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 the automotive industry. In recent days, gasoline prices have been raised high, so the HDVs need to be designed to be 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. This study identifies the flow zones with the large pressure drag and design parameters, incorporating appropriate geometric changes into the design. The computational results show that the drag reduction of individual devices in cab and trailer is 15.9%. The cab deflector and boat tails are the most effective individual geometry and successfully reduce the drag up to 20%.