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Follow the Bouncing (CFD) Balls
While it may seem as though this picture shows a Chrysler 200 being surrounded by some sort of colorful bouncing balls, an automotive analog to one of those ball pools found in fast food joints. . . . . .in point of fact, this is an aerodynamic simulation of the sedan being run in PowerFlow, a software package from Exa Corp. that allows designers and engineers to see things on a vehicle that are not readily apparent through wind tunnel testing (e.g., airflow within wheel wells). According to Dr.
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While it may seem as though this picture shows a Chrysler 200 being surrounded by some sort of colorful bouncing balls, an automotive analog to one of those ball pools found in fast food joints. . .
. . .in point of fact, this is an aerodynamic simulation of the sedan being run in PowerFlow, a software package from Exa Corp. that allows designers and engineers to see things on a vehicle that are not readily apparent through wind tunnel testing (e.g., airflow within wheel wells).
According to Dr. Kumar Srinivasan, FCA U.S. Manager, Vehicle CFD Group, Aero/Thermal Development, “We used Exa PowerFLOW to optimize aerodynamic design from day one on the Chrysler 200.”
He went on to say that via simulation, “We were able to capture more data than ever before, run more tests and analyze more variations long before the first prototype of the vehicle was produced."
And at the proverbial end of the day, they helped develop a vehicle with a 0.27 coefficient of drag.
A real 2016 Chrysler 200S
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