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Experimental and Computational Analysis of the Aerodynamic Performances

of a Maxi-Scooter

Article in SAE Technical Papers · March 2003

DOI: 10.4271/2003-01-0998

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 2003-01-0998

Experimental and computational analysis of the aerodynamic

performances of a maxi-scooter
Gino Bella, Stefano Ubertini
University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Rome, Italy

Umberto Desideri
University of Perugia, Dept. of Industrial Engineering, Perugia, Italy

Copyright © 2002 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc

ABSTRACT problems, without directly employing Navier-Stokes

equations.
In the last three decades, with the growing concern on
environmental impact and with the market demand for Once the code has been adequately validated, detailed
safety and lower fuel consumption, aerodynamic pressure and velocity distribution around the vehicle can
development has become a standard part of the be predicted by computational simulations. CFD can
automobile design area and it is easy to foresee that this therefore contribute greatly to better understanding of
is going to happen very fast also for motorcycles. vehicles aerodynamics.
Furthermore, a new concept of motorcycle called
maxiscooter has successfully entered the European NOMENCLATURE
market. Maxiscooters represent an evolution of the small
size engine scooters (from 50 to 125 cc) that were D Drag force (kg)
created in the 50s for city use. This category of L Lift force (kg)
motorcycles is aimed to a wealthy and more adult S Side force (kg)
market, which needs a pleasant design, riding comfort MP Pitching moment (kg⋅m)
and stability at higher speed. On the other hand, such MR Rolling moment (kg⋅m)
vehicles for city use are passing a critical moment in MY Yawing moment (kg⋅m)
terms of development of the engines, because of the CD⋅A Drag area (m2)
stricter limits imposed by the environmental regulations CL⋅A Lift area (m2)
and for the consequent and significant effects on
CS⋅A Side area (m2)
performance. Force and moment determination is
Cp⋅A⋅l Pitching volume (m3)
important for all ground vehicles and becomes more
critical as the speed increases. Virtually all aspects that Cr⋅A⋅l Rolling volume (m3)
have to do with any sort of air flow in a new vehicle CY⋅A⋅l Yawing volume (m3)
require the help of aerodynamic investigations. As wind Va Wind (riding) speed
tunnel measurements and road tests continue to be the ρ Density (kg/m3)
most common and extensively used approach to isolate, A Reference (front) area (m2)
reproduce and measure aerodynamic forces and l Reference length (m)
moments, it cannot be sufficient to reach optimal
performance. The rapid evolution of computers in terms INTRODUCTION
of electronic data processing and storage and the
progress obtained in computational fluid dynamics The spread of motorcycles has been very rapid since the
(CFD), suggest its utilization to support and reduce end of the 2nd world war. On one hand small motorcycles
experimental tests. and scooters with 50-125 cm3 engines had great
success for city use to avoid traffic. On the other, high-
This paper presents the aerodynamic performances of a powered motorcycles spread out especially among
500 cc scooter determined both experimentally and enthusiasts of top speed. In the last decade maxi-
numerically. The measurements have been made at the scooters, which means scooters with swept volume
University of Perugia wind tunnel and balance facility. engines from 100 cm3 to 500 cm3, have entered the
Numerical simulations have been performed with a market and are aimed to an adult market for both city
commercial code based on the “lattice technique”, which use and comfortable long trips.
is an alternative approach to solve fluid dynamics
The shape of commercial motorcycles is primarily obtained with a fully faired motorcycle at an average
determined by functionality, comfort and aesthetic speed of 100 km/h [1].
arguments and, until now, the aerodynamic
characteristics are, eventually, considered an argument This paper presents the aerodynamic performance of a
for “fine” changes. This kind of vehicles, however, can commercial maxi-scooter determined both
reach up to 180 km/h speed, that means significant fuel experimentally and numerically. The vehicle under test is
consumption and aerodynamic problems. Therefore, as a 500 cm3 swept volume maxi-scooter and its
it is for automobiles, maxi-scooters are getting through a aerodynamic characteristics are presented in terms of
critical period, because of the stricter limits imposed by aerodynamic forces, moments and related coefficients.
the environmental regulations and for the consequent Experimental tests have been carried out at the
and significant effects on performance. In this contest, University of Perugia wind tunnel and balance facility [4]
the influence of aerodynamic analysis on the vehicle while numerical simulations have been performed
design could lead to reduced fuel consumption, through PowerFLOW [5], which is a commercial code
increased acceleration and increased maximum speed. based on the “lattice technique” [6]. This is an alternative
Furthermore, it must be underlined that also the safety of approach to solve fluid dynamics problems, without
the passengers is a key point for this kind of vehicles. directly employing Navier-Stokes equations and it takes
The effect of the pitching moment on the stability and the its origin from the idea of solving the macroscopic fluid
handling of the vehicle, that is hardly noticeable by the dynamics through a microscopic kinetic approach, trying
average car driver, could be detrimental for two-wheeled to mathematically describe movements and interactions
vehicles, especially at those speeds reached by maxi- of the small particles that constitute the flow.
scooters [1]. The consequences must be carefully
evaluated also considering that these scooters are The objectives of the present study are:
targeted to non-expert motorcycles riders.
- to present the aerodynamic characteristics of a
Therefore, the degree to which aerodynamic state-of-the-art maxi-scooter and underline the
development influences the shape of a vehicle has key elements;
deeply increased in the last few years. As for
automobiles, it is authors’ opinion that aerodynamic - to address the effectiveness of a synergy
development should become a standard and significant between experimentation and computation.
part of the maxi-scooter design process.
For the latter, measurements of the aerodynamic forces
In the last few decades wind tunnels have become the and moments have been used to validate the code.
primary tool in ground vehicle design programs, mainly
for the measurement of the aerodynamic forces and Detailed information of the flow field, which is very
moments acting on the test vehicle in a controlled and difficult to measure in the wind tunnel, is also obtained,
repeatable environment. However, this is no longer thus allowing to locate the critical geometric element of
sufficient to agree with the very short development times the scooter. Finally the motorcycle aerodynamic
that are required to a new project in order to be performances are predicted simulating, in the same wind
competitive in the market. tunnel facility, wheels rotation and floor movement.

