An Examination of Vehicle Spacing to Reduce Aerodynamic Drag in Truck Platoons [electronic resource]

• Ngôn ngữ: eng
• Ký hiệu phân loại: 621.43 Internal-combustion engines
• Thông tin xuất bản: Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy, 2018
• Mô tả vật lý: Size: 6 p. : , digital, PDF file.
• Bộ sưu tập: Metadata
• ID: 266435
• Chủ đề: 1. 33 advanced propulsion systems; 2. Aerodynamic drag; 3. Truck platoons; 4. Truck spacing; 5. Wind tunnel

Tóm tắt

Aerodynamic drag is a significant source of energy dissipation in tractor-trailers, accounting for as much as 20% of energy lost at high speeds. Despite a growing interest in automation techniques, few studies exist on truck platoons with a focus on inter-vehicle spacing. In this work, experiments are conducted to estimate the drag coefficient of 2- and 3-member platoon combinations of medium-duty Volvo VNL-300 day-cab trucks. The relative drag of the leading, middle and trailing trucks is compared by recording the axial drag forces on 1/64 scale models in a wind tunnel. Here, the average drag coefficient ratio shows that drag-reductions of around 36% are possible at inter-vehicle spacing distances of 3m for full-scale 2-truck platoons with each tractor-trailer combination including a scale-similar 53-ft wedge trailer.