A computational study of tandem dual wheel aerodynamics and the effect of fenders and fairings on spray dispersion

With the goal of understanding how to mitigate the safety hazard of splash and spray around heavy vehicles, a computational study of the aerodynamics and spray dispersion about a simplified trailer wheel assembly has been completed. A tandem dual slick (TDS) wheel model that neglects complex geometric features such as brakes, wheel bolts and wheel cutouts but with the same dimensions as an actual trailer wheel assembly was used . A detailed simulation of the wheels alone demonstrated that the flow field is both unsteady and complex, containing a number of vortical structures that interact strongly with spray. Preliminary simulations with fenders and fairings demonstrated that these devices prevent the ballistic transport of drops larger than approximately 0.1 mm, but the fine mist speculated to be responsible for visibility reduction is unaffected. This work suggests that to use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to design and evaluate spray mitigation strategies the jet or sheet breakup processes can be modeled using an array of injectors of small (< 0.01 mm) water droplets; however the choice of size distribution, injection locations, directions and velocities is largely unknown and requires further study. Possible containment strategies would include using flow structures to 'focus' particles into regions away from passing cars or surface treatments to capture small drops

Simulation of spray dispersion in a simplified heavy vehicle wake

Simulations of spray dispersion in a simplified tractor-trailer wake have been completed with the goal of obtaining a better understanding of how to mitigate this safety hazard. The Generic Conventional Model (GCM) for the tractor-trailer was used. The impact of aerodynamic drag reduction devices, specifically trailer-mounted base flaps, on the transport of spray in the vehicle wake was considered using the GCM. This analysis demonstrated that base flaps including a bottom plate may actually worsen motorist visibility because of the interaction of fine spray with large vortex flows in the wake. This work suggests that to use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to design and evaluate spray mitigation strategies the jet or sheet breakup processes can be modeled using an array of injectors of small (< 0.1 mm) water droplets; however the choice of size distribution, injection locations, directions and velocities is largely unknown and requires further study. Possible containment strategies would include using flow structures to 'focus' particles into regions away from passing cars or surface treatments to capture small drops

A comparison of dispersion calculations in bluff body wakes using LES and unsteady RANS

Accurate modeling of the dispersion behavior of sprays or particles is critical for a variety of problems including combustion, urban pollution or release events, and splash and spray transport around heavy vehicles. Bluff body wakes are particularly challenging since these flows are both highly separated and strongly unsteady. Attempting to model the dispersion of droplets or particles interacting with bluff body wakes is even more difficult since small differences in the flow field encountered by particles can lead to large differences in the dispersion behavior. Particles with finite inertia can exhibit additional complicating effects such as preferential concentration. In this preliminary study, we consider the dispersion of solid particles in the wake of a rectangular plane at a Reynolds number (Re) of 10000 and that of droplets in the wake of a simplified tractor-trailer geometry at Re = 2 x 10{sup 6} using both the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) turbulence modeling approaches. The calculations were performed using identical meshes for both the LES and URANS models. Particle stresses are not backcoupled to the carrier fluid velocity solution. In the case of the rectangular plane wake, the LES calculation predicts a finer-scale and more persistent wake structure than the URANS one; the resulting particle dispersion is considerably ({approx} 40%) underpredicted for low inertia particles. For the case of the simplified tractor-trailer geometry, although the LES is underresolved, similar trends are observed with strong differences in the vertical and horizontal dispersion of the smallest particles. These results suggest that it may be necessary to use LES to accurately capture the dispersion behavior of small, low inertia particles or droplets, but that URANS may be sufficient for problems in which only large particles with substantial inertia are of primary concern

