Abstract
Aerodynamic testing of heavy commercial vehicles is of increasing interest as demands for dramatically improved fuel economy take hold. Various challenges which compromise the fidelity of wind tunnel simulations must be overcome in order for the full potential of sophisticated aerodynamic treatments to be realized. This paper addresses one issue, the applicability of existing methods of boundary correction, since the blockage values tend to be quite high and the models are unusually long. Prevailing methods of boundary corrections for automotive testing have focused largely on drag, with reasonably symmetric flow fields. Relatively long vehicles at large yaw angles develop highly asymmetric flow fields and relatively large side force coefficients, so more complex boundary correction methods need to be developed. Techniques developed for this purpose might also have application in wind tunnel testing of other high length-to-diameter ratio models, such as submarines or airships.
Published Version
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