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In2011,TransportCanadasecoTECHNOLOGYforVehiclesprogramaskedtheNationalResearchCouncil(NRC)toundertakea
literaturereviewtoassessvariousaerodynamicdragreductiontechnologiesforheavydutyvehicles.Theliteraturereviewevaluates
thefuelconsumptionandGHGreductionpotentialofaerodynamicenhancementdevicesfortractortrailercombinationsand
intercitybusses.

ThereportservestoaidinidentifyingpotentialknowledgegapsabouttheperformanceofthesedevicesinCanada.The
recommendationsincludedinthereportbytheNRCarefordeliberativepurposesonly,anddonotnecessarilyreflectTransport
Canadaspositionorviewsinthesubject.

Thefullreport,ReviewofAerodynamicDragReductionDevicesforHeavyTrucksandBuses
(/media/documents/programs/AERODYNAMICS_REPORTMAY_2012.pdf)(PDF,2.06MB),isavailableasaPDF.

TechnicalReport

Copyright2012.ThisdocumentcontainsconfidentialinformationthatisproprietarytoNRCsCentreforSurfaceTransportation
Technology.Nopartofitscontentsmaybeused,copied,disclosedorconveyedtoanypartyinanymanner,inwholeorinpart,
whatsoeverwithoutpriorwrittenpermissionfromNRCsCentreforSurfaceTransportationTechnology.

ExecutiveSummary
Thepurposeofthisstudyistobetterunderstandwhattechnologiesorpracticescanbeappliedtohighwaytractorandtrailer
combinationsandhighwaymotorcoachbusestoreduceaerodynamicdragwithoutnegativelyaffectingtheusefulnessorprofitability
ofthevehicles.Additionally,itisofinteresttodeterminehowthesedevicesmayaffectothervehiclesandvulnerableroadusersin
closeproximitytothetractortrailersorbuses.

Pertinentinformationrelatingtodragreductionwasextractedfromsourcesandsummarizedinthisreport.Ingeneral,theauthors
attemptedtoexplaineachtechnologyorproductandpresentorcalculatetheexpectedpotentialreductionindragcoefficientfora
typicalhighwayvehicle.Whereapplicable,anybarrierstoentrywithintheCanadiantruckingcommunitywereexplainedtoseparate
thosetechnologieswhichcouldlikelybeusedtothosethatwouldlikelynevergainwidespreadacceptanceduetooperational
barriers

General
Forheavyvehiclessuchastractortrailercombinationsandbuses,pressuredragisthedominantcomponentduetothelarge
surfacesfacingthemainflowdirectionandduetothelargewakeresultingfromthebluntnessofthebackendofsuchvehicles.
Althoughfrictiondragoccursalongtheexternalsurfacesofheavyvehicles,particularlyalongthesidesandtopofbusesandtrailers,
itscontributiontooveralldragissmall(10%orless)andisnotastrongcandidatefordragreductiontechnologies.

Forheavydutyvehicles,suchastractortrailercombinations,thedragcoefficientincreasessignificantlywithyawangle.

IncoldCanadianclimates,theaerodynamicdraginwintercanbenearly20%greaterthanatstandardconditions,duetothe
ambientairdensity.Forhighwaytractortrailersandintercitybuses,thisresultsinabouta10%increaseinfuelconsumptionfrom
dragwhencomparedtothereferencetemperature,furtheremphasizingtheimportanceofaerodynamicdragreductionstrategiesfor
theCanadianclimate.

LongCombinationVehicles
TheresultsofonestudyindicatedthatanLCVsdragcoefficientwhilepullingtwotrailerscanbeaslittleas0.05higherthana
conventionalvehiclepullingonetrailerat0degwindyawangle.Thisnumberincreasesto0.13higheratayawangleof5degrees.
Therefore,addingasecondtrailertoformanLCV,andthusdoublingthefreightcapacity,resultsinaverymodestincreaseindrag
coefficientofapproximately10%atzeroyawanglesand22%atfivedegreeyawangleswhencomparedtothesingletrailer
vehicle.Orputinotherterms,thedragcoefficientonanLCVisonlymarginallymorethanhalfofthesumofthedragonthetwo
vehiclesitreplaceswhenwindanglesareatzerodegrees.

Asvehiclelengthincreases,thepercentagecontributiontooveralldragfromfrictiondragrisesslightlysincethereissomuchmore
planarsurfacealignedwiththewind,yetthebluntfrontfaceofthevehicleremainsunchanged.Astudyconcludedthatthe
percentagecontributionofpressuredragonthebaselinevehiclewas93.3%whereasthecontributionofpressuredragontheLCV
was91.7%.Thesignificanceofthisisthatasvehiclelengthincreases,strategiestoreducefrictiondragbecomemoreeffectivein
reducingfuelconsumption.However,itisclearlystillmorebeneficialtoreducepressuredrag,regardlessofvehicleconfiguration.
Theauthorsofonestudyconcludedthatsomevehiclecombinationscanshowanincreaseof40%infrictiondragwithonlya
correspondingincreaseof8%inpressuredrag.However,thisisstill40%ofaverysmallnumber,and8%ofaverylargenumber
butthefactremainsthatincreasingvehiclelengthincreasestherelevanceoffrictionaldragreductionstrategiesandhasmuchless
effectonpressuredrag.

Thesizeofthegapbetweentheleadandtrailingtrailerplaysasignificantroleintheamountofdragexperiencedbythe
combinationvehicle,particularlyathigheryawangles.

ItisestimatedthatoneLCVwouldburnapproximately23,200fewerlitresoffuelwhencomparedtotwoconventionalvehicles,
assuminganannualdistanceof100,000kmathighwaycruisingspeeds.

LargereductionsinpressuredragcanbeachievedbyusingLCVsandthesereductionsarewelldocumentedandunderstoodusing
Europeanvehicleswithfixedyawangles.However,thereareverylittledatapertainingtoNorthAmericanLCVsexperiencing
variablewindyawanglescorrespondingtoayearlywindaverageddrag.Windtunneltestingcouldbeusedtoquantifythedrag
reductionofaNorthAmericantypeLCVtakingwindaverageddragintoconsideration.

TherearestillopportunitiesforincrementaldecreasesonLCVdrag.FurtherstudycouldbeperformedonCanadianLCVstobetter
understandtherelationshipbetweengapsizeanddragtodemonstrateifdevicesthatarecurrentlydesignedtobeinstalledinthe
gapbetweenconventionaltractorsandtrailerscouldalsobeusedbetweenthetwotrailersofanLCV.Andifso,whatconfiguration
wouldbebestsuitedtooptimizedragreductionbetweenthetwotrailersofanLCV.Thisstudycouldbeperformedatbothgapsto
quantifytheincrementaleffectofaddondevices,comparedtothelargereductionsthatareachievedviatheremovalofoneofthe
tractors.Ideally,astudycouldbeconductedwherebyavarietyofgapfillers,sideskirtsandboattailsaresequentiallyaddedtothe
LCVinordertodetermineiftheeffectsofthesedevicesonLCVsissimilartotheireffectonconventionalvehicles.

CameraMirrors
CanadianMotorVehiculeSafetyStandards(CMVSS)compliantmirrorsareresponsibleforapproximately2%oftheoveralldragon
aconventionaltractorandtrailer.Astudyconcludedthatifatractorstwosidemirrorswereremoved,thetractorwouldburn938
fewerlitresoffuelannuallybasedoncurrentfleetwideaveragefuelconsumptionvalues.Somemanufacturersarecurrently
designingprototypevehiclesthatuserearfacingcamerasandincabvideoscreensthatreplacethesideviewmirrors.However,
thesesystemscannotbeusedindependentlywithoutmirrors,underthecurrentCMVSSregulations.

AcursoryreviewofinservicetractorsinOntarioconfirmedthatdriversarecurrentlyaccustomedtousingmirrorsthatarenearly
threetimeslargerthanwhatisrequiredunderCMVSSregulations.Therefore,itisnotlikelythatreducingtheminimumamountof
glassrequiredunderCMVSSwouldresultinanydragsavingssincemostdriverswouldbereluctanttoreducetheirfieldofvision
fromwhattheyarecurrentlyusing.

