Ground Height and Pitch Angle Influence on the Aerodynamic Behavior of a Production Pickup Truck

The fuel economy performance of road vehicles is one of the most important factors for a successful project in the current automotive industry due to greenhouse effect gases reduction goals. Aerodynamics and vehicle dynamics play key roles on leading the automaker fulfill those factors. The drag coefficient and frontal area of the vehicle are affected by several conditions, where the ground height and pitch angle are very relevant, especially for pickup trucks. In this work, we present a combined study of suspension trim heights and aerodynamics performance of a production pickup truck, where three different loading conditions are considered. The three weight configurations are evaluated both in terms of ground height and pitch angle change considering the suspension and tires deflection and these changes are evaluated in terms of drag coefficient performance, using a Lattice-Boltzmann transient solver. Results are compared with the baseline vehicle at road speed condition, where both numerical results and flow comparison contours are provided.