Aerodynamic Performance Enhancement of a Heavy Trucks using Experimental and Computational Investigation

Authors

  • Mohamed B. Farghaly Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Fayoum University, 63514, Fayoum, Egypt
  • H. H. Sarhan Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Port Said University, Port Said, Egypt
  • E. S. Abdelghany Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Albaha University KSA, on Leave from Institute of Aviation Engineering and Technology, Giza, Egypt

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37934/cfdl.15.8.7394

Keywords:

Aerodynamics, Computational fluid dynamics, Drag reduction devices, Truck–Cabin profiles, Wind tunnel test

Abstract

Improving the aerodynamic performance of a heavy vehicles is one of the essential issues used in automotive industry to reduce the fuel consumption. In this work, various drag reduction devices were added to improve the vehicle profiles and the effects of each device were experimentally and computationally investigated. These additional devices are Cap of truck with different angle, Gap device with different length and Flat Flap with different angle and dimensions. 1/50th scale of a standard heavy truck were taken to construct the computational and experimental model. The drag coefficient, contours of turbulence kinetic energy, pressure, velocity, streamlines, velocity vectors were predicted with and without additional devices. The obtained results show that these attached devices have a notable impact on the aerodynamic drag reduction of the heavy vehicles and trucks. Installing all supplementary parts at the same time help to reduce the drag coefficient by about 59 % compared with the truck without any profile’s modifications. Finally, the experimental results show good agreement with the computational results with acceptable percentage error of about 5%.

Author Biographies

Mohamed B. Farghaly, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Fayoum University, 63514, Fayoum, Egypt

mbs12@fayoum.edu.eg

H. H. Sarhan, Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Port Said University, Port Said, Egypt

mbs12@fayoum.edu.eg

E. S. Abdelghany, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Albaha University KSA, on Leave from Institute of Aviation Engineering and Technology, Giza, Egypt

Eslam_said312002@yahoo.com

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Published

2023-06-25

How to Cite

Farghaly, M. B., H. H. Sarhan, & Abdelghany, E. S. . (2023). Aerodynamic Performance Enhancement of a Heavy Trucks using Experimental and Computational Investigation. CFD Letters, 15(8), 73–94. https://doi.org/10.37934/cfdl.15.8.7394

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