Sideviewmirrorsareconsideredfailsafedevices.Replacingsideviewmirrorswithrearviewcameraswillmostcertainlyreduce
themeantimebetweenfailure(MTBF)ofthetractorsandcouldfailwhenadrivermustquicklyassessthetrafficsituationintheleft
handlane.However,furtherworkwouldberequiredtocomparetheMTBFofconventionalmirrorsversustheMTBFofacamera
system.
Somedriversmayrequiremoretimetoadjusttotheconceptoflookingtotherightintoavideoscreen,ratherthanlookingleftand
rightintomirrors,particularlywhenrequiredtodosointheeventofanemergencylanechange.

Thedragreductionpotentialofremovingthesideviewmirrorsisunderstood,quantifiedandwelldocumentedbylabtesting
thereforetherewouldlikelybelittlebenefittoreproducingthosetests.However,thereseemstobelittledocumentedtestingwith
regardstotheperformanceandreliabilityofrearcamerasanddriveracceptanceoftheiruse.IfthisisanareaTransportCanada
wishestopursue,NRCrecommendsdevelopingastudytodeterminethebenefitsanddrawbacksofsideviewmirrorreplacement
foraspectsotherthanthewellknownaerodynamicbenefits.Thesewouldinclude,reliabilityandmaintainability,theweightofthe
addeddevices,theneedforredundancy,thespeedatwhichthedriverscanviewobjectsintheleftlane,anddriveracceptance,
particularlyforthosedriverswhohavebeenusingmirrorsformanyyears.Ifitwasdeterminedthatsideviewmirrorscouldbe
removedwithoutanynegativesafetysideeffects,itwouldbeworthwhiletoinvestigateapilotprojecttobetterunderstandthe
potentialfuelsavingsaswellasanyunforeseenlogisticalissuesunderactualrevenuedrivingconditions.

Thebenefitsofinfraredcamerascouldalsobestudiedtodetermineiftheycouldbecombinedwithcameramirrorstoenhancethe
visionofthedriversduringinclementweatheroriftheywouldbemoreofadistractionthanausefuldevice.

Platooning
Severalresearchstudieshavedemonstratedthatplatoonscanbeeffectiveatreducingthedragonallofthevehiclesintheplatoon,
eventheleadvehicles.However,thelargestreductionindragoccursforthevehiclesbetweenthefirstandlastvehicle.Itis
estimatedthatvehiclesinaplatooncouldexperiencebetweena9%and25%reductioninfuelconsumption,dependingonspacing,
vehiclespeed,vehiclepositionandvehiclemass.

Itisclearthatplatooningrequiressignificantchangestotheroadinfrastructureandwouldalsorequireasignificantchangeindriving
behaviourfordriversinothervehicleswhoaresurroundingtheplatoonbutnotactuallyintheplatoon.

Althoughplatooningappearstohaveagreatpotentialtoreduceaerodynamicdragitdoesnotappeartobeapracticalsolutionto
CanadiantruckinginthenearfutureduetothesizeofCanadasroadnetworkandtheimmaturestatusofthetechnology.Thereare
toomanylogisticalandinfrastructurebarriersthatmustbeovercometomakethisaviableconceptforthenearfuture.Evenif
technologycouldallowtwoormoreheavyvehiclestobeelectronicallyconnected,thelogisticsofintegratingthesevehiclesinto
existingtrafficflowswouldprovetobeextremelydifficult.FurthertestingandunderstandingoftherecentlyadoptedLCVswouldbe
amorepracticalapproachtomultivehicleaerodynamicreductionsuntilplatooninghasbeenperfectedinsmallercountriesin
Europe.

Itwouldappearthatmanyoftheresearchstudiesfocusedonvehiclesthatwerelighterthantypicalheavyvehiclesfoundin
Canada.Theresultsofplatooningcanbemorefavourablewhenusinglightervehiclessinceahigherpercentageoffuel
consumptioncanbeattributedtoaerodynamiceffects.TheeffectsofplatooningwithvehiclesloadedtothemaximumCanadian
legalweightwouldprovidemoreusefulinformationaboutthepotentialforplatooningonCanadianroads.

GiventhecomplexityofplatooningandtherelativesimplicityofLCVs,itwouldbeusefultoquantifythedifferencesinfuel
consumptionreductionfromvehiclesinaplatoonversusanLCV.
ThestudycouldbeginbycomparinganLCVagainstatwovehicleplatoonandthenagainstplatoonswithincreasinglyhigher
numbersofvehicles.

TractorandTraileraddonDevices
Trailersandtractorsarenotalwaysownedbythesameoperatorsthereforetheremaybereluctanceonthepartoftrailerownersto
payfordevicesthatwillbenefitthetractorowners.

Theresultsofaerodynamictestingonheavydutyfrontbumpershavebeenscatteredwithsomeresultsshowingmodestreductions
andsomeshowingmodestincreasesinfuelconsumption.Similarly,modestaerodynamicimprovementsmaybeachievedwiththe
useofwheelcoversandslottedmudflaps.

Superhydrophobiccoatingscouldbeusedtoreducethelikelihoodthatwaterandicecouldbuilduponatrailer.However,this
technologyremainslargelyuntestedonroadvehicles.

Basebleedinghasbeenshowntoreducedraginlaboratorysettings,however,theneedforelectricaldevices(whichthenbecome
anelectricaldrainonthechargingsystemandthusaparasiticlosstotheengine)toprovideairflowandtheneedtotunetheducting
ofpassivesystemsmakesbasebleedingamuchlesspracticalalternativetodragreduction.

Cabunderbodytreatmentshavebeenshowntodecreasetheaerodynamicdragoftractors,however,testingshouldbeperformed
usingarollingroadtypewindtunneltoquantitytheseeffects.

Ithasbeenshownthatthetractortrailergapbeginstohaveasignificantimpactonvehicledragonceitisgreaterthanabout0.45m,
withthedragincreasingbyabout2%forevery0.25mofincreasedgapbeyondapproximately0.75m.Researchhassuggested
thatbycompletelyaddressingthetractortrailergapissue,dragsavingsontheorderofabout6%couldbeachievedforatypical
tractortrailer.Thiswouldamounttoanapproximate3%improvementinfuelconsumptionat98km/h(60mph).Atleastone
manufacturerisdevelopingatractorfifthwheelthatwouldmovelongitudinallytoeffectivelyreducethetractortrailergapathigh
speed.

Severalmanufacturershavecommercialproductsforthegapregionsonthemarkettodaythatclaimfuelsavingsontheorderof
2%.Thepercentagesavingsare,however,highlydependentofthetestprocedurechosen,includinginitialtractortrailergapsize,
andtestspeed.

Numerousacademicstudieshaveinvestigatedthepotentialfuelsavingeffectsoftractortrailergapdevices.Itis,however,
appropriatetofirstinvestigatethetheoreticalmaximumbenefitofcompletelyclosingthegap.Studieshavesuggestedthattheupper
limitofaerodynamicimprovementexpectedwasintherangeofa7%dragreduction.Atatypicalspeedof55mph,thiswould
translatetoanapproximate3.5%fuelsaving.

Recently,Mercedesintroducedaconcepttrailerthatisreportedtoprovidean18%reductionindragforafullEuropeantractor
trailercombination(consistofacabovertractor).

Sideskirtsareusedtopreventairflowfromenteringtheundertrailerregion.Inrecentyears,thesehavebeenwidelyadoptedand
arecommonlyobservedonmanytrailers.Fuelconsumptionreductionsontheorderof37%havebeenreported.

Sideunderbodyboxeshavealsobeenshowntoreducedragbyasmuchas10%to15%andcanbeusedtostoreequipmentthat
wouldnormallybestrappedtotheoutsideofthetractorortheundersideofthetrailer.Sideunderbodyboxescouldalsobeusedin
placeoftraditionalsideguards.However,theyaddweighttothetrailerandcouldalsoaffectthebreakoverangleastrailerspass
overrailroadtracksandotherobstacles.

Windtunnelandroadtestshavedemonstratedthataboattailwithalengthof24to32inchesisoptimalfordragreductionpurposes
andtypicallengthrestrictions.Aswithsideskirts,theinteractionofboattailswithotherdevicesisimportantforoptimization.

Currently,limitedevidenceexistsinpeerreviewedscientificsourcestoindicatethatvortexgeneratorshaveasignificantimpacton
fuelsavingsforheavyvehicles.

Retractabletrailers(i.e.trailerswhoseheightreducesbyawidemargin)arebeingprototypedinCanadabuttestinghasyettobe
performedtoquantifythepotentialfordragreduction.