As better algorithms and better computer hardware EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS

become available, computational simulation is in the
progress of becoming an essential tool of aerodynamic The experimental tests have been carried out in the low
design process because of the flexibility it provides for speed closed circuit wind tunnel facility of the University
the rapid and inexpensive evaluation of alternative of Perugia, which has been extensively described in a
designs. previous paper [4].
Until recently, little attention has been paid to the Air is drawn by a 360 kW axial fan and enters an open
aerodynamic characteristics of motorcycles and jet test section through a nozzle with a 2200x2200 m2
particularly of scooters. The aerodynamic characteristics square section. The controlled maximum speed of the
of the rider and the air-path behind him are practically fan is 745 rpm that results into an airflow velocity of
neglected and apart from few studies [2,3] fuel economy about 50 m/s inside the test section. In order to
and stability in connection with aerodynamic drag has attenuate swirl and lateral mean velocity variations, deep
been barely discussed or considered by the motorcycle cell honeycomb elements are installed before the
industry. A great interest on aerodynamics has been converging duct upstream the test section. The wind
found only for its influence on the top speed, especially tunnel facility main characteristics are reported in table
for racing bikes and this because the overall shape and 1.
its details are primarily determined by other than
aerodynamic performances. In 1978, Kokoshinski
demonstrated potential fuel savings of up to 10% just
with different fairing variations on BMW models [1]. In
1956, a fuel economy record of 1.1 km/l has been
 Type Closed Circuit Vertical Horizonta
Test Section Type Open Jet load l load
2,2x2,2 m2 inlet Maximum load (kg) 500 200
Test Section Size 2,7x2,7 m2 outlet Nominal sensitivity (mV/V) 1.00 1.00
4,25 m length Power supply (Vcc) 5÷10 5÷10
Test Section Turbulence < 0.8% Hysteresis <0.03% <0.03%
Motor Power 360 kW Repeatability <0.03% <0.03%
Wind Speed Range 5 - 50 m/s Non-linearity <0.03% <0.03%
Tab. 1 Main specifications of the wind tunnel Zero drift (g) 100 100
Tab. 2 Load cells operational parameters
Aerodynamic forces and moments are measured by
means of a 6-component load cells wind tunnel balance. Forces are measured by three two-dimensional load
The wind tunnel balance design procedure has been cells, with the connecting rods, as the sensing elements,
based on the required maximum load capability, while supporting the floating triangle in correspondence of its
maintaining an acceptable accuracy at smaller loads. As three apexes (fig. 2). These load cells fulfil the
shown in fig. 1, the balance structure is modular: requirements of optimal accuracy, high long-term
stability, low creep, high resolution, high repeatability
- the superior plate allows the vehicle positioning, and the possibility to measure tension and compression
the pilots boarding and the operations on the forces. Their operational parameters are shown in tab. 2.
model; it features two bubble levels, to check the The transmission of forces between the floating triangle
perfect horizontality; and the cells occurs with negligible friction, by means of
roller bearings.
- the floating triangle is connected to the wheels
supports, thus allowing to transfer the forces To verify that the interactions between the balance load
and moments acting on the vehicle to the load cell components are small enough and that the
cells; alignment of the sensing elements is made exactly, the
balance has been calibrated through the Galway method
- the base structure has a rolling trail, over which [7,8]. Details of the calibration procedure can be found in
three wheels, mounted on the structure that [4].
support the upper plate, move.

