Ahead of this year’s conference this October, we spoke with event chair Adrian Gaylard about his involvement in this year’s event and what people can expect from the conference this year.
Q: Could you briefly explain your role and involvement in aerodynamics?
AG (Adrian Gaylard): I am the Technical Specialist for Computational Aerodynamics at Jaguar Land Rover. This means that I am responsible, with my team, for the aerodynamics simulation processes that we use to develop our cars, including making sure they are giving us what we need currently and we are developing for the future. I also look after our research activity.
My involvement with Aerodynamics goes back to the end of my Graduate Training programme with British Rail’s Research Division in 1989. I had a degree in Physics and Maths and was looking for a final placement, and I’d never done any aerodynamics or fluid mechanics for that matter (save for a project looking at the rheology of used engine oils!). I really enjoyed the subject, the management of the department took a chance on me and I stayed in that group until 1996. I had a fantastic time, getting involved with the ventilation design for the Channel Tunnel; learning about aerodynamics, including drag reduction, vehicle/vehicle and infrastructure interactions, smoke and fire simulation and particulate advection. During this time I started working with early commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics codes, seeing how this technology could be used.
I moved to the automotive industry in 1996, taking up a role with MIRA (now HORIBA-MIRA Ltd) and learning about simulating car aerodynamics. I was able to branch out a bit and learn about wind tunnel testing. Eventually I led their External Aerodynamics Consultancy team, doing projects for companies like Bentley, Rover Group, PSA, Renault and Hyundai. I also worked on some civil engineering problems, like wind loading of antennae and novel structures. I even did some work with Speedo on their “sharkskin” competition swimwear.
In 2001 I joined Land Rover (we soon merged with Jaguar, to become Jaguar Land Rover), where I worked on developing CFD simulation capability for SUVs. I also set-up our first aeroacoustics simulation process and more recently I’ve been developing novel processes for simulating dirt accumulation and surface water dynamics. In fact I’ve recently submitted a thesis for an Engineering Doctorate on rear surface dirt deposition for SUVs.
Q: In your experience, what is the number one challenge facing engineers when managing the aerodynamics of a vehicle?
AG: Managing the essential compromises between aerodynamic performance, aesthetic and engineering design.
Q: What is the most exciting development in this field at the moment, either within your company or in your specific engineering sector?
AG: I think the emergence of electric vehicles with their heightened sensitivity to aerodynamic drag and the extra opportunities for drag reduction that come with removing the ICE drivetrain, like the package space to manage cooling flows properly and smooth under floors.
Q: Where do you see for the future of aerodynamics over the next five to ten years?
AG: We will need to respond to the challenges and opportunities associated with the emergence of the electrified, autonomous and connected on-road environment. In the short term that will focus on taking full advantage of the opportunities provided by electric vehicles for reducing drag to optimise range. We’ll quickly start to appreciate, I’m sure, that we need to account for real-world effects more like the turbulent flow environment and the presence of environmental dirt and water in the way we approach aerodynamics. Then we’ll move on to exploit the opportunities provided by V2X connectivity to actively manage the aerodynamic performance of the vehicle as its driven.
Q: What are you most looking forward to by being the chair of this conference?>
AG: I came into this field as a total novice with no aerodynamics or even engineering background. Over the years I have learned such a lot from attending conferences: listening to colleagues present their work and talking to them about it. As chair I’m looking forward to immersing myself in the world of aerodynamics for two days and learning on or two new things.
Q: Which sessions are you most looking forward to hearing?
AG: It’s hard to pick favourites. I’m always keen to hear about drag reduction and wheel aerodynamics, which are core interests for any automotive aerodynamicist. However, I’m really interested in how vehicle to vehicle aerodynamic interaction (Session 2) is emerging as a topic. It’s something I worked on in my railway career, but with autonomy and connectivity making platooning viable it’s definitely an emerging topic we need to be thinking about. It also strikes me that we might be slowly re-inventing the railway on the road, which raises opportunities to learn from the railway aerodynamic community. I’m really pleased with the number of presentations we’ve been offered on this topic.
One of the things that’s surprised me most over the last five years or so is how much we’ve learned about the unsteady dynamics of vehicle wakes and I’m excited to see some strong contributions to this topic in Session 3. I’ll be playing very close attention to Giancarlo Pavia and Oliver Cadot’s presentations.
From a vehicle development perspective it’s always interesting to hear how colleagues from other major OEMs approach aerodynamic development. I’m really excited that we’ll hear from Thomas Wolf on “the aerodynamic development of the new Porsche cayenne”.
Finally, given that simulating surface contamination (water & dirt deposition) has been my obsession for most of the last decade I’m looking forward to Session 8. One of my colleagues, Sébastien Chaligné is presenting some research we’ve done together on the unsteady processes involved in rear surface contamination. There are also presentations on snow ingestion from Honda R&D and surface water management by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. I think this topic is going to increase in importance as we get to grips with making ADAS systems and autonomy work in the real world.
Q: Why should industrial and academic experts in all areas of aerodynamics for road cars, commercial vehicles and motorsport applications join this conference?
AG: I think that there’s something for everyone in this conference. I’m sure, even with nearly 30 years in the field that I’ll learn a few things. This is an exciting field that is moving forward like never before, so we all need to take the time to get informed and keep up. Beyond this there are a lot of young and early-career researchers involved and I find the fresh approach that they often bring helps me see things differently. It’s also an opportunity to meet people and see who you might like to work with in the future.
About 12th International Conference in Vehicle Aerodynamics – 16-17 October 2018 in Birmingham.
Lead by keynote presentations from experienced motorsport aerodynamicist Willem Toet and Bloodhound SCC’s Chief of Aerodynamics Ron Ayers, this year’s conference is a key event for all those involved in these areas of vehicle design and development.
For a full list of speakers, presentations, topics and more, please visit the event website.