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Computational Simulations of Airflows Related to Class-8 Trucks and Affecting Fuel Economy and Exhaust Emissions
These simulations involve very complex flow patterns about very complex
vehicle geometries, and they require the leading-edge capabilities of
the SimCenter’s Tenasi code for high-resolution of unsteady turbulent three-dimensional flows.
 Full-scale
simulations of airflow past a Class-8 truck showing the effect of
different mudflap designs on the aerodynamic drag force coefficient.
These results show that mudflap design has an important influence on
aerodynamic drag and hence fuel economy and exhaust emissions. (Sponsored by Riverbend Technology Institute, John Schaerer) |
 Full-scale
Simulation of airflow past a Class-8 truck showing the effect of
aerodynamic drag reduction devices such as trailer splitter plates and
base flaps. These results show how these devices affect the very
complex flow patterns on the downwind side of a truck traveling in a
cross wind at nine degrees to the direction of travel. (Sponsored by Riverbend Technology Institute, John Schaerer) |
 Comparison of SimCenter Tenasi
flow simulations and experimental data taken at NASA’s 7 ft. by 10 ft.
wind tunnel. These comparisons show that the computational flow
simulations give accurate predictions of pressure distributions
affecting aerodynamic drag and hence fuel economy and exhaust
emissions. (Sponsored by the Department of Energy: National
Transportation Research Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) |
 SimCenter
flow simulation of an isolated rotating wheel on a roadbed,
showing the complex three-dimensional viscous contact jet generated
where the rolling wheel contacts the roadbed. The excellent agreement
with experimental measurements validates this capability of the Tenasi code. (Sponsored
by the Department of Energy: National Transportation Research Center,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory) |
 Flow
Simulations for complex flow patterns past complex vehicle geometries
require very advanced geometric modeling and grid generation algorithms
and software. The SimCenter is a leader in unstructured grid generation
technology for viscous flow simulations. Shown here are some examples
of grids generated for several complex vehicle geometries using the
SimCenter’s HUGG grid-generation software system. (Sponsored by the
Tennessee Higher Education Commission Center of Excellence for Applied
Computational Science and Engineering at UTC) |
