Investigating the aerodynamic drag and noise characteristics of a standard squareback vehicle with inclined side-view mirror configurations using a hybrid computational aeroacoustics (CAA) approach

Abstract

This study investigates the aerodynamic noise generated and radiated from a standard squareback body with various inclined side-view mirrors using a hybrid computational aeroacoustics method based on a stress-blended eddy simulation coupled with the Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings acoustic analogy. The results indicate that in the absence of the side-view mirror, the idealized A-pillar is identified as the subsequent major contributor to the overall noise radiated from the vehicle body, and the coefficient of drag decreases by approximately 13.3% despite a minimal change in the projected frontal area. However, the behavior of the drag coefficient becomes nonlinear and highly dependent on the complex flow features, including the vortex shedding patterns and the interaction between the flow and side surface of the body, with increasing mirror inclination angle. In contrast, the radiated noise exhibits a constant decrease as the mirror inclination angle (θ) increases to 32°. Additionally, when the side-view mirror is considered as the sole source, the noise radiated is minimal for an inclination angle of 16°, and a further increase in inclination angle has no significant reduction on the noise radiated but alters the overall drag coefficient of the vehicle. These findings have practical implications for the design of side-view mirrors to reduce aerodynamic noise in automotive applications and highlight the complex tradeoffs between noise reduction and changes in the drag coefficient that must be considered in such designs.