DOE Project on Heavy Vehicle Aerodynamic Drag FY 2005 Annual Report

Class 8 tractor-trailers consume 11-12% of the total US petroleum use. At high way speeds, 65% of the energy expenditure for a Class 8 truck is in overcoming aerodynamic drag. The project objective is to improve fuel economy of Class 8 tractor-trailers by providing guidance on methods of reducing drag by at least 25%. A 25% reduction in drag would present a 12% improvement in fuel economy at highway speeds, equivalent to about 130 midsize tanker ships per year. Specific goals include: (1) Provide guidance to industry in the reduction of aerodynamic drag of heavy truck vehicles; and (2) Establish a database of experimental, computational, and conceptual design information, and demonstrate the potential of new drag-reduction devices

A preliminary investigation of Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of the flow around a cylinder at ReD = 3900 using a commercial CFD code

Engineering fluid mechanics simulations at high Reynolds numbers have traditionally been performed using the Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) equations and a turbulence model. The RANS methodology has well-documented shortcomings in the modeling of separated or bluff body wake flows that are characterized by unsteady vortex shedding. The resulting turbulence statistics are strongly influenced by the detailed structure and dynamics of the large eddies, which are poorly captured using RANS models (Rodi 1997; Krishnan et al. 2004). The Large Eddy Simulation (LES) methodology offers the potential to more accurately simulate these flows as it resolves the large-scale unsteady motions and entails modeling of only the smallest-scale turbulence structures. Commercial computational fluid dynamics products are beginning to offer LES capability, allowing practicing engineers an opportunity to apply this turbulence modeling technique to much wider array of problems than in dedicated research codes. Here, we present a preliminary evaluation of the LES capability in the commercial CFD solver StarCD by simulating the flow around a cylinder at a Reynolds number based on the cylinder diameter, D, of 3900 using the constant coefficient Smagorinsky LES model. The results are compared to both the experimental and computational results provided in Kravchenko & Moin (2000). We find that StarCD provides predictions of lift and drag coefficients that are within 15% of the experimental values. Reasonable agreement is obtained between the time-averaged velocity statistics and the published data. The differences in these metrics may be due to the use of a truncated domain in the spanwise direction and the short time-averaging period used for the statistics presented here. The instantaneous flow field visualizations show a coarser, larger-scale structure than the study of Kravchenko & Moin (2000), which may be a product of the LES implementation or of the domain and resolution used. Based on this preliminary study, we conclude that StarCD's LES implementation may useful for low Reynolds number LES computations if proper care is used in the problem and mesh definition

A comparison of dispersion calculations in bluff body wakes using LES and unsteady RANS A comparison of dispersion calculations in bluff body wakes using LES and unsteady RANS

Accurate modeling of the dispersion behavior of sprays or particles is critical for a variety of problems including combustion, urban pollution or release events, and splash and spray transport around heavy vehicles. Bluff body wakes are particularly challenging since these flows are both highly separated and strongly unsteady. Attempting to model the dispersion of droplets or particles interacting with bluff body wakes is even more difficult since small differences in the flow field encountered by particles can lead to large differences in the dispersion behavior. Particles with finite inertia can exhibit additional complicating effects such as preferential concentration. In this preliminary study, we consider the dispersion of solid particles in the wake of a rectangular plane at a Reynolds number (Re) of 10000 and that of droplets in the wake of a simplified tractortrailer geometry at Re = 2 × 10 6 using both the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) turbulence modeling approaches. The calculations were performed using identical meshes for both the LES and URANS models. Particle stresses are not backcoupled to the carrier fluid velocity solution. In the case of the rectangular plane wake, the LES calculation predicts a finer-scale and more persistent wake structure than the URANS one; the resulting particle dispersion is considerably (≈ 40%) underpredicted for low inertia particles. For the case of the simplified tractor-trailer geometry, although the LES is underresolved, similar trends are observed with strong differences in the vertical and horizontal dispersion of the smallest particles. These results suggest that it may be necessary to use LES to accurately capture the dispersion behavior of small, low inertia particles or droplets, but that URANS may be sufficient for problems in which only large particles with substantial inertia are of primary concern