Aerotractormodelsprovideareductioninaerodynamicdrag,overtheclassicstyle,ontheorderof30%.Thisisaccomplished
primarilythroughroundingofthefrontsurfaces,theuseofroofairdeflectors,andtheuseoffairingsoverthefueltanksbetweenthe
steeringaxleandthedriveaxles.

Itissuggestedthatallthetractorandtraileraddondevicesdescribedinthisreportcouldbeworthycandidatesforfurtherstudywith
theexceptionofthebasebleeddevicesandactiveflowcontroltechnologies.Furthermore,anintegratedstudyofallthedevices
couldbemadetoensurethattheaerodynamicgainsofonedevicedoesnotreducetheaerodynamicperformanceofanotherdevice
installeddownstreamonthevehicle.

Thesuggestedprocesswouldinvolvescaledwindtunneltestsinvolvingthesequentialadditionofeachdeviceuntilthevehiclewas
equippedwithalloftheabovementioneddevices.Followingthatpreliminarystage,fullscaleprototypescouldbedevelopedand
testedinrealworlddrivingsituations,orcontrolledtracktesting.Applicationtodifferenttrailertypes(dryvan,tanker,flatbedwith
andwithoutrepresentativecargo)shouldalsobeevaluatedtoidentifythebenefitstotheoveralltransportationindustry.

Inordertobestservethetruckingcommunity,andmeetoverallfuelconsumptionimprovementgoals,itissuggestedthateffortbe
focusedmoreondevelopingtractorbaseddragreductionsolutions.Thatsaid,thereisstillastrongbenefittotrailerbaseddevices
suchassideskirtsandboattailsduetotheirdemonstrateddragreductionpotentials.

Inanyofthesefuturestudies,theapproachshouldfirstbetounderstandtheoperationalconcernsandbarrierstocommercialentry,
priortoundertakinganyaerodynamicexperimentationorsimulation.

AerodynamicDevicesforBuses
Theapplicabilityofaerodynamicaddondevicesforuseonlonghaulintercitymotorcoachbuseshasbeenlesswellstudiedthan
thoseofclass8tractortrailers.TheNorthAmericanbusfleetismuchsmallerthanthetractorfleetandconsequently,theannual
fuelconsumptionandGHGemissionsbyintercitybusesaresignificantlylower.

Atypicalhighwaycoachexhibitsanumberofaerodynamicadvantagesoveraclass8tractortrailer:thereisnotractortrailergap
thebodycomeslowertothegroundeffectivelyincorporatingsideskirtsandaflatfrontendeliminatesthemultipleaerodynamic
discontinuitiestypicallycausedbyradiatorhood,hoodwindscreenandwindscreenfairinglocations.Consequently,astocklong
haulhighwaycoachmayhaveaCDaslowas0.384.

Byvirtueofitslowerratioofrollingtoaerodynamicresistance(thedragdensityparameter),theaerodynamiclossesofanintercity
busoutweighthemechanicallossesatasignificantlylowervehiclespeedthanforatractortrailer.Foragivenpercentreductionin
dragcoefficient,thenetpercentreductioninfuelconsumptionislargerforabusthanitisforatractortrailer.
Thedominantcontributiontotheaerodynamicdragofanintercitybusisthepressuredifferentialbetweentheforwardand
rearwardfacingsurfacesofthebody,withaminimalcontributionfromskinfriction.

About60to70percentofthetotalwindaverageddragofabusisattributedtopressureloadsactingonthevehicleforebody,
makingittheprincipalareafordragreductionstrategies.Byfarthemostefficientmethodofreducingforebodydragistominimize
flowseparationbycombiningtheroundingoftheforwardcorners(sidesandtop)withthetaperingoftheforebody.

Underbodyaerodynamicsisbecomingincreasinglyimportant,inthequesttoreducefuelconsumptionofsurfacevehicles.Wind
tunneltestsshowedadragreductionreachingaboutCD0.012,asaresultoftheunderbodypanels.Inaddition,itwasfound
thatstreamliningthewheelswithhubcoversfurtherreducedCDby0.022.Althoughtheundersidesofbusesarealreadyquite
aerodynamicallyclean,researchcouldbeconductedtoinvestigatechannelingtheunderbodyflowtowardsthevehiclerearend.
AirmustbedivertedintotheengineforcoolingpurposesandthiscanbeasignificantBusundersideswithminimalobstructioncould
providetheopportunitytoutilisethekineticenergyoftheflowtoenhancetheefficiencyofenginecooling(partialRAMeffect),and/or
directthischanneledflowintothewakeregion.

Finally,anareaofpossibleaerodynamicbenefitisbyreprofilingtheroofline.Ascoachbusesdonothavethesamecargocapacity
constraints,itisbelievedthattherearrooflinecouldbemodifiedwithminimalimpacttopassengercomfort.Operationalissues
shouldnotbeaconcern.

Giventhesecrecycharacterizingthebusindustry,itisclearthattheoptimizationprocesstakingintoconsiderationaerodynamic
performanceobjectivesandoperationalconstraintswouldremaintheresponsibilityoftheCanadianbusmanufacturers.Inthis
respect,andoutsidethescopeofthisprogram,theNRCandTransportCanadacouldcontribute,uponclientrequest,tothis
processasanadvisorprovidingaerodynamicexpertiseandguidancetotheindustry.

AnareathatcouldrequirefurtherinvestigationwithinthecontextoftheecoTECHNOLOGYforVehiclesIIprogram,isa
recommendationsdocumenttoCanadianbusmanufacturersandoperatorsthatcanhelpguidetheirdevelopmentandselection
efforts,respectively,towardsreducingthefuelconsumptionandemissionsfromintercitybuses.Suchadocumentcanbebasedon
informationcontainedwithinthisreport.

SnowandIceAccumulationandShedding
Verylittleinformationcouldbefoundregardingtestormodelingresultsofhowiceandsnowcanaccumulateonaerodynamic
devices.

Boattailscansignificantlyaffecttheflowfielddirectlybehindavansemitraileranditisalsoexpectedthatsnowcouldaccumulate
ontopofthebottomboattailpanel.However,verylittlerelevantworkcouldbelocatedtoquantifyhowthischangeinflowfield
wouldaffectvehiclesfollowingbehindatrailerequippedwithaboattailorthewayinwhichsnowandiceaccumulatesandsheds
fromtruckaerodynamicdevices.
.
NRCCSTTrecommendsperformingasimilarstudytotheNRCIARstudyinwhichmanyaerodynamicdevicesweresequentially
addedtoatractorandtrailercombination.However,forthisstudy,theemphasiswouldbeoniceandsnowaccumulationand
shedding,ratherthanaerodynamicdrag.Ideally,ascalemodelvehiclewouldbeplacedinahighspeedwindtunnelatsubzero
temperaturesandsnowandicewouldbeblownagainstthemodelvehicle.Theamountofsnowaccumulationandsheddingcould
bemeasuredagainstabaselinevehiclethatwasplacedbesidethetestvehicle.Downstreameffectsonascalemodelpassenger
carfollowingthetrailercouldalsobemonitoredtodetermineifthesnowandicewouldbemorelikelytoaccumulateonatrailing
vehicleandalsotodetermineiftheforwardvisionofdriversintrailingvehiclesisaffectedinanyway.

Ultimately,tracktestingorroadtestingonactualhighwaytractortrailerscouldbeperformedtodetermineifdevicessuchasboat
tailswerelikelytoaccumulateamountsofsnowthatcouldeventuallybecomeejectedontotheroadsurfaceorothervehiclesinthe
surroundingarea.

ScaleModelTesting
Aerodynamicdragisadissipative,nonrecoverablelossofenergyandisoneofthemostimportantfactorsforreducingfuel
consumptionandemissionsofheavyvehicles.Significantdragreductioncanbeobtainedwithcurrentandemergingtechnologies,
buttheuptakeisgenerallyslowduetotherequirementsfromoperatorsforatimelyreturnontheirinvestment.Typicalevaluation
strategiesbydevicedevelopersandmanufacturerscanbeskewedandnotveryrepresentativeofrealworldconditions,whichis
oneofthereasonsoperatorscanbehesitanttowardsnewtechnologies.Theindustrythereforeneedsguidanceinselecting
appropriatetechnologiesthatwillprovideanetbenefittothereductionoffuelconsumptionandemissionsinCanada.Similartothe
EPASmartwayprogramintheUS,certificationoftechnologiesisagoodapproachtoprovidingtheindustrywithsuchguidance.

