innovate have never been greater. Rapid
provide safer front end designs to minimize injuries to head increase in fuel prices, stricter government oversight on
and leg, automotive manufacturers are being required to pollution standards, continuously evolving pedestrian
design flexible hoods that crush significantly more than the and occupant safety standards, and an increasingly
present designs to absorb the crash energy better. These demanding consumer has led to the need for innovation
flexible designs lead to potentially undesirable at an accelerated pace. The structural design of
deformations and/or vibration behavior of the hood at automobiles is at the forefront of this much needed
typical highway speeds. This paper presents a design revolution to address these various challenges.
methodology for performing fluid structure interaction For example, automotive panels need to be lighter
computations for a typical hood by detailing the process of and/or made of other non-traditional materials to lower
computing dynamic (time varying) aerodynamic loads the weight and gas consumption of vehicles. These
using CFD and related deformations of the hood using panels need to reduce the impact to pedestrians and
commercial structural solvers. The Lattice Boltzmann occupants during a crash. Automotive structures need to
Method (LBM) was employed for performing transient address crash safety, without sacrificing comfort and
Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis, and commercial aesthetics. New designs to satisfy these rapidly
finite element analysis (FEA) software was used for evolving needs have increased problems in the domain
structural calculations. The coupling between the two of FSI due to increased sensitivity of lighter-weight
codes, which is described in the paper, was achieved structural panels to aerodynamic loads.
using proprietary in-house tools. The paper identifies the
wind loading conditions that have significant potential to The vehicle hood is an important example. As
induce hood vibration by studying “disturbed” wind profiles automobile manufacturers have explored unconventional
such as those caused by high speed wakes, high speed materials and reduced panel thickness to make the hood
travel at substantial yaw angles, and wind gusts. This work lighter to meet the new fuel economy and legislative
demonstrates the benefits of the inherent unsteady flow standards, the problem of hood deformation and
field computational capability of LBM in determining the vibration under various highway driving conditions has
dynamic structural response to aerodynamic excitation. worsened. Automotive manufacturers are exploring
solutions that can be applied early in the design phase with such a simulation, for which accurate pressure
of the vehicle so that these problems can be captured loading must be provided in the low-frequency range.
before they occur. Transient CFD methods coupled with
FEA techniques can conveniently predict the impact of The domain of computational aeroacoustics of vehicles
disturbed wind profiles on hood deformation and is closely related to FSI, in that the transient pressure
vibration. This early design evaluation helps field on the surface produces a response of the structure
manufacturers gain confidence in their design and and the interior of the vehicle. The requirements for
reduce the cost of vehicle production. This paper transient CFD simulation are similar, and LBM has been
discusses the application of coupled CFD-FEA previously validated for aeroacoustics applications,
techniques for the computation of transient wind profile including the case of cross-wind.
with significant turbulence that is responsible for causing
undesirable hood vibration. It investigates the effect of In Senthooran et al. [8] a detailed sedan was simulated
time varying gradients of pressure and the periodicity of at both zero and ten degree yaw angle for both
load as the hood excitation parameters. aerodynamics and aeroacoustics analysis, and wall-
pressure fluctuation data were compared between
Because multidisciplinary test and simulation work simulation and experiment. The geometric details such
performed by the manufacturers is often proprietary in as complex grille geometry, glass offsets, A-pillar
nature, the literature on coupled physics simulation moldings, side-mirror shape, and door handle geometry
pertaining to automotive applications, such as FSI, is are evident in the model. Detailed flow structures were
rather sparse. Duncan et al. conducted one such study visualized in the flow field and on the surface side-mirror
[1] involving aerodynamics, thermal and acoustics. surface, to gain understanding into the pressure
Ramsay et al. conducted a study [2] on the static fluctuation spectra. In Senthooran et al. [9] the pressure
deformation of the hood and compared the results to the fluctuation spectra on the side glass were evaluated on
experimental tests. a vehicle with and without a side-mirror.
so these regions are called Variable Resolution (VR) Figure 3 shows the location of the VR regions for each
regions. For the aerodynamics baseline the finest cell level from VR level 9 (4 mm cells) located at several
size was set to 4.0 mm, and 5 levels of refinement were critical locations on the vehicle surface such as the grille
used between the edges of the flow domain and the bars, front of the hood, cowl region including the
finest region on the vehicle. The grid spacing and windshield wipers, and in the cooling flow path from the
location of each region is summarized in Figure 2. grille to behind the radiator and condenser (not shown
here), to VR level 8 (8 mm cells) at key locations
mentioned above, and out to VR level 5 (64 mm cells)
used to cover the entire computational domain. This
particular resolution strategy has been standardized for
production vehicles, with some flexibility left to individual
judgment on the location of the finest regions, and the
exact cell size used. This standardized approach has
been validated to regularly produce drag predictions that
match very well with wind tunnel and road tests. This
(a) (b) approach results in models that take 2000-3000 CPU-
hours to solve on a 128-CPU cluster with 3.0 GHz
Pentium Xeon processors.
