Transient numerical simulation study of the effects of crosswind on the aerodynamic performance of a sedan

Investigation of the aerodynamic characteristics of a sedan under crosswinds with increasing velocity was conducted.A user-defined function(UDF)was applied to achieve the dynamic update of the computation meshes and the velocity variation with time for the crosswind inlet.The process of a car passing a zone with increasing crosswind was simulated using a transient numerical method.The results show that crosswind only has slight influence on the drag,rolling moment and pitching moment,while it has considerable influence on the side force,lift and the yawing moment,which increase remarkably with increasing crosswind velocity,and the driving stability of the car is affected as a result.