Basedontheinformationdescribedinthisreport,theNRCrecommendsasystematicevaluationofthedragreductionpotentialfor
standardandproposeddragreductiontechnologiesfortractortrailercombinations.ThisplanwouldprovideTransportCanadawith
recommendationsforthemosteffectivecombinationsofdragreductiontechnologiesforreducingthefuelconsumptioninthe
transportindustry.Combinedwithconsiderationofoperationalrequirements,recommendationsforbestusetechnologiescanthen
beprovidedtothetransportationindustry.Theplan,summarizedbelow,willbesimilartothetestprogramperformedatNRCin
collaborationwithNRCan,theCanadianTruckingAlliance,andtheUSDepartmentofEnergy,forwhichreliableestimatesoffuel
savingscanbemade.Thisnewplan,basedonscalemodelwindtunneltestingratherthanfullscaletesting,encompasses
additionaldragreductiontechnologiesandwillprovidemuchimprovedsimulationoftheenvironmentinwhichheavyvehicles
operateinCanada.Thebenefitofscalemodeltestingoverfullscaletestingistheabilitytoprovideamorerepresentative
environment(relativevehicle/ground/windmotionsandterrestrialwinds)aswellastheabilitytotestequivalentfulllengthvehicles
andlongcombinationvehicles.Thisscalemodeltestingprovidesmuchimprovedaccuracyoverpastwindtunnelcampaigns.
Anotherstrongbenefitofwindtunneltestingistheprecisionwithwhichcomparisonsbetweentechnologiesandconfigurationscan
becompared,bymeansofasystematicallycontrolledtestenvironment.

Collaborationwithoperators,originalequipmentmanufacturers(OEMs)anddevicemanufacturerscanprovideathorough
evaluationofsuchtechnologies.TheNRCalreadyhaspartnersinthetransportationindustrythatwouldbeopentocollaboration
throughtheprovisionofspecificationsoftractortraileranddevicegeometryformodelmanufacturing.

Anoverviewofaproposedplanfortheaerodynamicevaluationofdragreductiontechnologiesisasfollows:

Usingaerodynamicmeasurementsfromwindtunnelandtracktestprogramsundertakenwithvariouscollaboratorsand
partners(withpermission),thepotentialimpactofperformingtestsatlowerthanfullscaleReynoldsnumberswillbeassessed.
Anoptimizedmodelscale(betweenand)fortractortrailercombinationswillbeselectedtobestprovideaccurateresults
fromanevaluationofdragreductiontechnology.
DesigntheinfrastructuretotestscalemodelsofNorthAmericantractorsandstandardtrailers(40ftand53ftequivalentdry
van,flatbed,tanker,longcombinationvehicles).Thesemodelswouldbedesignedtoaccommodateamultitudeofbody
shapesanddragreductiondevices/conceptstobeevaluated.Themodelswouldbedesignedtobeusedwiththeground
effectsimulationsystemoftheNRC9mx9mWindTunnel.Thissystemprovidesacorrectandimportantsimulationofthe
relativemotionbetweenthevehicle,theterrestrialwinds,andtheground.
Design,developmentandfabricationofaturbulencegenerationsystemtoproviderepresentativeconditionsthatare
encounteredbytractortrailersunderrealroadconditions.Turbulencehasbeendemonstratedtobeanimportantfactor,
generallyneglected,whenevaluatingthedragreductionpotentialofnewtechnologies.Section11.3describesthe
requirementsforthisdevelopmentproject.
WindtunneltestprogramintheNRC9mx9mWindTunneltoevaluatetheaerodynamic,andpossiblytheaeroacoustic(see
Section11.4)performanceofdragreductiondevicesandvehiclecombinationsusingthescalemodelheavyvehicles.This
programwouldconsistofevaluatingtheperformanceofthedragreductiontechnologiesundersmoothandturbulentflow
conditions,withandwithoutgroundsimulation,toprovideacorrelationwithotherwindtunneltestprogramsthathavealready
demonstratedsomeofthetechnologiesunderconditionswithsmoothflowandminimalornogroundeffectsimulation.
DisseminationofresultsandrecommendationsforoptimumdragreductioncombinationsintheCanadiancontext,through
reportsandthroughpresentationstotheheavytruckindustriesatappropriateconferencesandmeetings.Theseresultswill
bemorerepresentativeinregardstofuelreductionpotentialthaneventhestandardrecommendedmethodstoevaluate
heavyvehicleaerodynamicperformancenowrequiredbytheUSEPA.

TableofContents
ListofFigures
ListofTables
Acknowledgements
1Introduction
1.1Purpose
1.2Limitations
2Methodology
3TheoryofHeavyVehicleAerodynamics
3.1Aerodynamicsofroadvehicles
3.2Howfuelisconsumedinaheavytruck
3.3AerodynamicDrag
3.4TheEffectoftheCanadianClimateonDrag
3.5ABriefhistoryofaerodynamicsforheavyvehicles
3.6Recentprograms,findings,andrecommendations
3.7Assessmentcriteriafordragreductiontechnologies
4LongCombinationVehicles
4.1CurrentState
4.2AcademicStudies
4.3ManufacturerClaims
4.4OperationalConcerns
4.5Conclusions
4.6AreasRecommendedforFurtherWork
5CameraMirrors
5.1CurrentState
5.2AcademicStudies
5.3ManufacturerClaims
5.4OperationalConcerns
5.5Conclusions
5.6AreasRecommendedforFurtherWork
6Platooning
6.1Definition
6.2CurrentState
6.3AcademicStudies
6.3.1KONVOI
6.3.2PATH
6.3.3SARTRE
6.3.4PROMOTECHAUFFEUR
6.4OperationalConcerns
6.5Conclusions
6.6AreasRecommendedforFurtherWork
7TractorTrailerDragReductionDevices
7.1Definition
7.2TractorStreamlining
7.2.1Currentstate
7.2.2Technologies
7.3Managementofairflowaroundthetractortrailergap
7.3.1Currentstate
7.3.2Technologies
7.3.3Generalstudies
7.4Managementofairflowunderthetrailer
7.4.1Currentstate
7.4.2Technologies
7.5Managementofairflowattherearofthetrailer
7.5.1Currentstate
7.5.2Technologies
7.6OperationalConcerns
7.7Conclusions
7.8AreasRecommendedforFurtherWork
8TractorTrailerDragReductionDevices
8.1Definition
8.2CurrentState
8.3OperationalConcerns
8.4Conclusions
8.5AreasRecommendedforFutureWork
9AerodynamicDragReductionforIntercityBuses
9.1Definition
9.2CurrentState
9.3ManufacturerClaims
9.4AcademicStudies
9.5OperationalConcerns
9.6Conclusions
9.7AreasRecommendedforFurtherWork
10SheddingofIceandSnow
10.1Definition
10.2Windtunneltesting
10.2.1Modelscalefactor
10.3CurrentState
10.4ModelScaleEvaluationofDragReductionTechnologies
10.4.1TractorTrailerScaleModelTesting
10.4.2IntercityBusScaleModelTesting
10.4.3NonAerodynamicTechnologiesforWindTunnelEvaluation
10.5AreasRecommendedforFurtherWork
11TestTechniques
11.1CurrentStandardTechniques
11.1.1RoadTesting
11.1.2CoastDownTesting
11.1.3WindTunnelTesting
11.1.4ComputationalFluidDynamics
11.2CoastdownTestingImprovements
11.3CurrentState
11.3.1GroundSimulation
11.3.2Turbulence
11.3.3ShearedandTwistedFlowProfile
11.3.4BlockageandInterferenceCorrections
11.4ModelScaleEvaluationofDragReductionTechnologies
11.5AreasRecommendedforFurtherWork
12OverallConclusions
13Recommendations
ListofAcronyms/Abbreviations
ListofSymbols
References