(c) (d)
20
(a)
Z
An evaluation of the structural model and the accuracy
of the boundary conditions was conducted by computing
X the natural frequencies and the mode shapes of the
Y hood structure. The first five computed natural
frequencies of the hood are shown in Table 1. These
frequencies matched well with previous experimental
tests and numerical simulations.
Mode Frequency (Hz)
Top side 1 20.5
2 22.2
3 26.4
4 33.3
5 34.9
A linear modal transient response analysis method was VEHICLE PLUNGING INTO A CROSSWIND
used to compute the dynamic structural response of the
structure to the aerodynamic loads using the NASTRAN Figure 12 is a plot of the time varying composite lift force
solution sequence 112. Modes of up to 150 Hz were on the hood as the vehicle enters from a 00 yaw situation
included in the linear normal modes calculation. The to a 200 yaw situation while traveling at 41.1 m/s (92
hood was found to have a total of 25 modes up to 150 mph). The first domain represents the vehicle travelling
Hz, all of which were used in the dynamic response straight at 41.1 m/s. The second represents a rapid
calculations. 150 Hz was chosen as the modal change of pressure on the hood as the vehicle
truncation point because it is about 3 octaves higher encounters the crosswind at 200 yaw, and the third
than the frequency of the fundamental mode(s) at about domain is the time period after the pressure has
20 Hz. Since only the first few modes have significant developed and stabilized over the hood for constant 200
participation in the dynamic response, being 3 octaves yaw flow. Plot labeled “backwards” are plots of backward
larger provided significant cushion against modal averaged lift force on the hood and represent the mean
truncation errors. The structure was considered lightly composite lift force.
damped. A critical damping of 2% was employed in all
the structural runs.
RESULTS
20 0 yaw
This section discusses the fluid and the structural results
for the four different cases discussed above, namely, a) Crosswind
the vehicle plunging into a crosswind, b) the impact of plunge
sinusoidal gust at 5 Hz & 10 Hz and 200 yaw, and c) the
impact of a grid disturbance in the oncoming flow. The
dynamic deformation of the hood was mapped by 0 0 yaw
plotting a total of 20 points on the hood that span the
entire hood. Careful evaluation of multiple points on the
hood confirmed that the hood vibration behavior can
indeed be qualitatively and quantitatively represented by
these 20 points. These points will be referred by the Figure 12. Transient development of the composite lift
“line” they belong to in the discussion of results. Line 1 is force on the hood as the vehicle travels from 00 yaw to
a set of 5 points on the hood that span the length along 200 yaw.
the cowl, and line 4, the length of the front edge of the
hood. Lines 2 and 3 constitute a set of 10 points that In the structural model, the resulting aerodynamic
span the central section of the hood. This spatial pressures computed by the fluid solver are applied as a
mapping of the hood is shown in Figure 11. transient pressure field on each element. The static
deformation of the hood for the pressure distribution at
Line 4 Line 3 Line 2 Line 1
00 yaw was used as the initial condition for structural
calculations. This helped avoid introducing an artificial
step loading and ensured that any computed vibration of
Pt 1 a the hood resulted purely from the transient aerodynamic
Pt 4 a
forces on an already deformed hood structure from the
00 deg yaw travel. The resulting vibration behavior of the
hood is shown in Figure 13. Only the results for 3 points
Pt 1 b
each for line 1 and line 4 are presented to keep the
graphs uncluttered while capturing the essence of hood
Pt 1 c
vibration.
Pt 1 d
Pt 4 e
Pt 1 e
1e
CROSSWIND GUST PULSING AT 5Hz AND 10 Hz
0.0
The transient composite lift force on the hood for the
-0.5 sinusoidally pulsing crosswind gust at 5 Hz and 10 Hz is
shown in Figure 14. The yaw angle varies sinusoidally
-1.0 as well because of the pulsing nature of the inlet gust.
The amplitude of forces are higher at 5 Hz as compared
0.17 0.27 0.37 0.47 0.57 0.67 0.77 0.87 0.97
Time (sec) to 10 Hz, however, the rate of change in the hood
pressure is noticeably larger for the 10 Hz pulse. An
(a) 0
initial period of about 0.25 seconds represents a 0 yaw
travel to establish the initial conditions for the fluid and
3.0
the structural simulations.
