Class 8 vehicles, specifically tractor-trailer type, are crucial to the flow of goods across the United States; however these vehicles are highly inefficient, with much of the engine's power used to overcome drag forces. For this paper, the use of vortex generators was explored with intentions to decrease drag on tractor-trailer vehicles. Two models were examined: a single vehicle at highway speed and two vehicles at highway speed, with standard convoy follow distance. Each model has two experimental versions, each with a different type of vortex generator. The two types of vortex generators selected for testing were commercially available Airtabs and vortex generators commonly used on the wings of aircraft. Models of vehicles with and without such additions were constructed in SolidWorks, with computational fluid dynamics performed in ANSYS Fluent. This research analyzed how these additions to the trailing edge of the trailer's top and side surfaces affect the overall drag and fluid velocity distribution around the vehicles. Simulation results indicate a net drag reduction in both single vehicle and convoying vehicle situations with the addition of Airtabs to both vehicles, and a net increase in drag for both situations with the addition of aircraft vortex generators. Further research should be conducted to investigate the effects of the height of vortex generators as well as vehicle spacing in convoy situations.
展开▼
