UniversityofIdahoMechanicalEngineering

ME420FluidDynamics
ExperimentalTestingandAnalysisofAddOnDevicesfor
ImprovementofPickupTruckAerodynamics

Authors
:
CristoferFarnetti
TonyKeys

15December2015


INTRODUCTION
PickuptrucksarewidelyusedacrossNorthAmericaforpersonaltransportand/or
commercialpurposes.Foralargeamountoftime,thebedofthepickupmaynotbeutilized
leavingavoidbehindthecabwithalowpressurezonethathindersaerodynamicperformance.
Thedragforcesincreasetheengineloadandreducefueleconomy,whileliftforcesmaycause
lossofcontrolonslickroadsorvariousinstabilitiesathighspeeds.Itisestimatedthatnearly
21%ofthevehiclesontheroadinAmericaarepickuptrucks.[4]Ofthe2015pickuptruck
models,acrossallOriginalEquipmentManufacturers(OEM)thesetrucksonlyachievean
averagethathoversaround17mpg.[2]Thisispartlyduetoincreaseddisplacementintheengine
cylinderswhichisdifficulttooptimizeforfuelefficiencywhileachievingdesiredhorsepower
andemissions,butalsobecausepickuptruckgeometryisabluntbodywithlargerseparation
regionsthanothersmallsizedautomobiles,suchasasedanmodel.Thisstudywillanalyzethe
dragforceswithpracticalalterationsdonetothebedandtailgateinsearchofamoreefficient
pickuptruckgeometryattimeswherethebedisnotutilized.Thisstudyrevolvesonlyaroundthe
rearofthepickupsincethesefeaturesarerelativelysimilarbetweenbrandsandauniversal
solutionissoughtafter.Thealterationsdonecannothindertheuseofapickupbedasitisoneof
theprimaryusesofthevehicle.
OEMandaftermarketcompanieshavealreadybeenimplementingaerodynamicdevices
inordertomeetconsumerdemandsforamorefuelefficientvehicle.Thesedevicesincludeaero
caps,bedcaps,tailgatespoilersandtonneaucovers.EachdeviceisdescribedinFigure1.

AddOndevice Description
AeroCap

Bed
Cap/Camper
Shell

Thisdeviceformsaboattailshapeoutof
therearofthebed.Itisuncommonbutstill
availableforpurchase.Useofthebedis
limited,itmustberemovedtoloadlarge
objectssuchasafourwheeleror
refrigerator.
ThisisamorecommonformoftheAero
Capbutthedesignisfocusedonsecureand
protectedstorageratherthanaerodynamic
efficiency.Ittoomustberemovedtoload
largeobjects.Thesedevicesare
commerciallyavailableforalmostany
pickup.

Picture

Tailgate
Spoiler

Thesearelipsonthetopedgeofthe
tailgate.PopularityhasincreasedinOEM
pickuptrucksofallbrandsandtheyaddno
limitationtotheuseofthebed.Aslongas
thespoilerisshorterthanafewinchesthe
tailgateshouldstillopenwithatrailerin
tow.Thepicturesontherightshowspoilers
formedintothetailgatefromthefactoryof
thelargemanufacturers:Ford,GM,Dodge,
andToyotainorder.

Tonneaucover

Anotherverypopularitem.Thesearevinyl
coversthatstretchacrossthebedandcanbe
rolledupforfulluseofthebed.These
coversarecommerciallyavailablefor
almostanypickup.

Figure1:TableofAddOndevicesanddescriptions

Forthescopeofthisprojecttheavailableoptionswerenarroweddowntotwodevices
baseduponpracticality.Adecisionmatrix[Figure2]wasusedtoselectwhichdeviceswere
explored.Eachdevicewasgradedbasedoncost,useofthebed,overallchangeinaestheticsand
theavailabilityofresearchliterature.Thechangeinaestheticsisbasedonhowmuchofavisual

differencethedevicemakescomparedtoafactorypickup.Eachcategorywasgiven1to4points
with4beingthebest.