2.5
Point 4a
Hood Disp (mm)
2.0
4c
1.5 4e
1.0
0.5
0.0
-0.5
0.17 0.27 0.37 0.47 0.57 0.67 0.77 0.87 0.97
Time (sec)
(b)
-1.0
-1.5
-2.0
Pressure Spectrum (Pa)
3.0
4b
2.5
4d
1.0
Frequency Hz
(a) 0.5
0.0
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5
Time (sec)
(b)
Pressure Spectrum (Pa)
because the hood is constrained at only one latch that is GRID DISTURBANCE IN THE FLOW FIELD
at the center of the hood, thereby allowing it more
freedom for torsional motion at the front. Among the The transient composite lift force on the hood for the
results not shown, the amplitude of vibration is largest at flow passing through an upstream grid is shown in
point e as compared to points a through d for the entire Figure 18. The first ~ 0.4 seconds of data is the
front portion of the hood. The cause for this is also the numerical transient due to the initiation of the
pressure asymmetry as discussed above. aerodynamic solution from a set of imposed initial
conditions. Only the last 1 second of solution was used
10 Hz gust - The resulting dynamic hood displacement for all structural calculations. It is evident that the
response for the 10 Hz pulse is shown in Figure 17 on placement of a grid in the oncoming flow causes large
lines 1 and 4. The overall behavior for the 10 Hz pulse is wake turbulence, resulting in large variation of force on
very similar to that for the 5 Hz pulse. The excitation the hood with steep time gradients.
response frequency of the hood is 10 Hz, with higher
frequency contributions from the natural modes. The
maximum peak-to-peak amplitude of vibration is 1.75
mm at point c on the edge of the hood near the cowl
(line 1), which is noticeably smaller as compared to 2.25
mm for the 5 Hz gust. This is in response to the smaller
forces that develop on the hood at a higher excitation
frequency, as evident in Figure 14.
1.0
Point 1a
0.5
1c
Hood Disp (mm)
0.0 1e
-0.5
4e
1.5
Pressure Spectrum (Pa)
1.0
0.5
0.0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Time (sec)
(b)
The results for hood vibration for this case are shown in first few natural modes. Maximum peak-to-peak
Figure 20. Just like all the previous structural amplitudes of 7.5 mm were observed on line 1 at points
simulations, the dynamic deformation solution was b, c, and d, i.e., at the edge near the cowl. The results
started from an initially deformed structure due to the for point b and d were very similar to those for point c;
static load. hence those points are not shown on the plot. This is
understandable as the grid was placed symmetrically
2.5 about the center of the vehicle in the Y-direction. Also,
1.8 Point 1c the results for point a were very similar to that of point c.
1.0 1e
The maximum peak-to-peak amplitude of vibration
Hood Disp (mm)
0.5 RESULTS
0.0
A graph summarizing the maximum peak-to-peak
-0.5 vibration amplitudes for all the 4 lines on Figure 11 and
-1.0
for all scenarios simulated for this study is presented in
Figure 21 to supplement the results presented above.
-1.5 Each line has been labeled with the point at which the
0.25 0.35 0.45 0.55 0.65 0.75 maximum vibration amplitude occurs on that particular
Time (sec) line, for example, the maximum vibration amplitude on
(b) line 1 for the 5 Hz gust case is 2 mm. It occurs at point c
1.5 (out of the 5 points, a through e) on that line.
Point 4c
1.0
4e
Hood Disp (mm)
pt e
0.5 pt e
Grid Disturbance pt c
pt c
0.0 pt e
pt e Line 4
-0.5 10 Hz gust pt c
pt c Line 3
pt e Line 2
-1.0 pt e
5 Hz gust pt e Line 1
pt c
-1.5
0.25 0.35 0.45 0.55 0.65 0.75 Step 20 deg yaw pt c
Time (sec) pt c
(c)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Vibration amplitude (mm)
Figure 20. Hood displacement versus time for grid
disturbance 6 m upstream of the vehicle at 41.1 m/s (92
mph) road speed: (a) plot of the region of the hood near Figure 21. Maximum dynamic displacement versus the
the cowl (line 1), (b) plot of points on line 3, (c) plot of point for each line and for all simulated conditions.
points at the front edge of the hood (line 4).
There is no discernable vibration at lines 3 and 4 at any
Figure 20 shows the hood vibrating at a frequency of the points for the 20 degree yaw step condition.
slighter higher than 20 Hz, clearly because the rapid Hence, the data is not represented on the plot. Figure 21
transient pressure gradients in the pressure time history makes it readily evident that points c and e experience
act as step loads on the structure, thereby exciting the the largest amount of displacement. This is because of
the pressure distribution asymmetry caused by the yaw 2. Ramsay, T., Fredelake, A., and Stevens, K.,
flow in each case that results in larger forces on the “Correlation of a CAE Hood Deflection Prediction
driver side of the hood. Method”, SAE Paper 2008-01-0098.