ListofFigures
Figure1Illustrationofalongcombinationvehicle(LCV)[16]
Figure2IllustrationofthetwovehiclesreplacedbyoneLCV[16]
Figure3Model#1,conventionaltractorsemitrailer
Figure4Model#6,LCV
Figure5ExampleofSWIRcamerainfog[20]
Figure6Exampleofinnovativetruckwithsideviewcamerasinplaceofmirrors
Figure7Exampleoftypicalsideviewmirror
Figure8Viewoftypicaldriver'ssidemirror
Figure9SummaryofR73requirements
Figure10Exampleofaluminumsideskirtafterbicyclecollision
Figure11Tractorstyles:Classic(leftPeterbuilt389),Aero(rightInternationalProStar)
Figure12Heavydutybumpermountedtoatractor
Figure13Effectofdeturbulatoronatractortrailer[95]
Figure14Waterdropletonalotusleaf
Figure15Typicaltractortrailergap
Figure16Fuelburnincreasevs.gap[99]
Figure17Cabsideextensions
Figure18Devicesforthegapregion:gapsplitter(left),trailerfairing
Figure19Exampleoftypicalsideskirt
Figure20Commercialmovingtruckwithunderbodyboxes
Figure21Boattailconcepts
Figure22Retractabletrailerconcept
Figure23Crossoverspeedforwhichaerodynamicandmechanicalresistancesareequal,forseveralvehicletypes.
AdaptedfromCooper[55]
Figure24GermandesignedintercitybuswithCD0.35.
Figure25Flowfieldbehindthreetrailerswithnoboattail,2ftboattailand4ftboattail
Figure26FullscaletractortrailertestingintheNRC9mx9mWindTunnel
Figure27FullscaletractortrailertestingintheNFAC24mx36mWindTunnel
Figure28SchematicofascaleintercitybusmodelonthemovingbeltoftheNRC9mx9mWindTunnel
Figure29Windspeedanemometermountedaheadofhighwaytractor
Figure30HalfscaletractortrailermodelwithGESSinNRC9mx9mWindTunnel(shadedduetoproprietarytractor
design)
Figure31PartialheightturbulencegridinNRC9mx9mWindTunnel

ListofTables
Table1EnginePowerBalanceforFullyLoadedClass8TractorTrailer(adaptedfrom[2])
Table2Exampleofthedistributionofpowerconsumptionatvariousspeeds(adaptedfrom[2])
Table3Percentincreaseindragatvarioustemperatures
Table4SpecificationsofvehiclesinMartinietalstudy
Table5FuelconsumptioncomparisonbetweenLCVandconventionalvehicleat5yawangle
Table6Sizesoftwosideviewmirrors
Table7TractorAddonspotentialFuelSavings[29]

Acknowledgements
TheauthorswouldliketothankthemembersoftheNRCLibrary,CISTI,whosearchedfortherelevantdocumentsthatultimately
formedthereferencesetforthisreport.

1Introduction

1.1Purpose
TheCanadianGovernmentiscurrentlystudyingwaysinwhichgreenhousegasemissions(GHG)maybereducedfromallsectors,
includingthetransportationsectorandiscommittedtodevelopingGHGreducingstrategiesthatarealignedwiththoseoftheUnited
States.Thepurposeofthisstudyistobetterunderstandwhattechnologiesorpracticescanbeappliedtohighwaytractorand
trailercombinationsandhighwaymotorcoachbusestoreduceaerodynamicdrag,andhenceGHGs,withoutnegativelyaffecting
theusefulnessorprofitabilityofthevehicles.Additionally,itisofinteresttodeterminehowthesedevicesmayaffectothervehicles
andvulnerableroadusersincloseproximitytothetractortrailersorbuses.

NotalloftheresearchpresentedinthisreportstemsfromworkperformedattheNationalResearchCouncilofCanada.Rather,itis
acompendiumofcurrent,relevantworkfromaroundtheworldanddescribedheretobetterunderstandwhattechnologiescould
legitimatelybeusedwithinthecurrentCanadiantruckingindustry,Canadianclimatesandnetworkofroadsandvehicularregulatory
framework.

1.2Limitations
Manybodiesofworkreportdragreductionintermsoftheamountoffuelthatcouldpotentiallybesavedannually.However,many
assumptionsregardingvehiclespeed,distancedrivenperyearandbaselineenginefuelconsumptionmustbemadeinorderto
estimatetherelationshipbetweendragcoefficient(CD)andfuelconsumptionforanyparticularvehicle.Forthisreason,mostofthe
datainthisreportarepresentedintermsofdragreduction,whichcanbemeasureddirectlyasanabsolutefigure,withouttheneed
foranydutycycleinformationorassumptions.ThepotentialfuelconsumptionreductionsstemmingfromreductionsinCDmaythen
becalculatedforindividualvehiclesiftheparameterssurroundingthatvehiclesoperatingenvironmentarewellunderstood.

2Methodology
TheauthorsreviewedthelistofcurrentandpreviousprojectsundertakenattheNRCandsummarizedthemethodsandresultsfrom
thoseprojects,whererelevant.TheauthorsthendevisedandforwardedsearchcriteriafortheNRCCISTIlibrarianstoretrievedata
forprojectsthathadnotbeenperformedattheNRC.Thelibrariansthenperformedsearchesfortechnicaljournals,presentations,
academicpapersandthesesandretrievedelectroniccopiesofallrelevantdocuments.Thesedocumentswerethenforwardedto
NRCCSTTtobereviewedbytheauthors.Pertinentinformationwasthenextractedfromthesourcesandsummarizedinthis
report.Ingeneral,theauthorsattemptedtoexplaineachtechnologyorproductandpresentorcalculatetheexpectedpotential
reductionindragcoefficientforatypicalhighwayvehicle.Whereapplicable,anybarrierstoentrywithintheCanadiantrucking
communitywereexplainedtoseparatethosetechnologieswhichcouldlikelybeusedtothosethatwouldlikelynevergain
widespreadacceptanceduetooperationalbarriers.

Thefactsfromtheresearchwerethenamalgamatedandconclusionswereformulatedandpresented.Finally,recommendations
werewrittentodescribewhatfurtherstudy,ifany,couldbeperformedinordertorefuteorvalidatesomeoftheclaimsfoundinthe
literaturesearchortoidentifyanyunpublishednegativeoperationalsideeffectsfromthedevice(s)ortechnology.Wherepossible,
therecommendationswerewrittentoassistTransportCanadainassessingwhichproductswouldhavethegreatestpotentialto
reducedragandwhattestingwouldberequiredtoquantifythosesavingsforvehiclesthatarerelevanttoCanada.Productsthat
showednoappreciablepotentialtoreducedragorthatweredeemedimpracticalforuseinCanadawereexcludedfromthelistof
recommendedproducts.

3TheoryofHeavyVehicleAerodynamics

3.1Aerodynamicsofroadvehicles
Theaerodynamicsofroadvehiclesisacomplicateddisciplineandmanyspecifictopicsareoutsidethescopeofthisproject.
However,someofthefactsrelevanttothetransportationindustry,particularlypertainingtoheavytrucksandbuses,arepresented
inthischaptertofamiliarizethereaderwiththeterminologyandconcepts.

Thedisciplineofaerodynamicsdealswiththemotionofairaroundandthroughabodyandtheinteractionsassociatedwiththis
relativemotionbetweentheairandthevehiclesystem.Theaerodynamicpropertiesofaroadvehicleincludeeffectsonits
performance,handling,safety,andcomfort[1].Inthecontextofthisreport,performanceisthecriticalissue,andinparticularthe
effectofaerodynamicdrag(loadsinlinewiththevehiclemotion)anditseffectonfuelconsumption.

3.2Howfuelisconsumedinaheavytruck
Fuelisconsumedbyavehiclesengineasittravelsontheroad,withenginepoweroutputcontributingtofiveprimaryfactors,as
listedinTable1.Dependingonthedutycycleofthevehicle(e.g.urbandrivingwithlowspeedstopandgotraffic,orhighway
drivingatconstanthighspeed),thecontributionstofuelburnofthesefivefactorschangeinproportiontooneanotherasidentified
inTable1.Forexample,inanurbanenvironmentthepowerdissipatedthroughaccelerationandbrakingofthevehicleisthe
dominantloss,whereasonthehighwaytheaerodynamiclossesaredominant.Lightweighthybridvehicleswithenergyrecovery
brakingsystemsarepotentiallyagoodsolutionforreducingfuelconsumptionunderurbanenvironments,asproposedforurban
specificvehiclessuchastransitbuses[2].Forthehighwayenvironment,inwhichmostcommercialgoodsareshipped,
aerodynamiclosseswhicharedissipativeandcannotberecoveredarethedominantsourceforpowerandfuelconsumption.Motor
coaches,whichpredominantlytravelbetweenmajorcitycentres,showasimilarpowerlossbreakdowntothehighwayconditionson
Table1,butwithagreaterproportiondissipatedthroughaerodynamiclossesduetothelowerrollingresistanceassociatedwith
lowervehicleweight.Thereductionofaerodynamiclossesisasignificantareainwhichfuelconsumptionimprovementscanbe
made.