Therefore the vehicle can rotate around its vertical axis Wind
to perform yaw measurements. The system has been
designed to operate in a ± 180° yaw range and the yaw
β
angle can be read with 0.5° uncertainty. A disc brake
blocks the structure in the desired position and avoids A
uncontrolled vehicle movements during a test.

The base structure lies on the floor with four regulating Yaw
legs that allow moving the vehicle from 100 mm under to
250 mm over the test section floor. Pitch

Side

Roll 34° B1
Drag
Superior plate B2
Base structure
Fig.2 Force and moment components

Combined uncertainty
Single cell From 0.1 % to 0.8%
Drag 0.2%
Lift 1%
Side force 0.2%
Length 0.1 mm
Yaw 0.5°
Floating triangle Tab.3 Combined uncertainties
Fig. 1 6-component load cell balance.
The load cells give a least square correlation over 99% all the unknown parameters through the transducers
and the balancing system is able to measure the three signals simultaneously acquired.
dimensional aerodynamic force and moment
components with an uncertainty of approximately 1%. Good repeatability is of great importance and in order to
achieve this, a great emphasis has been placed on the
The repeatability uncertainty of measurements is less signal conditioning of the output from the transducers.
than 0.2%. Since the usefulness of measurement results The acquisition program to provide an appropriate
is to large extent determined by the quality of the interface between the user and the measuring chain has
statement of the accuracy, the uncertainty of the system been developed with the National Instruments software
has been determined following the NIST method [9]. For LABVIEWTM [13].
the comparative nature of the experiments the
uncertainties summarized in tab. 3 are quite adequate. The distance between the vehicle and the downstream
boundary of the test section has a significant influence
All forces and moments are referenced to the standard on the measured drag, as addressed by Garry et al. in
wind axis system, and standard terminology for vehicle [14]. Therefore, the balance position inside the test
dynamics has been used [10]. section has been fixed accordingly.

