Abstract
The continuous surge in gas prices has raised major concerns about vehicle fuel efficiency, and drag reduction devices offer a promising strategy. In this paper, we investigate the mechanisms by which geometrically optimized bumps, placed on the rear end of the cabin roof of a generic truck, reduce aerodynamic drag. The incorporation of these devices requires proper choices of the size, location, and overall geometry. In the following analysis we identify these factors using a novel methodology. The numerical technique combines automatic modeling of the add-ons, computational fluid dynamics and optimization using orthogonal arrays, and probabilistic restarts. Numerical results showed reduction in aerodynamic drag between 6% and 10%.
Highlights
With budgets tight, gas prices on the rise, and fuel economy on everyone’s mind, it is more imperative than ever to invest in new energy-saving technologies among all products and services, including more energy efficient vehicles
Bump-shape vortex generators [15], commonly used on aircraft to delay flow separation, are another promising strategy that does not require major changes in vehicular geometry. These devices were analyzed for applications on the roof end of sedan vehicles and have proven to delay flow separation above the rear window which led to reduction in aerodynamic drag [16]
We investigate the mechanisms by which geometrically optimized bumps, placed on the rear end of the cabin roof of a generic truck, reduce aerodynamic drag
Summary
Gas prices on the rise, and fuel economy on everyone’s mind, it is more imperative than ever to invest in new energy-saving technologies among all products and services, including more energy efficient vehicles. Previous studies performed on academic geometries showed that proper modification of the flow topology around a vehicle can improve its aerodynamic performance by reducing drag [4,5,6,7,8] Flow control devices, such as cabin flaps [6], continuous suction, and/or blowing solutions [9,10,11,12,13,14], were proven to offer promising results. Bump-shape vortex generators [15], commonly used on aircraft to delay flow separation, are another promising strategy that does not require major changes in vehicular geometry These devices were analyzed for applications on the roof end of sedan vehicles and have proven to delay flow separation above the rear window which led to reduction in aerodynamic drag [16]
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