| This thesis presents the development of an aero-dynamic body shape for a solar-powered race car. This car was designed to compete in the General Motors Corporation "Sunrayce 97" competition.; The body shape development involved several steps. These included reviewing race regulations for dimensions and other requirements, identifying initial design goals, preliminary shape designs, and re-designs based on empirical aerodynamic analyses and computer modeling and optimization. In addition to aerodynamics, the design also had to accommodate other items such as structural integrity, stability, and serviceability of the vehicle.; The final body shape met the requirements of the race regulations and the initial design goals. It had a projected frontal area of 0.91 m{dollar}sp2{dollar} and a coefficient of aerodynamic drag equal to 0.18.; The body shape was optimized mainly through the use of computational fluid dynamics modeling and analysis software. |
