Aerodynamics of Commercial Vehicles

Abstract

In recent years, the strong pressure from both customers and government bodies toward improvement of fuel consumption and reduction of pollution has made it necessary for the manufacturers of road vehicles to pursue increasingly innovative solutions and novel technologies toward this end. The average heavy truck customer’s sophisticated understanding of a vehicle’s total cost of ownership cause the Heavy Truck Market to be driven by objective measures of vehicle performance to a larger degree than is present in most other road vehicle markets. The fuel consumption of a heavy truck is among the largest contributors to the vehicle’s total cost of ownership. As such, the improvement of fuel consumption through reduction of aerodynamic drag is of particular interest to Heavy Truck Manufacturers and their customers. Today, the optimization of aerodynamics for commercial vehicles must not be restricted merely to the installation of devices on the roof of the cabin. Rather, the vehicle must be regarded as a complete system and optimized accordingly. That is to say that aerodynamic optimization today focuses on the entire vehicle rather than just the tractor unit. Aerodynamic optimization must be balanced against such considerations as styling, ergonomics and soiling. The interactions between these various considerations will be explained through the use of some different cases. For example, the subject of windshield rake angle as it relates to headroom and aerodynamics. In closing, an outlook regarding the future development of Aerodynamic commercial vehicles will be given.