DOE's Effort to Reduce Truck Aerodynamic Drag - Joint Experiments and Computations Lead to Smart Design

Abstract

At 70 miles per hour, overcoming aerodynamic drag represents about 65% of the total energy expenditure for a typical heavy truck vehicle. The goal of this US Department of Energy supported consortium is to establish a clear understanding of the drag producing flow phenomena. This is being accomplished through joint experiments and computations, leading to the 'smart' design of drag reducing devices. This paper will describe our objective and approach, provide an overview of our efforts and accomplishments, and discuss our future direction.