The aerodynamic characterization of vehicles is mainly RIDER INFLUENCE- The primary difference between
made through the use of non-dimensional coefficients motorcycles and enclosed vehicles aerodynamics is that
defined as: the rider (and the pillion passenger) is directly exposed
to the airflow. This means that rider’s size and position,
D, S, L as well as clothing and helmet, have a significant
C D , CS , C L = (9) influence on the aerodynamic force and moment through
1
⋅ ρ ⋅ Va2 ⋅ A changes in the frontal area and in the aerodynamic
2
quality of the vehicle-rider system. This means that
Mr ,My ,Mp measurements on two-wheeled vehicles occupied by
Cr , Cy , Cp = (10).
1 human pilots cannot be considered reproducible: the
⋅ ρ ⋅ Va2 ⋅ A ⋅ l
2 rider may not assume the same position in different tests
and has the tendency to move, during a test, according
A couple of Pitot tubes measure the dynamic pressure in to the wind speed.
the test section at the nozzle exit. Total pressure is
measure by a central hole with a nominal internal Considering that the task of aerodynamic investigations
diameter of 1.5 mm and designed for misalignment is often the choice between similar configurations with
insensitivity with less than 1% error at 10° [11]. The close aerodynamic performances (i.e. few points of
static pressure is measured by eight taps (1.5 mm drag), the reproducibility must be guaranteed. Therefore
nominal internal diameter) equally spaced around the measurements presented in this paper have been
circumference, thus, if we consider that the velocity performed on a maxiscooter occupied by a dummy in
vector is the same in those four positions, the errors due the typical seated position with legs drawn in (fig. 3). A
to misalignment are compensated [11]. A high accuracy support for the dummy, specifically designed for the
pressure transducer with a measuring range from 0 to vehicle under test, provides a reference for the rider
1750 Pa has been used. It was found to be highly linear position.
with a combined uncertainty below 0.25%.
NUMERICAL TECHNIQUE
Ambient temperature and pressure are measured to
calculate the air density and consequently the average Computational methods first began to have an impact on
speed in the test section. Temperature is measured by aerodynamics analysis and design in the late 60s. Most
means of a resistance temperature detector with 0.2°C of the numerical investigations regarding road vehicles
of uncertainty. A DRUCK PTX 1400 pressure transducer aerodynamics have been concerned with grid generation
measures the ambient pressure in the range from 800 to problems, turbulence modeling and accuracy in the
1400 mbar with an uncertainty of approximately 0.15%. prediction of the aerodynamic coefficients. Reviews of
the application of numerical simulations to automobiles
A PC continuously monitors the measurements made external fluid dynamics have been published by Takagi
during the tests. The output signals of force, pressure [16] and Kobayashi et al. [17]. Different commercial
and temperature transducers are acquired by a 450 MHz software packages have been compared by Shaw [18] in
processor PC through a National Instruments AT-MIO- 1988 and, at that date, he concluded that although the
16E-1 data acquisition board, which features 16 unipolar aerodynamic forces were not well predicted, the flow
inputs (8 differential) and a 12-bit A/D converter. The structure was realistic.
overall sampling frequency can be set up to 1.2 MS/s.

This allows calculating the aerodynamic force and

moment components, the aerodynamic coefficients and
 Fig. 3 Dummy.

During the recent past, due to the rapid growth of that their codes do not require specialized knowledge of
powerful computer resources, the decrease of CFD, some knowledge is principally indispensable. You
computations costs and the significant progress in the need to have acquaintance of physical flow modeling
field of computational fluid dynamics, CFD has been and numerical techniques in order to set-up a proper
applied to solve many industrial flow problems and is simulation and to judge the value of its results, while
gradually becoming an essential tool in automobiles taking into account the capabilities and limitations of
design. The prediction of the aerodynamic performances CFD.
is nowadays economically cheaper and more efficient
through the synergy between CFD and experimental RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
tests. The main result of numerical simulation is a
complete description of the three-dimensional flow in the This paper presents the aerodynamic characterization of
entire fluid domain in terms of velocity field and pressure a maxi-scooter done both experimentally and
distribution, including profiles of temperature variations, numerically. The vehicle under test is a commercial
density and other related physical quantities. maxiscooter, whose main features are summarized in
tab. 4. The maximum length and the maximum width of
Recently a commercial CFD software product, the vehicle are, respectively, 2080 mm and 865 mm. The
PowerFLOW, has begun to be used by automotive distance between front and rear wheels axes is 1460
industries for typical aerodynamics applications. The mm and the rider is seated 825 mm over the floor. This
peculiarity of this CFD software package is that it is scooter is equipped with a 460 cm3 swept volume spark
based on the lattice gas automata (LGA) [19,20] and the ignition engine.
lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) [6].
The scooter presents a shape of good aerodynamic
LBM is based on an alternative approach to solve fluid quality, especially in the front shield. The windshield has
dynamics problems without employing the Navier-Stokes been designed to protect the rider against direct air
equations. A detailed description of the mathematical stream, while maintaining good aerodynamic
formulation on which this method is based goes beyond performance. The static load distribution is
the scope of the present work and can be easily found in approximately 39 % at the front and 61 % at the rear
literature [6]. wheel.