Table1EnginePowerBalanceforFullyLoadedClass8TractorTrailer(adaptedfrom[2])

Source Urban Highway

Drivetrain 1015% 510%

Inertia/braking/grade 3550% 05%

RollingResistance 2030% 3040%

AuxilliaryLoads 1520% 210%

AerodynamicLosses 1025% 3555%

Thepercentagecontributiontofuelburnforeachofthefivecategoriesvariesfromvehicletovehicle,andvarieswithvehiclespeed
sincetheeffectsofaerodynamicsarenotlinear,asisdescribedinthenextsection.Thecontributiontofuelburnfrominternal
lossesisgenerallymodeledasaconstant,andacceleration/braking/gradeportioncanbemodeledthroughadutycycle.

3.3AerodynamicDrag
Aerodynamicdragistheforcethatresiststhemovementofabodythroughafluidmedium.Aerodynamicdragvarieswiththe
squareoftherelativespeedUbetweenthevehicleandthesurroundingair.Whenavehicletravelsthroughstillair,doublingthe
vehiclespeedapproximatelyquadruplestheaerodynamicdrag.Inthepresenceofterrestrialwindsthatarenotinlinewiththe
vehiclemotion,crosswindsgenerateanonzeroyawangleofthewindrelativetothevehicletraveldirection.Forheavyduty
vehicles,suchastractortrailercombinations,thedragcoefficientincreasessignificantlywithyawangle.
Thedragforceonavehiclemaybecalculatedasfollows:

FD=12U2CD()A
where:

FDisthedragforce
isthedensityoftheair
Uisthespeedoftheobject,relativetothesurroundingair
istheeffectiveyawangleofthesurroundingairrelativetothevehiclemotion
Cd()isthedragcoefficient,whichvarieswithyawangleand
Aistheprojectedfrontalareaofthevehicle.

Toaccountfortypicalcrosswinds,awindaveragedragcoefficientcanbedefinedthatrepresentsanaveragedragcoefficientbased
onthepredominantwindsforagivenregion(typicallyan11km/hr(7mph)windspeedinNorthAmerica).Themathematicaldetails
arenotpresentedhereforconcisenessbuttheycanbefoundelsewhere[1],[3].

Thenonlinearityofdragwithwindspeediswhataccountsforthedisparityintheaerodynamiccontributionstopowerconsumption
betweenurbanandhighwayenvironmentsshownTable1.Ingeneral,themechanicallossesinthesystemvarylinearlywithvehicle
speed.At53km/hthepowerrequiredtoovercomemechanicalresistanceisapproximatelydoublethatrequiredtoovercome
aerodynamicdrag.At80km/h,thepowernecessarytoovercomeaerodynamicdragisroughlyequaltothemechanicallosses,and
forhighervehiclespeedstheaerodynamiclossesdominate.Table2illustratesthecontributionstofuelconsumptionatvarious
constantspeeds(i.e.noacceleration),assumingazerogradeandproperlyinflatedtiresetcandassumingthattheinternalpower
trainlossescanbemodeledasalinearfunctionofvehiclespeed.

Table2Exampleofthedistributionofpowerconsumptionatvariousspeeds(adaptedfrom[2])

VehicleSpeed Aerodynamic Rolling&Accessories

32km/h(20mph) 28% 72%

53km/h(33mph) 33% 66%

64km(40mph) 36% 64%

80km/h(50mph) 50% 50%

96km/h(60mph) 62% 38%

105km/h(65mph) 67% 33%

113km/h(70mph) 70% 30%

Sinceaerodynamicdragisbutonesourceoffuelconsumption,itisimportanttounderstanditseffectsonoverallfuelconsumption.
At80km/hr,a20%reductionindragwillcontributetoabouta10%reductioninfuelconsumption.Thesefuelsavingswouldriseas
speedincreasedtoavalueofapproximately15%at120km/h.Examplesliketheseareoversimplificationsofhigherorderengine
specificcalculationshowever,theydoprovideawaytoestimatethecontributiontofuelburnfromaerodynamicsatvariousvehicle
speeds.

Inequation1above,thedragcoefficientisrepresentedinasimplemannerasafunctionofwindanglealone,shownasthefunction
CD().Inreality,thedragcoefficientisafunctionofanumberoffactorsrelatedtothevehicleandtheenvironmentinwhichit
operates,asfollows:

Majorvehiclespecificinfluencesondragcoefficient:

Tractordesign(classicoraerostyle,daycaborsleeper,etc.)
Trailerconfiguration(drybox,flatbed,tanker,etc.)
Gapregionbetweentractorandtrailerand
Appendages(mirrors,deflectors,externalairfilters,lights,skirts,etc.).

Majorenvironmentalinfluencesondragcoefficient:

Airproperties(barometricpressure,temperature,humidity)
Terrestrialwinds(whichchangewithheight)
Speed
Directionand
Turbulence(intensity,lengthscales,spectra).

Theintentofthisreportistodocumentandrecommenddevicesandtechniquesthatcanprovideareductioninthewindaveraged
dragforheavyvehicles.Thewindaverageddragisthemostimportantmetricforevaluatingvehicledragbecausesomedrag
reductiontechnologiesimproveaerodynamicperformanceonlyforasubsetofwindangles(typicallycenteredonzeroyaw)and
thereforeanaveragedmeasureoftheeffectsfromrepresentativewindconditionsismoreaccurateandrelevant.

Therearetwocomponentsofdragthataffectamovingobject:

Pressuredragisthecomponentofdragthatactsinthedirectionofmotionasaresultofthepressureforcesactingonthe
body.
Frictiondragisthecomponentofdragthatactsparalleltoasurfaceasaresultofshearandviscouseffectsintheflow
adjacenttothebodysurface.

Forheavyvehiclessuchastractortrailercombinationsandbuses,pressuredragisthedominantcomponentduetothelarge
surfacesperpendiculartothemainflowdirectionandduetothelargewakeresultingfromthebluntnessofthebackendofsuch
vehicles.Thepressureforcesactingonthefrontandbackfaceofthevehicle,aswellasinthegapregionbetweenatractorand
trailer,aredominant.Thelargeemptyspacesinunderbodyregionsoftractortrailercombinationsalsocontributetothepressure
drag.Thecoolingflowsthroughavehicleenginecompartmentarealsodominatedbypressuredrageffects.

Althoughfrictiondragoccursalongtheexternalsurfacesofheavyvehicles,particularlyalongthesidesandtopofbusesandtrailers,
itscontributiontooveralldragissmall(10%orless[4])andisnotastrongcandidatefordragreductiontechnologies.Unlikeflight
vehiclesthathavestreamlinedbodiesforwhichfrictiondragisthedominantcontribution,roadvehicleaerodynamicsis
predominantlyconcernedwithpressuredragandthereforethelargebodyofknowledgeconcerningdragreductionforflightvehicles
isnotstrictlyapplicabletotheroadvehicleandgroundtransportationindustries.

Allcombinationvehiclesaredifferent,butingeneralterms,atzeroyaw,thedragonthetractoraccountsforapproximately70%of
thetotaldragandthetraileraccountsfortheremaining30%ofthedrag.However,atyawanglesinexcessof5degthetractordrag
componentincreasesverylittlebutthetrailerdragincreasessubstantiallysuchthatitcanexceedthatofthetractor[1].

Asidefromsavingfuel,thereareotherpotentialbenefitstoreducingdragsuchasimprovedaerodynamicstabilityandreduced
splashandspray.

3.4TheEffectoftheCanadianClimateonDrag
Airdensityisanotherfactorthatcanaffectdrag,aswasshowninEquation1.Astemperaturedrops,thedensityoftheair
increaseswhichincreasesthedragonavehicle.Thiscancausesignificantchangesindragonavehicleinclimatessuchas
Canadawheretemperaturedifferencesof60degreesCelsiuscanoccurinthesamelocationwhencomparingJulyconditionsto,
say,Februaryconditions.Table3illustratestheapproximateincreaseindragatvarioustemperatureswhencomparedtothe
referencetemperatureof+15C.