Device

Cost

Useofbed

Aesthetic
change

Availability
ofresearch
literature

Total

AeroCap

CamperShell 1

Tailgate
Spoiler

13

Tonneau
cover

13

Figure2:decisionmatrixusedtodecidewhichdevicestoexplore.

Basedontheresultanttotalsinthedecisionmatrixthetailgatespoilerandtonneaucoverwere
chosenforthestudy.Bothdeviceswerefurtherexploredthroughliteratureresearch.
Atailgatespoilerisessentiallyadevicethatisbeingmanufacturedintothetopofthe
tailgatetocreateamorepronouncedlip.In2009,researchconductedatCaliforniaState
Universityshowedthatbyaddingatailgatespoilerattherearofapickuptruck,theseparation
regionbehindthevehicleisdelayedwhichresultedinasmallerstaticpressuredifference
betweenthefrontandrearend.[1]Thisreductionofthepressuredifferencecreatedasmaller
formdragwhichisthemostprominentdragforceforbluffbodies.Thetailgatespoilerin
combinationwiththebumperalsoproducedareductionintotalliftforcesonthepickuptruck.It
isimportanttonotethattheresultsofthestudywerepurelybasedoncomputationalfluid
dynamics(CFD)turbulencemodellingwithatwoequation,kepsilonmethod,themostwidely
usedintheautomobileindustry.[1]
Atonneaucoverisadevicethatspansacrossthetopopeningofthepickuptruckbed,and
itisoftenanaftermarketproductthatisusedtocoverthecontentsofthebedandsomeclaim
improvementsinfueleconomy.Withtheuseofatonneaucover,theairseparationregionbehind
thecabismuchsmaller.Inthesamepapermentionedbefore,thetonneaucoverwasstudiedand
showedthatathemostprominentreductionindragcamefromtheincreaseinpressureatthe
rearofthecab.Theseparationregionwasalsoreducedattherearofthevehiclewhichwasa
resultoftheupstreameffectsfromthetonneaucover.Possiblereasonsforthiscouldbethatthe
tonneaucoverprovidesageometricchangesuchthattheairloseslesskineticenergyasitpasses
overthebedofthetruck,thusthemorekineticenergyavailableattherearofthevehicleanda
smallerseparationregionbecausethevelocitydoesnotdecreaseasmuch.Fromtheresultsofthe
study,itmentionedthatliftforcewasreducedmorethanthedragforcewhenatonneaucover
wasused.
3

Theimplicationsofhavingsimpleaddondevicestovehiclesthatmayreducedragand
liftforcesactingonapickuptruckaresignificant.Withanaverageof17mpg,ifdragreduces
engineloadatallthiswillresultinbetterfueleconomy.Improvedfuelefficiencyoverthelifeof
avehiclecouldpotentiallysavetheconsumerhundredsofdollarsatthepump,aswellas
decreasingenvironmentalimpact.Theenvironmentalimpactthatautomobileshaveonthe
environmentareamajorconcernfortheglobalenvironmentaleffortanditistheresponsibility
ofengineerstoprovidegreensolutions.Mitigatingliftforcesaddstothestabilityofthevehicle
whichcouldbetranslatedtolessaccidentsandthereforelessautomotivefatalities.Itisthe
responsibilityofengineerstomakeproductsthatareassafeascanbefortheconsumer.
OBJECTIVE
ThegoalofthisstudywastotesttheAerodynamiceffectsoftonneaucoversandtailgate
spoilersonpickuptrucks.Thesedeviceswerechosenbasedonpracticalityandaesthetic
purposesmentionedintheintroduction.Theaestheticchangesneededtobeminimalforeach
devicetocomplywithconsumerdemandforvisuallyappealingtrucks.Dragandliftcausedby
eachdeviceandacombinationofthetwowereanalyzedtofindtheaffectonfuelefficiencyand
vehiclestability.Dragreductionisimportantwithrespecttofueleconomyandliftreductionmay
causelossoftractionandvehiclecontrol.Driftanglesweretestedtoanalyzecrosswindstability
effectsthatadevicemightcause.Thisstudywasdonewithashortbedpickupwhilstalongbed
mayproducedifferentresults.
APPROACH
MethodsandBackground
Tomeasuredragandlifteffectsofeachaddondevice,experimentalfluiddynamics
(EFD)andCFDwereused.TheEFDwasdoneintheUniversityofIdahoSubsonicWindTunnel
(UIWT),whereaprobewouldbeusedtomeasuredragandliftcoefficientsforthebaseline
modelandthemodelswithaddondevices.Inordertohaveamoreholisticanalysis,driftangles
wereusedtosimulatecrosswindswhiledriving.Thedriftanglesweremeasuredinthexzplane
perpendiculartogravity(seeFigure1forcoordinatesystem)andoffofthewindtunnel
centerline.Forcontinuousdrivingconditions,oftentimesthedriftangleislessthan45degrees
sincethevehiclespeedisusuallymuchlargerthanperpendicularwindvelocity.Dueto
machiningcapabilitiesandspaceconstraintsonthemodel,aminimumdriftangleof15degrees
wasdecidedonforsimplicity.Foranintermediateangle,30degreeswaschosentoseeifthere
wereanyanomaliesthatmightoccuratthatpointhowever,itwasimmediatelyrealizedthatthe
fixturedeviceinterferedwiththemodelstiresandthuswasunusable.


