A drag reduction apparatus for reducing the aerodynamic drag on a bluff body 200 having a blunt trailing edge, for example a road vehicle such as a lorry or a city car, comprises one or more control elements 120 coupleable to and moveable relative to bluff body 200, so that movement of control elements 120 controls fluid flow at the wake of bluff body 200 and reduces drag caused by fluid flow instabilities and environmental asymmetries. Preferably, control elements 120 are control surfaces provided with actuators 130 so that the control surfaces oscillate relative to bluff body 200. The oscillation may involve a control signal having a frequency component and a component controlling the mean position of the control surfaces, and may be programmatically controllable using a processor. Pressure sensors may be provided to measure pressure in the wake of bluff body 200. The drag reduction apparatus may be compact and, if provided on a vehicle, reduce fuel consumption.
Drag reduction method
2017-05-10
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
IPC: | B62D MOTOR VEHICLES , Motorfahrzeuge |
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