The fundamental philosophy of “lattice techniques” is to In order to compute the aerodynamic coefficients, the
solve the macroscopic fluid dynamics through a reference surface, which is generally fixed as the frontal
microscopic kinetic approach that preserve the area, should be known. In this work, anyway, the
conservation laws. The result is a simple model based aerodynamic coefficients will be considered together
on the Lattice Boltzmann Equation (LBE) [6], established with the reference surface, as C*A (C*l*A for the
already in 1854 for the kinetic theory of ideal gases by moments), due to the difficulty in measuring the frontal
Maxwell and Boltzmann, tells us how the particle area, considering that the rider and eventually the
distribution of a diluted fluid changes with time. This passenger have a significant influence on it.
method, introduced at the turn of the 1980s, due to the
refinements and the extensions of the last years, it has
been used to successfully compute a number of
nontrivial fluid dynamics problems, from incompressible Swept volume 460 cm 3

turbulence to multiphase flow and bubble flow Top speed 160 km/h
simulations [21-25]. Wheel centers distance 1460 mm
Width 865 mm
Despite the overwhelming amount of possibilities and
Empty tank weight 195 Kg
advantages of the present CFD codes, the role of this
Solo-occupied weight 242 kg
new tool should not be exaggerated. In fact, it is very
easy to compute a solution that is totally unphysical. Front wheel load 39 %
Although vendors of commercial CFD software claim Rear wheel load 61 %
Tab. 4 Scooter main characteristics.
 Our numerical experiments have been performed on a
Silicon Graphics Origin 3200 with six CPUs MIPS
R120000 running at 400MHz, equipped with 8 GB of
main memory and 8MB of L2 cache, with operating
system IRIX 64 Version 6.5.

RESULTS COMPARISON - Experimental and numerical

aerodynamic areas of the maxiscooter under test for a
null yaw angle are compared in fig. 5. A very good
agreement has been found for the drag area value: the
Fig. 4 Virtual open jet wind tunnel predicted value (0.415 m2) is just 3 % lower than the
experimental one. Also the predicted lift force is very
The measurements have been carried out varying the close to the experimental one. The percentage
wind speed in the range between 5 and 45 m/s and the difference is pretty high (about 9 %), but in absolute
experimental results are presented in detail in a previous terms the numerical value is only 0.007 m2 lower than
paper [4]. Therefore, in this work the discussion is mainly the experimental one. It must be also considered that at
focused on the comparison between computational and the top speed of the vehicle a lift area of 0.078 m2
measured aerodynamic performances. means only 4% of the vehicle’s weight [4].

NUMERICAL SETUP – First step in setting up a A variety of measured drag and front lift areas for
simulation test case is preparing and importing geometry traditional motorcycles occupied by a rider or a dummy
of the model to be tested. Geometry is provided to the in seated position, available in literature [1], are
code as several CAD files that must be previously presented in tab. 5. Since the wind tunnel plays a
“cleaned” (i.e. small gaps closing and overlapping significant role on the measurements, the facilities where
triangles erasing) by a pre-processing tool. the experiments have been made are mentioned in the
table. The maxiscooter drag area, both measured and
After the scooter geometry has been imported by the numerically predicted, falls into the lower part of the
code, next step is creating the virtual environment. range.
Computational simulations were carried out in a virtual
wind tunnel with characteristics equal to the University of The agreement found between experimental and
Perugia’ s one, in terms of test section dimensions (inlet numerical data is excellent, considering that it transpires
nozzle and outlet diffuser section areas and test section from literature [4] that wind tunnel measurements, with
length), blockage ratio and longitudinal position of the regard only to the drag area, are affected by a
vehicle. reproducibility of up to approximately 5%. Moreover, as
reported by Hucho et al. [4], discrepancies of more than
The fluid domain has to be enclosed in what is called 10 % have been registered between wind tunnel
simulation volume. Three regions of different grid measurements and road tests.
refinement are used to simulate the whole flow domain:
coarser grid is built outside finer one. Smallest voxels Lower agreement between experimental and computed
(element of the grid in PowerFLOW) dimensions have data has been found on the pitching volume. The
been set equal to 20 mm, as a good compromise predicted value is 0.222 m3, lower than the measured
between physical fidelity requirements and numerical one (0.273 m3).
accuracy against simulation costs and computational
capabilities of the system.