Figure3:CoordinateSystemofthePickupTruck

Tocomputedragandliftcoefficientspopulartheorywasused.Fromeq(1)thedrag
coefficientcouldbecalculatedassumingthatdensityandvelocityareconstant,andknowingthe
force(bybothEFDandCFD)paralleltotheflowaswellasthecrosssectionalarea
perpendiculartotheflow.Fromeq(2)theliftcoefficientcouldbefoundbyassumingthe
planformareawastheprojectedcrosssectionalareainthexzplane,andtheliftforceinthey
directioncouldeitherbemeasured(EFD)orcomputed(CFD).
C D = U2D2A
(1)
C L = U2L2A

(2)

EFDandCFDresultsarebasedoffoftwodifferentpickuptruckmodels.FortheEFD,a
scaleddownmodelofa2015FordF150pickuptruckwasused.InCFD,agenerallyshaped
pickuptruckbodywascreatedinaSolidWorks2015.Thereasonforthedifferencesinmodelsis
duetoconvenience,andatimeconstraintthatdidntallowtheteamtorapidprototypeaphysical
modeloftheoneintheCADprogram.Despitethemodeldifferences,thelengthscalesarethe
sameinthezdirection,whichiswhatwasdeterminedtobethecharacteristiclength(L)for
calculationofReynoldsnumbers.SinceReynoldsnumbersarethesame(usingsimilarity
methodsandnondimensionalization)fromEFDtoCFD,thefreestreamvelocityusedforoneis
alsoappropriatefortheother.Seetheequationsbelowformathematicalrepresentationeqs(3)
UL
UL
Reexperiment = experiment
, Rcfd = cfd , Lexperiment = Lcfd Reexperiment = Recfd
(3)

ExperimentalWork
EFDiscrucialtounderstandingthereallifebodyforcesonanobjectsothatCFDmodels
canbecreatedthatnearlyreplicateexperimentalresults.Tostart,thebaselinemodelwassetin
thewindtunnelwiththevehicleparalleltotheflowandthenthebodyforcesweremeasured
withwindvelocitiesat72.4mph(freeway),52.2mph(highway),and27.5mph(residential).
Themodelwasthenputinthetunnelwithdriftanglesof15degrees,and45degreesandthe
bodyforcesweremeasuredateachangleandateachvelocity.Oncethebaselinemodelhadbeen
testedforeachdriftangle,anaddondevicewasattachedtothevehicleandthenthebodyforces
weremeasuredateachdriftangleandeveryvelocitytoseeifanydevicehadanoticeable
5

difference.Windtunnelvelocitywasvalidatedbytheuseofapitotstatictubeandmanometer
setupaswellaswithdigitalreadoutinstruments.Theliftanddragforcewasmeasuredbythe
windtunnelprobe,whichlikelyusesacombinationofstraingaugestomeasuretheliftanddrag
forcesonthebody.Inthepickuptruckisshownintheimagesbelowat0deg,15deg,and45
deg,respectively.

