U. Kentucky Tests Solar Car in LFST

The University of Kentucky solar car team is a multidisciplinary undergraduate group that designed and built a vehicle that raced in the 2008 North American Solar Challenge. These lightweight state of the art vehicles use solar photovoltaic arrays and storage batteries to power a 2 horsepower electric motor.  Due to the limited power, streamlined designs are used to maximize speed by minimizing aerodynamic drag.  The UK team approached ODU for help with their 2009 race entry in evaluating the aerodynamic efficiency through a full scale wind tunnel test.  Aerospace Masters student Matthew Cragun worked closely with ODU Langley Full Scale Tunnel test engineer (and alumni) Whitney Seay to adapt a  support for the 3-wheeled craft so that measurements could be made using the facilities existing 4-wheel force balance.   The LFST is routinely used for ground vehicle aerodynamic studies where flow visualization and force measurements are used to reveal subtle deficiencies in design that are extremely difficult to identify without testing the actual vehicle.  The UK team were pleased with the test and found a few small areas where attention to detail resulted in measureable reductions in drag.  They plan to incorporate their findings into an improved design and to campaign the new car in several races including a sojourn across the continent of Australia, if funds permit.