FINAL REPORT

Aerodynamic study of a simplified light commercial vehicle (LCV)

with a modified trailer design.

Course Title
Course Code

Automotive Aerodynamics
MEE364

Professor In-Charge
Slot

Yagna S Mukkamala
F1+TF1

By:
Saketh Pemmasani

14BME0283

VIT UNIVERSITY
School of Mechanical Engineering

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Aerodynamic Study of a simplified light commercial vehicle (LCV)

with a modified trailer design.
Saketh Pemmasani*
School of Mechanical Engineering, VIT University.
*Corresponding author email: saketh.pemmasani2014@vit.ac.in

Abstract
Aerodynamic drag reduction in light commercial vehicles (LCV) plays a prominent role in reducing
fuel consumption. Many light commercial vehicles are usually considered aerodynamically inefficient
compared to other passenger cars due to their un-streamlined body shapes. A typical light commercial
vehicle travelling at 100 km/h consumes about approximately 25-35% of the total fuel to provide
power to overcome the aerodynamic drag. Every LCV contains multiple hotspots for drag increase.
Through this paper, one of the many such hotspots- the LCVs trailer is studied for its effect on increase
in the drag forces. In this study, the effects due to change in profile of LCV-trailer on aerodynamic
drag is dealt. This paper shall also analyse the influence of trailer design on flow structure which may
provide insight into how the trailers geometry can be optimized to reduce aerodynamic noise.
Aerodynamic noise is a major setback to ride comfort at higher speeds, even while maintaining lower
drag. At speeds over 80 km/h, the increase in aerodynamic noise is proportional to the order of V6, as
compared to the increase in other noises which is proportional to the order of V1-V3, where V is the
speed of the vehicle. The main goal of this study is to reduce the drag experienced on the LCV which
further is expected to decrease the wind noise. The aerodynamic drags on the trailer of simplified LCV
including different external trailer attachments (i.e., side skirting, trailer underbody devices and gap
filling, etc.) are to be estimated for the vehicle operating at high speeds. The methodology consists of
modelling a full scale simplified LCV (both unmodified and modified design) in SolidWorks 2016,
modifying the same in ANSYS Design Modeller and then performing CFD Analysis of the same in
ANSYS Fluent. This is followed by a refined mesh generation using ANSYS Meshing Software. Then
the models are analysed using ANSYS Fluent. Various contours are generated in order to visually
compare the results. Similarly, a general trend of increase in sound pressure levels with increasing drag
is expected. It may also be understood that velocity is directly proportional to sound pressure levels.
Finally, an optimised design of a LCV is expected with minimum contribution of drag from its trailer.
A comparatively comfortable ride with respect to aerodynamic noise generated by the trailer at higher
speeds is also expected.

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Introduction:
Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) are the commercial carrier vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of
not more than 3.5 tonnes. The demand for LCVs is increasing appreciably in the recent times due to
many reasons, one of which is increasing trend of home-delivered products encouraged by start-up
culture. Till date, not much research is done on improving the aerodynamics of these vehicles, as they
were only used in heavy traffic zones. But the practise is now changed, LCVs are also used for
transporting goods over longer distances. Improving the fuel economy and reducing aerodynamic noise
at higher speeds by modifying the aerodynamic design of a LCV is therefore one of the potential area
of research interest. Light commercial vehicles are considered aerodynamically inefficient compared
to other passenger vehicles due to their un-streamlined body shapes. A typical light commercial vehicle
travelling at 100 km/h consumes about approximately 30% of the total fuel to provide power to
overcome the aerodynamic drag [1]. In contrast, a passenger car under the same driving conditions,
consumes approximately two times less to overcome drag. Therefore, any reduction of aerodynamic
drag will result in appreciable fuel savings and reduction of greenhouse gas emission [2].
At high speeds, wind noises becomes more pronounced, making it difficult to hear or converse inside
the cabin, even causing fatigue failure of vehicle components over long periods. At speeds over 80
km/h, the increase in aerodynamic noise is proportional to the order of V6, as compared to the increase
in other noises which is proportional to the order of V1-V3, where V is the speed of the vehicle [3]. This
noise originates from sources at various parts of the vehicle, at different intensities that depend on the
external shape of the vehicle. Therefore, it can be predicted that the trailer component of a LCV has a
significant contribution in the wind noise generation. Therefore any modification to the trailer reducing
the drag would also positively influence the wind noise as there exists an approximately direct
correlation between drag coefficient and sound pressure levels [3].