ComputationalFluidDynamics
CFDwasanimportanttooltounderstandingthestreamlinesandpossibleseparation
regionsintheflowaroundthepickupmodel.SolidWorks2015sFlowSimulationaddinwas
usedtoperformtheCFDanalysisonamodelpickuptruck.SolidWorksFlowSimulation
(SWFS)istheintegratednumericalsolverthatisusedinSolidworks.Commonpracticedictates
thatforsimplegeometriesastructuredmeshcanbeused,andforcomplexgeometriesan
unstructuredmeshcanbeused(orthecombinationofthetwocanbeused).Accordingtoanin
depthlookatthenumericalmethodsofSWFSbyateamatDassaultSystemes(creatorsof
SolidWorks),SWFSworksdifferentlyinthatithasapredefinedgridincartesiancoordinates,
wherethemodelisinsertedandthegridisoptimizedaroundtheobject.Apparentlythistypeof
gridiscriticalfornativeflowsolversinCADprograms.SWFSusestheNavierStokesequations
wheneverpossible,howeverinthecasethatthereisaturbulentflowregimeitusesthe
FavreAveragedNavierStokesequationsinwhichitsolvesfortheturbulentkineticenergyand
dissipationratewiththekepsilonturbulencemodel.ForadditionalinformationoftheCFD,
includingresolvingboundarylayersinSolidWorks,referto[5]andforasummaryoftheCFD
seeTable2.Sincetimewasaconstraintontheproject,thesimulationsutilizedarelatively
coarsegridtoallowformultiplesimulationstoberuninatimeefficientmanner.Itisworthwhile
tonotethat12processingcoreswereusedtospeedupcomputationtime.LiketheEFDanalysis,
theCFDalsopositionedthepickuptruckinthesamedriftangles,howeverthevelocitydidnot
6

vary.Aconstantvelocityof55mphwasusedforeverydriftanglesimulationandwitheachadd
ondevice.

Table2:CFDnumericalschemeandparameters

Thegridresolutionwasverycoarse,howeverthiscoarseofagridwouldallowformultiple
simulationstoruninatimeefficientmanner.ToseetheCartesiangridaroundthevehicle,see
Figure4below.

Figure4:Gridspacing

RESULTSANDDISCUSSION
ThedifferencesindragandliftcoefficientsbetweenCFDandEFDarenotdrastic,howeverthey
arenoticeable.Inthedataalone,CFDunderpredictsinmostcaseswhencomparedtothe
experimentaldata.Foragraphicalcomparisonofliftcoefficientsateveryangle,seeFigures46.

Figure4

Figure5

Figure6

Astheplotsdepict,thecoefficientofliftisreducedthemost,onaverage,bycombinationofthe
tonneaucoveratthespoilerfortheexperimentaldata.TheCFDdataforcoefficientofliftis
closelyclumpedtogetherateverydriftanglewhiletheexperimentaldatahadaratherlarge
variance.
Tobeabletographicallyrepresentthecoefficientofdragtheplotsofdragversusfree
streamvelocitywerecreatedinFigures79.

Figure7

Figure8


Figure9

ThecoefficientofdraginCFDandEFDvarysignificantlybetweenCFDandEFD.Ineverydrift
angleCFDunderpredictsthecoefficientofdragonthevehicle,withtheexceptionof0degrees
whichoverpredictsthedragcoefficient.Inordertomakethisdatamorerepresentativeand
cohesive,Figure10andFigure11showthepercentreductionthateachdevicehadonliftand
dragcoefficients.TheseplotsshowthatinbothCFDandEFDthetonneaucoverwasthebest
deviceforreducingdrag,andthecombinationofthetonneaucoverandthespoilerreducedthe
liftthemostacrossalldriftangles.Inmoregeneralterms,thecombinationtoofthetonneau
coverandthespoilerproducedmorevehiclestability,whiletheuseofjustthetonneaucovercan
improvevehiclefuelefficiency.

