Adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) criteria comparison for the DrivAer model

Aerodynamics is one of the main areas of development in vehicle design. One of the most efficient ways of testing the aerodynamic design of a vehicle is to use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), which allows for faster and more accurate aerodynamic simulations, which in turn helps increase the fuel economy and electric vehicle's range. Resource optimization is one of the most important aspects of CFD, and one of its main aspects is the spatial discretization of the fluid domain. This study discusses the use of Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) for the aerodynamic design of private vehicles. This paper compares the results obtained with the use of AMR based on different fluid dynamic criteria for the DrivAer model and correlates the results with experimental data and computational results provided by various authors in previous publications. Four different optimization functions are defined and compared. The results for the drag coefficient, pressure coefficient, and total pressure wake have been correlated, showing great accuracy. This study has proven that the use of AMR highly optimizes computational resources by optimizing the mesh in the desired areas, thereby reducing the number of cells needed elsewhere. The use of these criteria has proven useful for drag coefficient prediction simulations because these criteria make use of the AMR to optimize the wake region.