Reduction of drag in heavy vehicles with two different types of advanced side skirts

Abstract Investigating the aerodynamic reduction of drag in heavy vehicles, such as trucks or tractor-trailers, has considerable significance given the strong influence on related industries. The underbody flow that passes through the underside of heavy vehicles induces considerable drag while interacting with rolling wheels and other structures. Nonetheless, the reduction of drag caused by underbody flow has received less attention than that attributed to upper and forebody flows. Side skirts are common underbody drag-reduction devices that consist of straight panels curtaining the underspace between the front and rear wheels to control the underbody flow in the ground clearance. In this study, we propose two different types of side skirts with flaps or additional inclined inner panels to maximize drag reduction. Effects of these devices are quantitatively evaluated by wind tunnel tests and computational fluid dynamics analysis. In wind tunnel tests with 1/8 scaled-down vehicle models, drag coefficient is reduced by more than 5% for both side skirts. Effects of various physical dimensions or angle variations on drag reduction are determined. Large-eddy simulation (LES) estimated similar drag reduction with reduced vortical activities, loss of streamwise momentum, strength of turbulent kinetic energy and global pressure difference, compared to the case without side skirts.