A typical Light Commercial Vehicle (TATA ACE)

[1] Schoon, R. E., 2007. On-road Evaluation of Devices to Reduce Heavy Truck Aerodynamic Drag. SAE Publication, SAE Paper No. 2007-01-4294.
[2] Snyder, R. H., 1997. Tire Rolling Losses and Fuel Economy. SAE Special Publication, SAE Paper No.74.
[3] Rajkumar Vishnu Ganesh, Yagnavalkya Mukkamala , Karan Raul Viegas, S. Venkatraghavan Computational Aero-acoustic Analysis of a
Simplified Vehicle Model at Various Rear Slant angles ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 10, Number 23 (2015)

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Literature Survey:
Harun Chowdhury et al. [1] measured aerodynamic drags on the baseline vehicle including different
external attachments (i.e., front faring, side skirting and gap filling) for a range of vehicle operating
speeds and yaw angles, and with different combinations. The results show that these external
attachments (fairing and covering) have notable impact on aerodynamic drag as they can reduce up to
around 26% aerodynamic drag over the baseline model depending on cross wind effects. The fullskirting (using the front fairing, side skirting and gap filling) has maximum impact whereas only front
fairing has minimum impact on aerodynamic drag reduction. They suggested that the semi-trailer truck
with maximum amount of surface area covered can enhance the drag reduction performance.
Yagnavalkya Mukkamala et al. [2] investigated the influence of rear slant angle on flow structure by
performing a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis on a simplified vehicle model (Ahmed
body). A general trend of increase in sound pressure levels with increasing drag was found. It was also
understood that velocity was directly proportional to sound pressure levels in accordance with
expectations. They also suggested that further improvements on the bluff body could include
introducing a rough surface near the A and C Pillar regions to break the vortex shedding patterns, this
could reduce both the drag as well as the acoustic signature.
Subrata Roy et al. [3] used a fully three-dimensional near field flow analysis to understand the airflow
characteristics surrounding the truck-like bluff body. The unsteady flow distribution is calculated by
solving the Navier-Stokes equation with a two-equation (k-) turbulence closure model. Their results
involved a crosswind of 30 mph showed that for an improved aerodynamic design with modified trailer
over 30% drag reduction is achieved as compared to unmodified design. Corresponding estimated fuel
savings is nearly 35%.
Marco Lanfrit [4] suggested recommendations to perform simulations in the field of automotive
external aerodynamics using the CFD software package FLUENT. The surface mesh must be as
smooth as possible to allow prism layers to be extruded from the surface of the car. The dimensions of
the computational domain should be at least 3 car lengths in front of the car, and 5 lengths behind. The
displacement of the car should be not greater than 1-1.5% of the total cross sectional area. The
Realizable k- Model is proposed which was intended to address the well-known deficiencies of
traditional k- Models by adopting a new eddy-viscosity formula involving a variable for Cmu
originally proposed by Reynolds and a new model equation for dissipation based on the dynamic
equation of the mean square vorticity fluctuation.
P.E. Waters [5] described about the sources of noise on the vehicle and it is shown how the
characteristics of these sources determine the overall noise characteristics of the vehicle. Empirical
relationships between the tyre noise and speed, tyre size and road surface roughness are given. They
concluded that tyre noise is generated by impacting between elements of the tyre tread and elements
of the road surface. They implicated that the cab noise has been found to originate from the same
source as the exterior noise, power unit airborne noise.
Lokhande et al. [6] have suggested that k- turbulence model be used for aerodynamic characteristics
and LES turbulence model be used for the analysis of aero-acoustic characteristics.
Chaitanya Chilbule et al. [7] made aerodynamic modifications to the basic truck-trailer and discovered
that they lead to a reduction in drag by 21 %, which is equivalent to a reduction in drag force from 23
kN to 18.14 kN. Further they concluded that this leads to an improvement in fuel economy of around
4.2 litres per 100 km at an average speed of 30 m/s of the truck-trailer.
Mahmoud Khaled et al. [8] reported the aerodynamic force measurements on a simplified vehicle
model. The results show configurations in which the overall drag coefficient can be decreased by 2%,
the aerodynamic cooling drag coefficient by more than 50% and the lift coefficient by 5%.