Tovisualizethestaticpressuredifferencesofthewakeregionbehindthethevehicle,
pressurecutplotsofthetopviewwerecreatedinSolidWorks.Thesecutplotswerepositioned
justabovethepickupbedwerethelowpressurezoneis.Thiswasdoneforthebaselinemodel
andthewiththetonneaucovershowntobethebestatreducingdragwithCFD/EFDatevery
driftangle.Thepressuredifferencesgivesomeinsightastohowthetonneaucoverdeviceworks
toincreasethestaticpressureattherearofthevehicletoimprovedragperformance.Infigure12
belowtheisolinessurroundingthelowpressurezonewithinthebedencompassalargerarea
thaninfigure13withthetonneaucoverinstalled.Thedarkerbluelowpressurezonemoves
fromthecenterofthebedtoasmallerregionrightbehindtherearwindow.Atdriftanglesof15
and45degreesthelowpressurewakeregionsabovethebedinfigure14and16arelargerthan
theregionsinfigure15and17withthetonneaucoverinstalled.

Figure10

Figure11

Figures12to17:Topviewpressurecutplots.Thepickupisfacingleftandthebedisbelowthe
plotontheright.

Figure12:Baseline0Degree

Figure13:TonneauCover0Degree

Figure14:Baseline15Degree

Figure15:TonneauCover15Degree

Figure16:Baseline45Degree

Figure17:TonneauCover45Degree

10

Tovisualizetheflowaroundthevehicle,aflowtrajectorytoolwasusedinSolidWorksto
confirmthepressuregradientsproducedvelocitychangesthatareconsistentwiththeory.Near
thefrontofthevehicle,thestagnationpointshowsadecreaseinvelocityandanincreasein
pressure.Asthepressuredecreasesupandoverthehoodthevelocityincreasesduetothe
favorablepressuregradient.Anotherfavorablepressuregradientwasasthepressuredecreased
overthewindshieldandroofofthecab.Fromthecabtothetailgate,nearlyallofthepressure
gradientswereadverseineverycase.At0degrees,theseparationswererelativelysmallin
comparisonthethe15degreeand45degreedriftanglesforeveryaddondevice.InAppendixB
imagesofeveryaddondeviceforeverydriftangleisshown.Additionally,allofthe
experimentaldatafilesareshowninAppendixA.Foradriftangleof45degrees,alargehelical
vortexwasresolvedbehindthevehiclethatwasvisuallystunning,howevernomethodswere
usedtoconfirmwhetherthatkindofvortexformationisphysical.
Therewereanumberofthingsthatcouldhavebeendonebettertocreateamore
representativeanalysis.Thewindtunnelhadanumberofuncertaintiesthatproduced
nonsensicalresultsattimes,sotrustandconsistencyinthemeasurementswasanissueinEFD.
Multipletrialsforeachdatapointandresearchintotheforcegaugeswouldcertainlyimprovethe
accuracyoftheEFDdata.TheCFDmodelhadaverycoarsegridandonlycouldbeconsidered
formeanflowcharacteristicsduepartlybecauseoftheturbulencemodelused.Abettermodel
couldbeusedtodeterminethevariousinstabilitiesofvehiclelikethekomegamethod.The
SocietyofAutomotiveengineeringwebsitehasseveralarticlesthatdiscussinhouseturbulence
modelsthatcanevenresolveshearlayerrolluponthehoodofthevehicle,andlargehelical
vorticesthattrailbehindthetruck.
Itmayhavebeenusefultouseflowvisualizationintheexperimentalstudybutthereare
severalreasonswhythatmethodwasundesirable.Thefreestreamvelocitiesandthegeometryof
thepickuptrucksbluntbodywouldbothworkagainstflowvisualizationwiththeUIWTsmoke
streambecausethehighvelocitieswouldnearinstantaneouslydissipatethesmoke.Sinceflow
patternscanchangeathighvelocities,usingaslowerfreestreamvelocitytousethesmokeflow
visualizationwouldnothavebeenrepresentativeasitwouldrequiremostlylaminarflow.
Additionally,theboundarylayercreatedbythevehicleisverylarge,soinordertodirectthe
smokeflowvisualizationthepickuptruckmodelwouldhavetobemodifiedtoallowforasmoke
streamtocomeoutofthebodyofthetrucknearthetailgate,whichwouldhavetakenmoretime
thanwhatwasgiven.
InCFD,onlyafreestreamvelocityof16.41m/swasusedforseveralreasons.Time
playedahugefactorinthescopeofourprojectsoitreallyonlyallowedtimetosimulateone
velocityateachdriftanglewitheachaddondevice.Afreestreamvelocityof23.3366m/sisthe
medianvalueoftherangeofvelocitiesthatwereexperimentallytestedbutbecausethe
differenceinlengthscales,theCFDmodelsfreestreamvelocityhadtobeadjustedausing
Reynoldssimilarity.

