Case Study: Stanford University’s Solar Car Project achieves aerodynamic efficiency with Tecplot 360

The Stanford Solar Car Project Race for Aerodynamic Efficiency

Stanford University’s Stanford Solar Car Project needed a better way to design and validate the aerodynamics of its solar-powered race car for the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, where reliability, low drag, and near-zero lift were critical to performance. Working with Tecplot, Inc. and its Tecplot 360 software, the team supported its CFD workflow alongside Pointwise meshing and SU2 simulations to analyze complex airflow around the vehicle.

Tecplot, Inc. helped the team post-process and interpret CFD results with Tecplot 360, using predefined layouts, multiple frames, stream ribbons, and surface streamtraces to spot drag, turbulence, and recirculation zones that informed design changes. The approach helped Stanford’s Arctan become the university’s fastest solar car to date, finishing sixth out of 45 teams in the 2015 race and completing the 3,000 km course in just over 41 hours.

Stanford University

Rachel Abril

Master’s Student