Aerodynamic Analysis Using CFD of a Formula SAE Car Front Nose

Abstract

The aerodynamic performance of Formula SAE (FSAE) cars strongly influences speed, stability, and energy efficiency. This study introduces a systematic CFD based comparison of four front nose geometries an aspect that remains underexplored in existing FSAE literature. Four distinct nose shapes were modeled in SolidWorks and evaluated in ANSYS Fluent under identical boundary conditions at a free stream velocity of 100 km/h. The Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations were solved using the k–ω SST turbulence model, and a mesh independence study ensured numerical accuracy. The optimized nose achieved a drag coefficient of 0.24, representing a 14% reduction relative to the published baseline value of 0.28, thereby quantifying the aerodynamic improvement contributed by this work. Flow field analysis confirmed smoother airflow, delayed separation, and reduced wake turbulence for the optimized geometry. These findings provide new insight into front nose aerodynamic optimization and offer practical design guidance for FSAE teams and potential applications in race car and electric-vehicle aerodynamics.