CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
21 February 2008
Implementation Investments
CD-adapco Helps Ford Design the World’s Fastest Fuel Cell Cars
On the 15th of August 2007 Ford became the world’s first automaker to set a land speed record for a production-based fuel cell powered car when its Ford Fusion Hydrogen 999 raced to 207.297 mph at Bonnenville Salt Flats in Utah to set the record.
“What we’ve accomplished is nothing short of an industry first” said Gerhard Schmidt, V.P. Ford Research and Advanced Engineering. “We established this project to advance fuel-cell-powered vehicles and to do what has never been done before, and we did it”
Roush industries, a partner in the project, chose CD-adapco to perform external aerodynamic analyses of the prototype vehicle to better optimise its shape. This included different underbody and rear wing configurations all benchmarked against the original car, a standard family sedan. A combination of both wind tunnel testing and analysis using the STAR suite of tools allowed a significant reduction in drag.
"Drag reduction of the Ford Fusion Hydrogen 999 was a key element of the successful world record attempt. By taking advantage of CFD analysis, physical test times could be reduced and multiple configurations of the vehicle studied. Other benefits included insights such as adding a rear spoiler for stability. Eventually the drag was reduced from 0.34 to 0.21, helping the Fusion to become the first fuel cell powered car to pass the 200 mph barrier. Partnering with CD-adapco's engineering services, and using its advanced family of STAR software solutions, allowed us to draw from a greater pool of expertise spanning CFD and aerodynamics." John W. Zaleski, Program Manager, Roush Industries.
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