In the presence of ambient winds, almost all present vehicles experience an increase in aerodynamic drag, which in turn causes an increase in energy consumption. However, it is possible to design a vehicle body shape that passively uses the wind to decrease aerodynamic drag and hence lower fuel consumption. This paper describes a scale-model wind tunnel investigation that studied vehicle-like shapes which exhibit a drag reduction, rather than a drag penalty, in crosswinds. The aerodynamic behavior of very-low-aspect-ratio, truncated, vertical airfoil sections close to the ground was studied to obtain a general idea of the behavior of these vehicle-like shapes. Force and surface pressure studies established that a significant drag reduction at low yaw angles could be achieved by attached flow over the leeward airfoil nose. A demonstration of the use of the airfoil shape was carried out to show how the poor yaw performance of a representative Semi-Trailer transport may be improved by the use of a plan-view airfoil-shaped cab.


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    Title :

    Airfoil Plan-View Body Shapes to Reduce Drag at Yaw


    Additional title:

    Sae Technical Papers


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    International Congress & Exposition ; 1990



    Publication date :

    1990-02-01




    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English




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