11


CONCLUSIONANDFUTUREWORK
ThecomparisonstudyoftheCFDofapickuptruckversustheEFDshowthatdragandliftcan
moderatelybepredictedforadriftanglethatislessthan15degrees.Thestudyshowedthatthe
tonneaucoverwasthemosteffectivedragreductiondeviceoverall,andthatthecombinationof
thetonneaucoverandthespoilerwasthemosteffectiveforreducinglift.Overall,therearesome
thingsthatneedtobeimprovedonforthisstudy,suchasthenumberofdatapointsofeach
vehiclepositionandvelocity,uncertaintiesintheUIWT,andseveralotherswhichleadsinto
workthatcanbedoneinthefuture.Possiblefutureworkincludesrefiningthegridmeshtoget
moreaccuratebodyforces,appropriatelyscalingthemodelsothatthedataismoreapplicableto
fullsizedtruckmodels,andimprovingthephysicalmodelsoftheCFDtoresolvethevortices.
Additionally,itmaybeusefultoknowtheyawmomentthatisproducedonthevehicleforhigh
crosswindsortostudy/developotheraddondevices.Itwouldalsobehelpfultoruna
parametricstudyforthesize/shapeofspoilertooptimizeliftanddrag.Thelengthofthebedisa
factoraswellandexplorationwithalongbedcouldresultinmorefindings.Somuchresearch
canbedoneoutsidethescopeofthisproject,whichiswhyitwasdifficulttonarrowthisstudy
downenoughtobeuniqueinitsownway.Timewassuchahugeconstraintthatobtainingdecent
turbulencemodelsthatresolveallthevorticeswasbeyondthescopeespeciallywiththenumber
ofsimulationsthatwererequiredforthisproject.Futureworkshouldutilizemoretraditional
CFDpracticesandprogramslikeAnsysFluent.

REFERENCES
1. Adem,FeysalA..DragReductionofPickupTruckUsingAddOnDevices,California
StateUniversity,Fall2009.Pages160.
2. "FuelEconomyof2015StandardPickupTrucks4WD."USDepartmentEnergy,2015.
Web.1Dec.2015.
<https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/byclass/Standard_Pickup_Trucks_4WD2015.shtml>.
3. Massarotti,M.R.,Valarelli,I.D,CFDAssessmentofAerodynamicEnablersforPickup
Trucks,UniversidadePaulista,November2009,Page110.
4. Schaumburg."NumberofSUV's,PickupTrucksontheRoadHoldsStrong,Accordingto
ExperianAutomotive."
PRNewswire.
1Nov.2008.Web.1Dec.2015.
5. Sobachkin,A.,andG.Dumnov."NumericalBasisofCADEmbeddedCFD."
Dessault
Systemes
.DessaultSystemes,1Feb.2014.Web.1Dec.2015.
<http://www.hawkridgesys.com/file/solidworksflowsimulation/numericalbasisofcade
mbeddedcfd.pdf>.
6. SocietyofAutomotiveEngineers.
SAE.Web.10Dec.2015.
12

APPENDIXA
ExperimentalData
Adjusteddragremovedtheforceappliedtothemountmeasuredwithoutthepickup.

APPENDIXB

0DegreeDriftAngle
Baseline

Spoiler

Tonneau

Spoiler

13

15DegreeDriftAngle
Baseline

Spoiler

Tonneau

TonneauandSpoiler

45DegreeDriftAngle
Baseline

Spoiler
14

Tonneau

TonneauandSpoiler

15