Numerical results are provided for a constant wind

speed at the test section inlet equal to the top speed of
the vehicle (41 m/s=150 km/h), since the aerodynamic
drag coefficient dependence on the Reynolds number is
negligible in the speed range of interest. This results in a
constant dynamic pressure of about 1015 Pa. Test
section turbulence intensity has been set to 0.5 %.

A uniform velocity profile, corresponding to the scooter

nominal speed has been used at the inlet of
computational domain (nozzle outlet). The outlet
boundary conditions have been specified as constant
static pressure. All the simulations correspond to cold Fig. 5 Scooter aerodynamic characteristics for null yaw:
flow: no thermal load or temperature body conditions comparison between numerical and experimental
were specified. results.
 Wind CD⋅A CLf⋅A distribution of the load on the rear wheel: 48 % of the
Tunnel rear static load on the right side and 52 % on the left
BMW R 100 VW 0.50 0.25 side.
BMW R 100 RS VW 0.46 0.17
BMW K 100 RT Ford 0.51 0.16 Numerical tests have been performed only for a yaw
BMW K 1 BMW 0.37 - angle of 5°, in order to check the validity of the code for
DUCATI 750 SS BMW 0.42 0.14 the crosswind behaviour of the vehicle. As a
Desmo confirmation of the excellent agreement found at null
SUZUKI GSX-R Ford 0.48 - yaw, the predicted drag area is 0.440 m2, about 2%
750 X BMW 0.46 0.12 lower than the measured one.
Tab. 5 Conventional motorcycles aerodynamic
coefficients [3]. On the other hand, the computed side area is about
0.040 m2, significantly lower than the measured one.
Poor agreement has been observed also for yawing and
As mentioned before, the pitching volume primarily
rolling moment
results in a continuous redistribution of the wheels loads
to the advantage of the rear wheel and to the
disadvantage of the front wheel. This is the reason why Numerically calculated lift force increases of about 5 %,
often an indicator for stability and handling of the vehicle from 0.071 to 0.074 passing from null yaw to 5° yaw.
is the lift force at the front wheel. The measured value of Measured lift area at 5° yaw is 0.089 m2.
CLf⋅A is around 0.27 m2 that corresponds to about 30 %
of the front static load. However, the CFD code predicts
a front wheel lift area of about 0.22 m2. This difference
2
% of Weight CDA, CLA, CSA (m )
between experimental and numerical values should not 25 0,58
impress since the distribution of the vertical forces is 20 0,46
probably the most difficult to predict and measure.
Suffice it to think that the pitching moment is significantly 15 Drag 0,35
influenced by the longitudinal position of the rider with Lift
10 0,23
respect to the vehicle. Side
5 0,12
Anyway these values are higher than those found for 0 0,00
traditional motorcycles (tab. 5). This can be mainly
attributed to the different static load distribution between -5 -0,12
scooters and traditional motorcycles and to the fact that -10 -0,23
scooter riders are seated much behind motorcyclists. -10 -5 0 5 10
Yaw (°)
Cross wind sensitivity is another important aspect on the
aerodynamics of two-wheeled vehicles, since the yaw Fig. 6 Change in aerodynamic forces values with
angle of a road vehicle under natural conditions is never crosswind to motorcycle longitudinal axis.
null. Wind tunnel testing allows evaluating the
aerodynamic forces and moments generated at yaw in a AIR FLOW AROUND THE VEHICLE- As mentioned
steady wind condition. Even if real situation is very before, one of the major advantages of using CFD is the
different from what happens in a wind tunnel, availability detailed flow field around the vehicle.
considering the random nature of natural wind in Therefore, let’s examine briefly the output of the code in
intensity and direction, extensive correlations of the terms of pressure distribution and streamlines.
response of various vehicles to natural wind with the
measurements in a wind tunnel have been proposed in Figure 7 shows the streamlines and the pressure
literature [15]. distribution around the maxiscooter. As expected, high-
pressure regions are observed facing the front wheel,
Side force, yawing moment and rolling moment under the scooter nose and the rider’s helmet, where the
side-wind conditions or due to passing of another vehicle streamlines highlight stagnation points. The flow seems
are important determinants of the safety and comfort of to remain attached to the upper part of the nose and the
the rider. The aerodynamic performances of the windshield, as the streamlines follow its profile. This
maxiscooter at top cruising speed in the yaw range confirms the good aerodynamic quality of the scooter’s
between -10° and 10° has been experimentally front fairings configuration.
investigated. Aerodynamic force components in function
of the yaw angle for a wind speed of 43 m/s are shown The flow under the body is accelerated up to a certain
in fig. 6, where positive values of yaw angle refer to point and then slowed down when ambient pressure is
anticlockwise positions from the front to the rear of the recovered. Since we are dealing with an almost
vehicle. The behaviour of the motorcycle is incompressible flow, the region with high-speed air flow
approximately symmetric. Differences between negative has a lower pressure, as shown in the pressure
and positive yaw angles are due to the slight asymmetric distribution image.
A region of very low pressure and high vorticity is It must be noticed that the wake of the vehicle is mainly
observed between the front of the vehicle and the rider. due to the lower part of the vehicle. Looking at the
The air over the top of the windshield is drawn into the streamlines at two different heights (fig. 9), in fact, it is
low-pressure region facing the pilot’s body. Recirculation clearly evident how the upper part of the wake closes at
regions can be detected behind the pilot. A differential a small distance behind the vehicle, while it is in the
pressure on the pilot’s body acts pushing his back. lower part that flow separation is most likely.
Attention must be paid also to the extent to which the
flow is forced to turn down behind the vehicle, because it Another important consideration on scooters design is
affects the lift force at the rear wheel. the protectivity of the windshield and, in general, of the
whole fairings configuration (just think to dirt deposition)
The up views of the streamlines development, shown in that can be easily evaluated looking at the streamlines
fig. 8, draw the attention on the following items: development around the vehicle.