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Methodology

Description of
Governing
Equations and
Boundary
Conditions.

Geometry
description of
a simplified
LCV (with and
without
modifications)

Modelling of
unmodified
and modified
simplified
LCV design
using
SolidWorks
2016.

Mesh
Generation
using ANSYS
Mesh.

CFD Solver
Setup in
ANSYS
Fluent 15.0
using
realisable k-
method.

Results,
Discussions
and
Conclusions.

[I] Governing Equations

The governing equation consists of continuity and momentum equation in the two dimension form
with transient term as the flow is considered to be no steady state. The equations are as follows,
1) The Transport equations for realisable k- method,

2) The Naiver Stokes Equations for conservation of mass, momentum and energy are

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[II] Boundary Conditions

The boundary conditions are decided based on the real world applications of the vehicle. Practically,
these vehicles travel at speeds not greater than 120 kmph (~33.33 m/s). But in order to study the
designed vehicles response at higher speed, and drag effects more effectively a speed of 38 m/s is
used at velocity inlet.
S. No
1

Parameter
Velocity

Value
38

Unit
m/s

Description
Initially, constant laminar flow velocity is induced
through the forward plane of air.
2
Pressure
101325
Pa
The vehicle is considered to remain in one
atmosphere pressure surroundings.
3
3
Density
1.225
kg/m
Constant density air is assumed to fill throughout
the surroundings.
4
Viscosity
1.7894e-05 kg/m-s
Constant viscosity of air is maintained throughout
the surroundings.
All the presumed walls in the analysis are given No Slip shear condition.

[III] Geometry Description

The modelling draft of basic (unmodified) simplified and modified LCV trailer have been done in
SolidWorks 2016. The unmodified LCV design dimensions are taken from that of TATA Ace which
is shown as follows,

Here, the tires are assumed to be cylindrical as suggested in the design of Ahmed body.

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[IV] 3-D Modelling

The modelling of modified as well as unmodified TATA Ace is carried out using SolidWorks 2016.
Isometric views of both the designs are as follows,

Simplified unmodified LCV design

Simplified modified LCV Design

[V] Mesh Generation

After 3-D modelling the domain is discretized with the help of meshing software ANSYS Workbench.
Meshing software use different algorithms for different types of mesh generation. A 3-D Mesh is
generated for the vehicle and its surroundings following the guidelines as mentioned in [4]. The main
guidelines were to maintain computer controlled tetrahedron inflation layer of at least 5 for meshing
the road and interior of the vehicle. After thorough meshing following these guidelines, number of
nodes and elements generated are 282,946 & 1,193,062 respectively for unmodified design and
231,309 & 1,198,017 respectively for modified design.

The above image shows the mesh generated around the unmodified LCV after refinements.

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[VI] Solver Setup

The solver to be used is Fluent 15.0. The initial assumptions made include steady and incompressible
flow. The realisable k- method is to be used to analyse the flow around the simplified vehicle. In this
method, wall functions are employed which include turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent dissipation
principles. This method is being employed because it is robust for a wide range of models and requires
reduced wall mesh requirements (3 to 5 mesh enhancement layers), hence ideal for academic purposes.
The solution method used is Pressure-Velocity coupling with spatial discretisation in second order
upwind equation form. The flow courant number was set at 50 as prescribed in [4]. Iterations as many
as 300 were used to get accurate results.

[VII] Results
CFD analysis of flow over the LCV is carried for speed of 38 m/s for the both the unmodified model
and modified model. Results are obtained and graphs are plotted as follows for 300 iterations:

Co-efficient of drag always depends on shape of the vehicle body. In this study, shape of the vehicle
is modified by adding a wind deflector on the drivers cabin and providing mini skirts at the sides.
From the above graphs, it can be observed that Cd for the modified vehicle is 2.934 which is lower,
compared to 3.458 of unmodified trailer design.

