Consider a Non-Spherical Elephant: Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations of Heat Transfer Coefficients and Drag Verified Using Wind Tunnel Experiments

Animal momentum and heat transfer analysis has historically used direct animal measurements or approximations to calculate drag and heat transfer coefficients. Research can now use modern 3D rendering and computational fluid dynamics software to simulate animal-fluid interactions. Key questions are the level of agreement between simulations and experiments and how superior they are to classical approximations. In this paper we compared experimental and simulated heat transfer and drag calculations on a scale model solid aluminum African elephant casting. We found good agreement between experimental and simulated data and large differences from classical approximations. We used the simulation results to calculate coefficients for heat transfer and drag of the elephant geometry. J. Exp. Zool. 319A:319-327, 2013. (c) 2013 (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.