An Investigation of Aerodynamic Effects of Body Morphing for Passenger Cars in Close-Proximity
The potential energy-saving benefit for vehicles when travelling in a ‘platoon’ formation results from the reduction in total aerodynamic drag which may result from the interaction of bluff bodies in close-proximity. Early investigations of platooning, prompted by problems of congestion, had shown t...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Fluids |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/6/2/64 |
| _version_ | 1827604852859994112 |
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| author | Geoffrey Le Good Max Resnick Peter Boardman Brian Clough |
| author_facet | Geoffrey Le Good Max Resnick Peter Boardman Brian Clough |
| author_sort | Geoffrey Le Good |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The potential energy-saving benefit for vehicles when travelling in a ‘platoon’ formation results from the reduction in total aerodynamic drag which may result from the interaction of bluff bodies in close-proximity. Early investigations of platooning, prompted by problems of congestion, had shown the potential for drag reduction but was not pursued. More recently, technologies developed for connected-autonomous vehicle control have provided a renewed interest in platooning particularly within the commercial vehicle industry. To date, most aerodynamics-based considerations of platooning have been conducted to assess the sensitivity of drag-saving to vehicle spacing and were based on formations of identically shaped constituents. In this study, the interest was the sensitivity of drag-saving to the shape of the individual platoon constituents. A new reference car, the Resnick model, was specially designed to include front and rear-end add-on sections to make distinct changes in profile form and simulate large-scale body morphing. The results of wind tunnel tests on small-scale models suggested that current trends in low-drag styling may not provide the ideal shape for platoon constituent members and that optimised forms are likely to be dependent upon position in the platoon. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:07:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-21038331e0b64ae499b2f8883f915b7e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2311-5521 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:07:58Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Fluids |
| spelling | doaj.art-21038331e0b64ae499b2f8883f915b7e2023-12-03T12:00:39ZengMDPI AGFluids2311-55212021-02-01626410.3390/fluids6020064An Investigation of Aerodynamic Effects of Body Morphing for Passenger Cars in Close-ProximityGeoffrey Le Good0Max Resnick1Peter Boardman2Brian Clough3National Transport Design Centre, Institute for Future Transport and Cities, Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry CV1 5FB, UKNational Transport Design Centre, Institute for Future Transport and Cities, Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry CV1 5FB, UKNational Transport Design Centre, Institute for Future Transport and Cities, Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry CV1 5FB, UKNational Transport Design Centre, Institute for Future Transport and Cities, Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry CV1 5FB, UKThe potential energy-saving benefit for vehicles when travelling in a ‘platoon’ formation results from the reduction in total aerodynamic drag which may result from the interaction of bluff bodies in close-proximity. Early investigations of platooning, prompted by problems of congestion, had shown the potential for drag reduction but was not pursued. More recently, technologies developed for connected-autonomous vehicle control have provided a renewed interest in platooning particularly within the commercial vehicle industry. To date, most aerodynamics-based considerations of platooning have been conducted to assess the sensitivity of drag-saving to vehicle spacing and were based on formations of identically shaped constituents. In this study, the interest was the sensitivity of drag-saving to the shape of the individual platoon constituents. A new reference car, the Resnick model, was specially designed to include front and rear-end add-on sections to make distinct changes in profile form and simulate large-scale body morphing. The results of wind tunnel tests on small-scale models suggested that current trends in low-drag styling may not provide the ideal shape for platoon constituent members and that optimised forms are likely to be dependent upon position in the platoon.https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/6/2/64platooningaerodynamic dragpassenger carsclose-proximity |
| spellingShingle | Geoffrey Le Good Max Resnick Peter Boardman Brian Clough An Investigation of Aerodynamic Effects of Body Morphing for Passenger Cars in Close-Proximity Fluids platooning aerodynamic drag passenger cars close-proximity |
| title | An Investigation of Aerodynamic Effects of Body Morphing for Passenger Cars in Close-Proximity |
| title_full | An Investigation of Aerodynamic Effects of Body Morphing for Passenger Cars in Close-Proximity |
| title_fullStr | An Investigation of Aerodynamic Effects of Body Morphing for Passenger Cars in Close-Proximity |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Investigation of Aerodynamic Effects of Body Morphing for Passenger Cars in Close-Proximity |
| title_short | An Investigation of Aerodynamic Effects of Body Morphing for Passenger Cars in Close-Proximity |
| title_sort | investigation of aerodynamic effects of body morphing for passenger cars in close proximity |
| topic | platooning aerodynamic drag passenger cars close-proximity |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/6/2/64 |
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