3. Demuth, R., and Buck, P., “Numerical investigations
CONCLUSIONS on the Unsteady Aerodynamics of Road Vehicles
under Gusty Weather Conditions”, Proceedings of
th
The simulation of the interaction of the transient flow the 6 MIRA International Vehicle Aerodynamics
field with the structure of a prototype hood was Conference, October 2006, pp. 48-60.
conducted in this study. The goal was to apply the 4. Dominy, R., and Ryan, A., “An Improved Wind
inherent transient flow field computational capability of Tunnel Configuration for the Investigation of
the Lattice Boltzmann solver to the prediction of the Aerodynamic Cross Wind Gust Response”, SAE
unsteady fluid flow around the hood of a vehicle, and to Paper 1999-01-0808.
predict the vibration behavior of the hood. To this end, 5. Ryan, A., and Dominy, R., “The Aerodynamic Forces
the effect of the time varying gradients of force and the Induced on a Passenger Vehicle in Response to a
periodicity of the load were investigated as excitation Transient Cross-Wind Gust at a Relative Incidence
0
parameters by imposing a wide range of aerodynamic of 30 ”, SAE Paper 980392.
loading conditions on the hood, namely, the plunge of 6. Albukrek, C., Doddegowda, P., Ivaldi, A., and
the vehicle into a crosswind that causes strong time Amodeo, J., “Unsteady Flow Analysis of a Formula
varying gradient of load; crosswind gusts pulsing at 5 Hz Type Open Wheel Race Car in Cornering”, SAE
and 10 Hz that result in strong time varying gradients as Paper 2006-01-3661, 2006.
well as periodicity of forces on the hood; and flow 7. Duncan, B.D., and Golsch, K., “Characterization of
through a regular grid disturbance that causes large Separated Turbulent Flow Regions in CFD Results
turbulence in the flow impinging on the hood of the for a Pontiac NASCAR Race Car”, SAE Paper 2004-
vehicle. 01-3556, 2004.
8. Senthooran, S., Crouse, B., Freed, D.,
Results showed that the hood is highly sensitive to the Balasubramamian, G., Noelting, S., Duncan, B. and
method of excitation in terms of the amplitudes of Powell, R., “Prediction of Wall Pressure Fluctuations
deformation as well as the nature of vibration. Step load on an Automobile Side-glass using a Lattice-
caused the hood to vibrate at frequency close to its first Boltzmann Method”, AIAA 2006-2559.
and second natural modes with maximum peak-to-peak 9. Senthooran, S., Crouse, B., Freed, D.,
amplitude of 1.6 mm. Crosswind gust pulsing at 5 Hz Balasubramamian, G. and Caridi, D., “Numerical
resulted in maximum amplitude of 2.25 mm, while the Simulation of Wind noise on the Side-glass of a
gust at 10 Hz resulted in smaller forces and smaller Production Automobile”, F2006D124, FISITA 2006.
amplitude of vibration, of 1.75 mm. The oscillatory 10. Lietz, R., Mallick, S., Kandasamy, S., and Chen, H.
signature of the pulsing crosswind was captured well in “Exterior Airflow Simulations Using a Lattice
the dynamic deformation response of the hood. The Boltzmann Approach”, SAE Paper 2002-01-0596.
turbulence generated by the grid had the effect of 11. Chen, H., Filippova, O., Hoch, J., Molvig, K., Shock,
exciting the first few natural modes of the hood and R., Teixera, C., and Zhang, R., “Grid Refinement in
resulted in 7.5 mm maximum peak-to-peak vibration. Lattice Boltzmann Methods Based on Volumetric
Formulation”, Physica A 362, pp. 157-167, 2006.
This study is the first step in the development of a 12. Fares, E., “Unsteady flow simulation of the Ahmed
methodology for automotive customers that can be reference body using a lattice Boltzmann approach”,
utilized early in the design phase of the vehicle to Computers and Fluids 35 (2006) 940-950.
capture and resolve potential panel vibration issues. 13. Chen, H., Teixeira, C., and Molvig, K., “Realization
Although applied to a hood, this solution methodology is of Fluid Boundary Conditions via Discrete Boltzmann
applicable to any automotive panel that could Dynamics,” Intl. J. Mod. Phys. C, 9 (8), 1998, p.
experience vibration. 1281.
14. Teixeira, C., “Incorporating Turbulence Models into
REFERENCES the Lattice-Boltzmann Method,” Intl. J. Mod. Phys.
C, Vol. 9 No. 8, 1998, pp. 1159-1175.
1. Duncan, B., Senthooran, S., Hendria, D., Sivakumar, 15. MSC.NASTRAN Version 68, Basic Dynamic
P., Freed, D., Gleason, M., and Hall, D., “Multi- Analysis User’s Guide, Chapter 6, section 6.3.
Disciplinary Aerodynamics Analysis for Production
Vehicles: Application of External Flow Simulations to
Aerodynamics, Aeroacoustics and Thermal
Management of a Pickup Truck”, SAE Paper 2007-
01-0100.