Exterior Styling of an Intercity Transport Bus for Improved Aerodynamic Performance

2009-28-0060

12/13/2009

Event
International Mobility Engineering Congress and Exposition
Authors Abstract
Content
In this work, an intercity bus has been redesigned with enhanced exterior styling, reduced aerodynamic drag and increased comfort for the passengers. Extensive product study and market study were carried out and aspirations and frustrations of commuters were recorded. An operating intercity bus was benchmarked and analyzed for styling, aerodynamic performance and comfort. Fluent, a commercial CFD code was used to evaluate the aerodynamic performance. Principles of product design were used to analyse the styling and comfort. The benchmarked high floor bus was redesigned with low - floor for reduced aerodynamic drag. The exterior was redesigned with emphasis on improvised aerodynamic performance and appealing looks. The interior was modified to meet aspirations of the commuters.
The results of the redesigned exterior body showed a reduction of Cd from 0.53 to 0.29 and overall aerodynamic drag reduction by 60% due to combined effect of reduced Cd and frontal area. The redesigned interior was found to be at the satisfaction of commuters.
Meta TagsDetails
DOI
https://doi.org/10.4271/2009-28-0060
Pages
10
Citation
Raveendran, A., Sridhara, S., Rakesh, D., and Shankapal, S., "Exterior Styling of an Intercity Transport Bus for Improved Aerodynamic Performance," SAE Technical Paper 2009-28-0060, 2009, https://doi.org/10.4271/2009-28-0060.
Additional Details
Publisher
Published
Dec 13, 2009
Product Code
2009-28-0060
Content Type
Technical Paper
Language
English