Aerodynamic Analysis of Heavy Duty Vehicles using Computational Fluid Dynamics Approach

Fuel consumption of heavy duty vehicles (HDV) is one of the major challenges in automotive industry. In recent days, the gasoline prices have been raised highly, so the HDVs need to be designed more fuel-efficient. Many studies reported that, aerodynamic optimization is one of the most important advancements in terms of fuel-efficient HDVs, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tool or approach is widely accepted for aerodynamic analysis. In this study, the flow zones with the large pressure drag and design parameters are identified, and appropriate geometric changes are incorporated in the design. The computational results shows that, the drag reduction of individual devices in cab and trailer is 16.8% and the cab deflector and boat tails are the most effective individual geometry and is successfully reducing the drag up to 20%.