The above displayed plots reveal that the unmodified design offered negative lift coefficient of
around 0.081 while the modified design offered positive lift coefficient 0.058.

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Static Pressure Contours

Unmodified model has no wind deflector; hence more air flow impinges on frontal area normally
which leads to rise in pressure. For modified model, even though frontal area remains the same, the
smooth transition of the flow by the deflector results in lower pressure increment. This raises the
velocity of air and lowers the pressure by distributing it throughout the deflector. As expected for both
the models, more pressure is developed at the stagnation region.

Static Pressure Contours shown for the unmodified LCV design

Static Pressure Contours shown for the modified LCV design

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Total Pressure contours along the symmetry

Addition of wind deflector and rounding edges at the front surface accelerates the air flow and
discourages boundary layer separation. Therefore, it can observed that more wake region is formed in
unmodified case than modified model.

Velocity Contours
More velocity of air is observed for modified model near the cutting out section of LCV trailer. Also
more velocity is observed for model below the stagnation point, air gets accelerate near that point.

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Velocity Path lines

Two major vortices are observed to form for both the designs, as expected.

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[VIII] Conclusion
To improve the aerodynamic performance of the light commercial vehicle (Tata Ace), an attempt is
made to modify the design of its trailer design. Comparative study is done on two simplified vehicle
models by carrying out CFD Analysis. Addition of wind deflector and miniskirts are the modifications
done to the now prevailing design. Drag co-efficient is found to get reduced from 3.458 for the standard
race car to 2.934 for the modified car with the modifications incorporated, whereas coefficient of lift
is changed from negative 0.081 for standard vehicle to positive 0.058 for the modified model. The
pressure above drivers cabin found to be reduced for the modified light commercial vehicle design
due to provision of smooth flow of air through wind deflector, where flow remains attached and helps
to decrease the drag. Thus overall gauge pressure above drivers cabin region is reduced from around
800 Pa to around 300 Pa for the modified car with wind deflector. Therefore, the modified light
commercial vehicle is more efficient in terms of fuel economy and aerodynamic noise as the drag
forces acting on it are around 15 % less as compared to standard design.

References:
1) Harun Chowdhury, Hazim Moria, Abdulkadir Ali, Iftekhar Khan, Firoz Alam and Simon Watkins A
study on aerodynamic drag of a semi-trailer truck. Procedia Engineering 56 ( 2013 ) 201 205
2) Rajkumar Vishnu Ganesh, Yagnavalkya Mukkamala , Karan Raul Viegas, S. Venkatraghavan
Computational Aero-acoustic Analysis of a Simplified Vehicle Model at Various Rear Slant angles
ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 10, Number 23 (2015)
3) Subrata Roy and Pradeep Srinivasan External Flow Analysis of a Truck for Drag Reduction SAE 200001-3500
4) Marco Lanfrit Best practice guidelines for handling Automotive External Aerodynamics with FLUENT.
5) P.E. Waters Commercial road vehicle noise.
6) B. Lokhande, S. Sovani, J. Xu, Computational Aeroacoustic Analysis of a Generic Side View Mirror,
SAE 2003-01-1698, 2003.
7) Chaitanya Chilbule , Awadhesh Upadhyay , Yagna Mukkamala. Analysing the profile modification of
truck-trailer to prune the aerodynamic drag and its repercussion on fuel consumption. Procedia
Engineering 97 ( 2014 ) 1208 1219
8) Mahmoud Khaled, Hicham El Hage, Fabien Harambat and Hassan Peerhossaini Some innovative
concepts for car drag reduction: A parametric analysis of aerodynamic forces on a simplified body.
9) Understanding the Turbulence Models available in Autodesk Simulation CFD.
Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf2iVABc8cg
10) Modeling Turbulent Flows
URL:http://www.southampton.ac.uk/~nwb/lectures/GoodPracticeCFD/Articles/Turbulence_Notes_Fl
uent-v6.3.06.pdf