A one twentieth scale model of the tractor of a Volvo truck was tested in an open circuit one tenth scale wind tunnel designed for road vehicle testing using an open jet type working section.
The tests included static pressure measurements on the model surface and visualization of the flow around the model using smoke, tufts and surface oil flow for the analysis of the boundary layer flow. The results of the experimental pressure distribution were compared to those obtained for a simple theoretical model, using a first order panel method and resulted in a reasonable correlation.
A first approximation, in terms of an illustrative vision of the flow around the experimental model is presented, showing the understanding of the general flow patterns on the vehicle surface and of the flow around it, as obtained from analysis of the experimental flow visualization.