Does an active adjustment of aerodynamic drag make sense?

Scientific Conference on Automotive Vehicles and Combustion Engines 2016

Maciejewski, Marek^1

Politechnika Poznaska, Instytut Maszyn Roboczych i Pojazdów Samochodowych, ul. Piotrowo 3, Pozna

60-965, Poland^1

关键词: Active adjustments;    Adaptation process;    Articulated vehicle;    Computational mesh;    Geometric configurations;    Geometrical shapes;    Test condition;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/148/1/012016/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1757-899X/148/1/012016

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

The article concerns evaluation of the possible impact of the gap between the tractor and semitrailer on the aerodynamic drag coefficient. The aim here is not to adjust this distance depending on the geometrical shape of the tractor and trailer, but depending solely on the speed of articulated vehicle. All the tests have form of numerical simulations. The method of simulation is briefly explained in the article. It considers various issues such as the range and objects of tests as well as the test conditions. The initial (pre-adaptive) and final (after adaptation process) computational meshes have been presented as illustrations. Some of the results have been presented in the form of run chart showing the change of value of aerodynamic drag coefficients in time, for different geometric configurations defined by a clearance gap between the tractor and semitrailer. The basis for a detailed analysis and conclusions were the averaged (in time) aerodynamic drag coefficients as a function of the clearance gap.