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Both Lift & Pitching moment have undesirable

effects.

AERODYNAMIC LIFT & PITCHING

MOMENT
Vertical component of the resultant of the
pressure distribution Lift.
General vehicle profile same effect as aerofoil.
Streamline body higher velocity at the upper
part & lower velocity at below the vehicle.
Aerodynamic lift is applied through the center of
pressure of the body profile and, since this point
does not correspond with the centre of gravity, it
creates a pitching movement about the lateral
axis.
Influence of force Px on Pitching moment is
usually small, as the vertical separation between
CG & CP is not great.
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Lift tend to reduce the pressure between

wheels and ground.
Loss of steering on the front wheels
Loss of traction on the rear axle.
Pitching moment is usually negative i.e nose
down.
Rear axle is lifted off the ground further loss
on traction.

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EFFECT OF FAIRING
If a fairing is used to cover the cockpit there will be
an increase in both lift and pitching moment.
However if a fairing is not used there will be an
advantageous effect on lift and pitching movement
but increase in the drag coefficient CX
With the fairing fitted, the large area of negative
pressure is toward the rear of the car.
It is this negative pressure which causes the
increase in lift and negative pitching moment.

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EFFECT OF CROSS WIND

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It indicating that the lift coefficient increases

parabolically with the increase in the wind
angle, up to two or three times its value
when there is no side wind.

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EFFECT OF VEHICLE PROFILE

Three box construction has the greatest
spread of lift coefficients (from 0.4 to 1.0)
Flat fronted type of vehicle has the smallest
range (0.15 to 0.55)

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Saloon cars can reach a value of 100 kg, or 8

to 10 per cent of the total weight.
Sports or racing cars the lift can reach values
of 130 kg, which is 15 to 25 per cent of the
total weight.

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SIDE FORCE, YAWING MOMENT AND

ROLLING MOMENT
Side force is formed by asymmetric flow
round the vehicle body when the wind angle
is not equal to zero.
This force acts at CP & creates moment
about CG-Yawing moment(M Z)about Z-axis
and rolling moment(M x) about the X axis
It try to turn the vehicle away from the
direction of motion-loss of directional control.

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FIG:1

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Fig 1 and 2 shows the pressure distribution for

two wind angles around two different vehicles,
measured at a constant height from the
ground.
The diagrams clearly shows that the maximum
change in pressure occurs at the front and
rear of the vehicle(causing large changes in
the yawing moment)

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FIG:2

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Values of the cross wind coefficient C Y are

shows in above fig 3. for different vehicle body
shapes.

FIG:3

The lowest values of the cross wind force

coefficient are obtained with the streamlined
bodies of sports cars.
Saloons, vans, the pseudo-aerodynamic
vehicles(styles with fore and aft projection
wings)
And lastly, old models with box-like bodies
have increasingly large values.

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FIG:4
The above fig 4 gives values of Cmz Obtained
from wind tunnel tests.
It is worthy of note that vehicle bodies with
good aerodynamic direct force coefficients
(low values of C x C Y and C Z ) have the
largest values of Cmz

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FIG:5
The vehicle with poor aerodynamic properties
will have a better( that is, lower) yawing
moment coefficient.
A side wind will produce a yawing moment
tending to turn the vehicle away from the
direction of the motion.

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FIG:6
The use of stabilisers or fins at the rear of the
vehicle gives very good results. (Fig 5 and 6)
Without a stabiliser (curve a) the vehicle is
unstable.
Simple stabiliser (curve b) reduces the
yawing moment coefficient and, at large cross
wind angles, actually provides a stable
condition.

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The center of the aerodynamic forces is

usually above the center of gravity so that the
cross wind force PY will produce a rolling
moment Mx about longitudinal axis.

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Rolling moment generated by cross winds has a

sizeable effect on the weight distribution on the wheels.

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FIG:7
Fig 7 shows that the wheel load on the same
axle can vary by up to 100kg.
This effect is dangerous for coaches and
particularly for tall vans, where the side force
acts a long way above the center of gravity.
The only real solution here is an increase in
wheel track

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