Table3Percentincreaseindragatvarioustemperatures

Temperature(C) %increaseindrag

+15 0

0 5.5

15 11.6

30 18.5

IncoldCanadianclimates,theaerodynamicdraginwintercanbenearly20%greaterthanatstandardconditions,duetothe
ambientairdensity.Forhighwaytractortrailersandintercitybuses,thisresultsinabouta10%increaseinfuelconsumptionfrom
dragwhencomparedtothereferencetemperature,furtheremphasizingtheimportanceofaerodynamicdragreductionstrategiesfor
theCanadianclimate.

3.5ABriefhistoryofaerodynamicsforheavyvehicles
Thefocusofrecentdragreductiontechnologyevaluationfortractortrailercombinationshasbeenconcernedwithsecond
generationdragreductiondevices.Firstgenerationdragreductiondevices,developedinthe1970sand1980sconsistedprimarily
ofaerodynamicshapingdevicesforthetractor.Fairedhoodsandbumpers,airfairings/deflectors,andtractorskirtswerethe
primarytechnologiesthathaveledtothecurrentAeroTractorsthathavebecomethedominantmodelsfromthetractor
manufacturers.Thesetechnologiesprovidedareductioninaerodynamicdragontheorderof30%,relativetotheClassicTractor
designs[5].Thesefirstgenerationtechniqueshavealsobeenappliedtosomeextentformotorcoachestominimizethepressure
dragatthefrontendofthebuses.

Thesecondgenerationofdragreductiontechnologiesfortractorstrailersisprimarilydirectedatloweringthedragassociatedwith
thetraileraswellastheaerodynamicinteractionsbetweenthetractorandtrailer.In2005and2006,aspartofacollaborationwith
theNCRCanandtheUSDepartmentofEnergy(DOE),theNRCevaluatedseveralcommerciallyavailablesecondgeneration
aerodynamicdragreductiondevicestodemonstratetheireffectivenessatreducingfuelconsumptionandtoevaluatetypical
investmentreturnperiodsforsuchdevices[6],[7].ThetestswereconductedonafullscaletractortrailercombinationintheNRC
9mx9mWindTunnelwith28ftand40fttrailers.Theyfocusedonthethreemainareasofconcernsforsecondgenerationdrag
reductiontechnologies:

Tractortrailergap
Trailerunderbodyandbogieand
Trailerbase.
Sincethosestudieswerereported,someofthetechnologieshavebeenintroducedandareinuseintheNorthAmerican
transportationindustry.Trailersideskirtsarecommonlyobservedonhighwaytractorstrailercombinations,andboattail
technologiesarecomingtomarketandarebeingevaluatedbytruckingfleets.Detailsofthesetechnologieswillbediscussedin
laterchaptersofthisreport.Amultitudeofotherproposedtechnologiesarediscussedinlatersectionsaswell,alongwithan
evaluationoftheirpotentialimpacttothetransportationindustry.

Theadvancementofaerodynamicdragreductionforbusesislessmatureandhasbeendevelopedmainlythroughproprietary
meansbythemanufacturersthemselves.Manyofthelessonslearnedthroughtractortrailerdragreductioncanbeappliedtobus
aerodynamics.

3.6Recentprograms,findings,andrecommendations
Thereisawiderangeoftechnologycurrentlyavailableorunderdevelopmentthatcouldprovidesignificantdragreductionoftractor
trailers.Inrecentyears,severalprogramsinCanada,theUnitesStates,andEurope,havebeenlookingatevaluatingdrag
reductiondevicesforthetransportationindustry.Thoseprogramsthathaveprovidedthemostinputinpreparingthisdocumentare:

TheUSDepartmentofEnergy(DOE)hasbeenfundingheavyvehicledragreductiontechnologiesfornearlyadecadethrough
variousprograms.TheDOEConsortiumforHeavyVehicleAerodynamicDragReductionreleasedmanyofitsfindingsin
2006,fundedbytheDOEEnergyEfficiencyandRenewableEnergyFreedomCARandVehicleTechnologiesProgram.NRC
wasacollaboratoronthisprogram.ArecentfullscalewindtunneltestprogramattheNationalFullScaleAerodynamics
Complex(NFAC)AmesResearchCenterwaspartoftheDOEEnergyEfficiencyandRenewableEnergyVehicle
TechnologiesProgram.TheseprogramsconsistofpartnershipsbetweentheUSgovernment,manufacturersandoperators
[8],[9].
NRCscollaborativecontributiontotheDOEConsortiumprogramabovewaspartofaCanadianpartnershipbetweenNRC,
NaturalResourcesCanada(NRCan),andtheCanadianTruckingAlliance(CTA).Thisprogram,calledTruckFueland
EmissionsReductionPrograminvolvedsmallscalewindtunneltesting,fullscalewindtunneltesting,andtracktestingof
secondgenerationdragreductiondevicesavailableatthetime[6],[7].
TheUSEnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA)Smartwayprogramcertifieslowfuelefficiencyandemissionvehiclesforuse
inthetransportationindustry.Thisprogrambrandsvehiclesanddevicesthataredemonstratedtopromotesuchefforts[10].
UndertheUSCleanAirActandtheEnergyIndependenceSecurityActof2007,theUSEPAandtheNationalHighwayTraffic
SafetyAdministration(NHTSA)havebeenmandatedtodevelopanationalprogramtoreducegreenhousegasemissionsand
fuelconsumptionfrommediumandheavydutytrucks.EnvironmentCanadahasbeenacloseobserverandcollaboratorof
theEPAinthisprogram,andNRCIARhasbeencommissionedtoinvestigatetheaerodynamicaspectsofheavydutytrucks
withinthecollaboration[11],[12],[13].
ThePlatformforAerodynamicRoadTransport(PART)isanacademic/manufacturer/operatorpartnershipintheNetherlands
aimedatdevelopingtechnologytoreducefuelconsumptionandemissionsoftheroadtransportsectorby20%before2020
[14].

ArecentreportbytheUSNationalAcademyofSciences(NAS)hasdocumentedcurrentandemergingtechnologiesforreducing
fuelconsumptionofmediumandheavydutyvehicles[2].Thisreporthasprovided,inpart,abasisfornewUSEPAandNHTSA
rulesgoverningthefuelconsumptionandemissionsofsuchvehicles,undertheUSCleanAirActandtheEnergyIndependence
andSecurityActof2007[15].ThefinalrulesgoverningthisprogrambecameeffectiveinNovember2011andprovidethe
regulatoryframeworkinwhichmediumandheavydutyengineandvehiclemanufacturersmustcomplywiththeCleanAirAct
beginningwiththe2014modelyear,withfullcompliancebymodelyear2016.Inregardstotheeffectofaerodynamicsonfuel
consumption,manufacturerswillberequiredtoreporttheaerodynamicdragoftheirvehiclesbasedonastandardmethod.

TheNASreportprovidedfourmainfindingswithregardstoaerodynamictechnologiesforthereductionoffuelconsumptionof
mediumandheavydutyvehicles,summarizedinthefollowing:

Aerodynamicloadsaredominantathighwayspeedsanddragreductiontechnologieshavelittlevalueforlowspeedoperation
Thefourmainareasofatractortraileridentifiedascriticalforaerodynamicimprovementsare:
Tractorstreamlining
Managementofairflowaroundthetractortrailergap
Managementofairflowunderthetrailer
Managementofairflowattherearofthetrailer.
Bythe2015to2020timeframe,dragreductiontechnologiescanimprovefuelconsumptionoftractorvantrailervehiclesby
15%forvehiclesoperatingathighwayspeedsof65mph(104km/hr),withsignificantlylessbenefitsforotherclassesof
vehiclesand
Asignificantbarriertoimplementationofdragreductiontechnologiesistheirdamagetoleranceinoperationandthecostsof
repair.

