Aerodynamics of a Generic Ground Transportation System: Detached Eddy Simulation

The present study is aimed at studying the use of Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) in simulating truck aerodynamics. A computational procedure based on DES implemented within the Finite Volume Method (FVM) framework is developed. Detailed descriptions of various aspects of the procedure are provided here including mesh generation, solution procedure and post-processing guidelines.

The computational procedure is applied to study aerodynamics of a generic Ground Transportation System (GTS) at 0° yaw. This is a largely simplified ⅛^th scale model of a tractor-trailer truck. Time-average and transient surface pressures, skin friction coefficients, and wake velocity structures are reported. To assess the accuracy of the present procedure, these are compared with corresponding experimental data reported in literature. Such comparison shows that the present procedure predicts drag coefficient accurately well within the bounds of experimental uncertainty. Time-average surface pressure predictions show similar bounds of accuracy at most locations on the vehicle.

Furthermore, results from the DES simulation are compared with a separately conducted RANS (Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes) simulation to compare and contrast the accuracy of these two computational approaches.