SIAR Congress, CAR 2026

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Numerical Investigation of the Aerodynamic Performance of a Sports Car by Employing Steady Blowing and Pulsed Blowing Flow Control Techniques
Nisa Busenaz İnci, Emre Kara

Last modified: 2026-06-14

Abstract


This study presents a comprehensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of the aerodynamic performance of a Toyota Supra Mk4 sports car. The investigation aims to enhance vehicle performance by reducing drag and increasing downforce without modifying the original geometry, utilizing Active Flow Control (AFC) techniques. First, a baseline study examined external aerodynamics across a range of velocities (0.2626–1.7855 m/s).  Results demonstrated that the drag coefficient (CD) decreases with increasing velocity, while downforce peaks at approximately 1.313 m/s, consistent with reference data (average error of 1.3%). Subsequently, steady blowing AFC was implemented using three alternative rear-end configurations (Models A, B, and C) at a fixed car velocity (Re ≈ 600,000) and two blower velocities (0.2 m/s and 0.33 m/s). Pulsed blowing employing a square-wave velocity profile was then applied to the same configurations for direct comparison. Among all cases, Model-C exhibited the most promising results, achieving the lowest drag coefficient of approximately 0.21 in both steady blowing scenarios. Pulsed blowing configurations, particularly Model-C, proved highly effective in substantially increasing downforce while maintaining drag reduction. Flow visualization through velocity, pressure, and turbulence kinetic energy contours confirmed that AFC delays flow separation and reduces wake turbulence, explaining the observed performance improvements. The findings indicate that both steady and pulsed blowing AFC techniques, especially pulsed blowing on optimized rear configurations, offer significant potential for enhancing sports car aerodynamics through targeted flow control.