- because of the low pressure, the flow along the The calculated pressure distribution on planes
sides of the vehicle attempts to feed air into the orthogonal to the main flow direction at three different
region between the pilot and the windshield; longitudinal positions are shown in fig. 9. This allows the
visualization of the vehicle-rider system’s wake evolution
- recirculating flow from the sides of the back of throughout the longitudinal coordinate and in particular,
the scooter; of the effects of the vehicle nose and of the pilot on the
overall wake. The third image, taken just before the test
- size of the separation area (due both to the rider section outlet, shows how the wake does not close
and the vehicle) that directly affect the drag. before the end of the test section. This means that
probably the drag of the scooter in road condition will be
higher.

Fig. 7 Streamlines and pressure distribution around the rider-scooter system: side view

Fig. 8 Streamlines development around the rider-scooter system: up view at two different heights.
 Fig. 9 Pressure contour on three planes orthogonal to the flow direction.

Fig. 10 Streamlines development around the rider-scooter system at 5° yaw angle.

 Figure 13 shows the comparison of the aerodynamic
areas with and without rotating wheels and moving
ground. The effect on the overall drag is not
considerable. A ∆CDA of 0.08 m2, which means about
2% of the total vehicle drag, has been observed thus
confirming the general rule that rotating wheels plus
movement relative to the ground gives higher drag
coefficients [1,26]. According to tests conducted by
Sawatzki et al. [1] the drag increase on account of
rotating wheel is approximately 1% for solo-occupied
motorcycle. Values on the influence of the relative speed
between vehicle and road surface are not known for
motorcycles [1].

