Investigation of the effect of the use of top deflectors on aerodynamic performance in vehicles with CFD analysis

Abstract

Carbon-containing waste gases from vehicle exhausts are one of the main causes of climatic disasters. This problem is tried to be solved by reducing the amount of energy consumed by vehicles while they are in motion. To reduce fuel consumption, it is necessary to reduce the effect of aerodynamic drag force, which is the resistance on the solid surface in motion. It is known that high aerodynamic drag force increases fuel consumption. Reducing aerodynamic drag force is important not only for fuel consumption but also for wind noise and roadholding. Heavy vehicles such as trucks have high drag forces due to the width of their surface areas. However, this situation can be minimized with changes to be made in vehicle designs. In this study, the effect of the use of top deflectors on the drag force for trucks has been investigated. In this theoretical study, separate calculations have been made for different vehicle velocities and the results have been compared among themselves. In this study, which has been carried out using the computational fluid dynamics method, k-e has been preferred as the turbulence method. As a result, it has been concluded that the use of top deflectors reduces drag force, which in turn reduces fuel consumption.