Numerical Investigation to the Impact of the Shape of the Front Part on the External Flow Field for a Heavy Duty Vehicle in Crosswind

Abstract

To study the external flow field of a domestic heavy duty commercial vehicle, numerical simulation method was used in this paper, a hybrid of k-w and k-e turbulent model and polyhedron mesh was adopted to simulate the external flow field of the truck with three different front shape, and a comparative assessment was made to analyze the difference of the flow structure in the case of crosswind. The comparison analysis revealed that the top and bottom flow separation at the side wall of the truck was reduced due to the guiding effect of the truck nose, and the pressure at the leeward side of the truck was increased, which helped decreasing the pressure difference of the two sides, and alleviated the negative effect of the increased side positive-pressure area caused by the increased lateral area resulting from the elongated truck nose.