Fig. 11 Pressure contour on a plane orthogonal to the

main flow direction with crosswind.

The streamline evolution around the vehicle at 5° yaw

angle is shown in fig. 10. Compared to the null yaw
case, the main difference is in the non-symmetrical wake
behind the vehicle, as vortices detachment is observed
from the left side of the windshield. The vorticity around
the rider’s body is even stronger.

The comparison of the static pressure contour on a

plane orthogonal to the main flow direction (figs. 12 and
9) shows how the imprint with crosswind is much higher
than with null yaw. This gives an idea of the effect of the
frontal area rise on the increase of the drag force.

Interesting results obtainable from the computational

simulations are the proportions (in the total drag) of the
rider and the vehicle. Figure 13 shows drag and lift that
act on the single vehicle and on the pilot both at null yaw
and at 5° yaw angles. In both cases the greater part of
the drag is due to the vehicle. Furthermore the drag
force on the rider’s body is negative. This means that the
drag force acting on the helmet is balanced by the
differential pressure on the rider’s body, already
observed in the pressure distribution shown in fig. 8. On
Fig. 12 Proportion of rider and vehicle in the total drag
the other hand, the pilot is the main source of lift.
and lift forces at null yaw and at 5° yaw angles.
GROUND INFLUENCE AND WHEEL ROTATION– The
experimental aerodynamic performances presented in
this paper do not take into account the rotation of the
wheels. In the past, most of the aerodynamic
development in wind tunnels was mainly performed with
non-rotating wheels and ignoring the relative motion
between the ground and the vehicle. This means that the
true boundary conditions at the ground surface are not
satisfied and the boundary layer formed on the floor of
the wind tunnel is unrepresentative of ground conditions
experienced on the road. However, there are many
works in literature showing how the relative movement of
the vehicle with respect to the ground has a significant
effect on the under body flow [1,26-28].

Therefore, the numerical simulations on the Fig. 13 Scooter aerodynamic characteristics for null
aerodynamics of the maxiscooter were repeated yaw: effect of wheel rotation and ground movement.
including rotating wheels and movement relative to the
ground.
Fig. 14 Streamline development around the rider-scooter system with fixed wheels and ground and with rotating wheels
and moving ground.

Furthermore, even if total lift force is reduced of about The main result of numerical simulations is a complete
4%, pitching moment is increased. Lift areas at the front description of the three-dimensional flow in the entire
and at the rear wheels are both increased in absolute fluid domain in terms of velocity field and pressure
value: the first slightly (0.006 m2) and the second more distribution. Furthermore, the code allowed calculating
significantly since it passes from 0.151 m2 to 0.161 m2. the proportions of the rider and the vehicle in the
aerodynamic force: lift is mainly due to the rider, while
The development of the flow under the body with and the vehicle is the main source of drag.
without rotating wheels and moving ground is shown in
fig. 14. With the wheels rotating and with the ground To reproduce the true boundary conditions at the ground
moving relative to the scooter we can observe that: surface, numerical tests have been performed with
rotating wheels and with the ground moving relatively to
- the flow field around the wheels changes, first of the scooter. Drag and pitching moments are both
all because the moving wheel surface gives a increased. The differences in the development of the
rotation to the surrounding air and secondly flow under the body with and without rotating wheels and
because it changes the ground boundary layer moving ground have been discussed.
conditions: in particular an additional big vortex
appears behind the rear wheel; ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

- the streamlines near the ground assume an Financial support by Piaggio & C. SpA, is gratefully
upward direction approaching the back of the acknowledged. The authors wish to thank Exa
vehicle. Corporation and its staff for the support on setting up the
simulation cases and Dr. Lucia Sclafani and Dr. Mario
CONCLUSIONS Angeletti from S.C.I.R.E. Consortium for their help in the
computational analysis.
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