TheprimaryrecommendationoftheNASreportinregardstoaerodynamicdragreductionisarequirementforsuchtechnologiesto
beevaluatedonawindaverageddragbasistotakeintoaccounttheeffectoftypicalterrestrialwinds.Italsorecommends
certificationofdragcoefficientresultsbyastandardassessmentmethod.ThenewUSEPAandNHTSAruleshaveadoptedthe
latterrecommendationbystandardizingonacommonaerodynamicevaluationmethod(coastdowntesting,seeSection11.2)on
whichmanufacturersmustbasetheirdragcoefficientreporting.Therulesallowthemanufacturerstouseotherevaluationmethods,
thoseonwhichtheyhavebuilttheirdevelopmentprograms,aslongastheycancorrelatebacktothestandardmethodsthatcanbe
usedforauditingpurposes.Theprimaryrecommendationforreportingbasedonwindaverageddraghasnotbeenfully
implementedinthenewrules.Onlyzeroyawdragcoefficientresultsarerequiredforreporting.However,originalequipment
manufacturers(OEMs)areallowedtodeterminethedragcoefficientbasedondifferentyawangles(i.e.,ayawsweepadjustment)
toimprovetheirGHGperformance.Also,OEMscangenerateadditionalcreditsforinnovativetechnologiesthatreducedragin
crosswindconditionsthatcannotbemeasuredusingtheprescribedtestprocedures

3.7Assessmentcriteriafordragreductiontechnologies
TheresultsofthecurrentliteraturesurveyhavecorroboratedknowledgegainedbyNRCthroughvariousresearchprograms
directedatroadvehicleaerodynamicsandfromconsultationwithcollaboratorsandpartnersrepresentingtruckandbus
manufacturersandoperators.Ingeneral,theimplementationofanydragreductiontechnologymustbetemperedwiththeneedto
maintainthepracticality,legalityandusabilityofthevehicle.Inorderforanaerodynamictechnologytogainacceptanceinthe
industry,itmustmeetthefollowingcriteria:

Reducefuelconsumptionbyameasurableamount
Becosteffectiveandhaveareasonablereturnoninvestment(thedefinitionofreasonablevariesfromoperatortooperator)
Berelativelyeasytoinstallandmaintain
Havelittletonodetrimentaleffectsonoperationsontheroadandaroundloadingdocksand
Notcontraveneexistingfederal,provincialorlocalregulations.

Sections4through8discussavarietyoftechnologiesanddevicesthatmaybeusedtoreduceaerodynamicdragonheavy
transportvehiclesandbuses.Therelativeadvantagesanddrawbacksofeachtechnologyarepresentedaswellastheirrelevance
totheCanadiantruckingindustry.Wherepossible,thereductionindragcoefficienthasbeenquantitativelystatedaswellasany
factorsthatmustbemaintainedinordertoachievethosestatedortestedresults.Sections10and11outlinetestingmethodologies
forevaluatingtheaerodynamicperformanceofheavyvehicles.

4LongCombinationVehicles

4.1CurrentState
Longcombinationvehicles(LCV)arevehiclesthatconsistofasingletractorpullingtwofulllengthtrailersineitheranAtrain
drawbarconfigurationoraBtrainfifthwheelconfiguration.TheydifferfromconventionalCanadianBtrainsinthatthetotallengthof
thecombinationvehiclemaybeaslongas40metres,withamaximumlengthof11.5metresforeachtrailer.Thisisincontrastto
conventionalvehiclesconsistingofatractorpullinga14.65m(53ft)traileroraBtrainconsistingofatractorpullingaleadtrailer
andapuptrailerforatotalmaximumlengthof25m(82feet).Anadditiondifferenceisthenumberofaxles:anLCVtypicallyhas
onesteeraxle,onesetofdriveaxlesandthreetraileraxlesforatotalof11axlesandfiveaxlegroupswhereasthetwovehiclesit
replaceshavetwosteeraxles,twosetsofdriveaxlesandtwotraileraxlesforatotalof12axles(assumingtridemtraileraxles)and
sixaxlegroups.TherearenumerousoperationalrestrictionsandconditionsappliedtotheuseofLCVsintheprovinceofOntario,
mostofwhichareoutsidethescopeofthisdocument,butmaybeviewedattheMinistryofTransportationofOntarios(MTO)
website[16].

AnexampleofanAtrainLCVisshowninFigure1andthetwovehiclesitreplacesareshowninFigure2.

Figure1Illustrationofalongcombinationvehicle(LCV)[16]

Figure2IllustrationofthetwovehiclesreplacedbyoneLCV[16]

LCVswereinitiallydevelopedandpermittedtotravelonprovincialroadstoallowoperatorstopullmorefreightusingonetractor,
andthereforeonedriver.ThisalsoreducestrafficcongestionsomewhatsinceeveryLCVisshorterthantheequivalenttwo
combinationvehiclesbythelengthofthesecondtractorandthedistancebetweenthetwovehiclesinFigure2.However,oneofthe
otherbenefitsofLCVsisareductioningreenhousegasemissionsandfuelconsumptionsinceonlyonetractor(albeitwithamore
powerfulengine)isrequiredtopulltwotrailersinsteadoftwotractors.

WhenconsideringLCVs,adistinctionmustbemadebetweenthetwotypesofdragonaheavytrailer:pressuredragandfriction
drag(seeSection3.3).SincebothtrailersarepresentinanLCVitstandstoreasonthatthefrictiondragwillbeapproximatelythe
samebetweenoneLCVandthetwovehiclesitreplaces.Italsostandstoreasonthatthegapdragbetweenthefirstandsecond
trailerswillbesimilartothegapdragbetweenthetractorandtrailerofconventionalvehicles.However,theLCVhasonlyoneblunt
frontfaceandonlyonebluntrearendexposedtothefreestreamofair,whereasthetwovehiclesitreplaceshavetwofrontblunt
facesandtworearbluntfaces.Thereforethebluntbodycomponentofdrag(pressuredrag)isreducedtoapproximatelyhalfofwhat
itwouldbeforthetwovehicles.Since90%ofthetotaldragisthepressuredragcomponent,reducingtheamountofpressuredrag
byanyamounthasasignificanteffectontheoveralldragforthecombinationvehicle.

LCVsarecurrentlyallowedinOntarioandQuebecunderapilotprogramthatismeanttoassesstheireffectivenessandsafety
underidealandmoreconservativeconditionsthanthoseofconventionalvehicles.InordertomakefaircomparisonsbetweenLCVs
andconventionalvehicles,itisimportanttonotesomeofthecurrentrestrictionsplacedonLCVs.

LCVsarerestrictedtoagrossvehicleweightof63,500kgandthereforecannotcarrythesameweightasthecombinationof
thetwotrailerstheyreplace.Forthisreason,LCVstendtobemoreusefultofreightcarrierswhofilltheirtrailerstotheir
maximumvolumetriccapacitywithlowerdensityfreight(i.e.cubeout)ratherthanbymaximummassand
InOntario,LCVsarerestrictedtoamaximumspeedof90km/hwhereasmostconventionalheavyvehiclesarespeed
governedtobetween95and103km/h.

Therefore,sinceLCVsarelighteranddrivemoreslowlythanatypicalsingletrailervehicle,adirectcomparisonofcurrentoperating
expensesandfuelconsumptionwouldartificiallyfavourtheLCV.Therefore,someassumptionsshouldbemadewhenmaking
directcomparisonsinordertoproperlyassesstheaerodynamicperformanceofthetwotypesofvehiclessinceitislikelythatthe
restrictionsplacedonLCVsmayeventuallybelifted,thusslightlyreducingtheirpotentialtoreducefuelconsumption.

Terrainandgradearealsoanotherdiscrepancythatmustbeconsidered.InOntario,nearlyallLCVmovementoccursondivided
highwaysthatarenominallylevelandflat.TherelativelylowgradesmeansthattractorenginescanbesizedsmallerthanLCV
tractorsthataredestinedtooperatein,say,hillyareasofBritishColumbia.ThepercentagefuelsavingsofLCVscomparedtotwo
conventionalvehiclescouldthereforebereducedwhentravellinginhillyareaswherehighhorsepowertractorsarerequiredand
speedsarelowered.AnLCVwillstillburnlessfuelthantwovehicles,butthepercentagedecreasewillbesmaller.

NaturalResourcesCanadaquotespossiblefuelsavings[17]upto39%withtheuseoflongcombinationvehiclescomparedtotwo
conventionaltractortrailers.

ManygovernmentwebsitesindicatetherangeofpotentialfuelsavingsviatheuseofLCVsascomparedtoconventionaltractor
trailercombinations.However,thewebsitesdonotdelineatethesavingsintermsofrollingresistance,aerodynamicsortheneedfor
higherhorsepowerLCVenginestopullthesecondtrailer.

4.2AcademicStudies
AstudyperformedinSwedenbyMartinietal[18]attemptedtoquantifytheaerodynamicdragatspecificlocationsofEuropean
combinationvehiclescomparedtothatofaconventionaltractortrailer.Theydevelopedsixmodelvehiclesforthestudywhere
model#1wasareferencevehicleandtheotherswerevariationsofstraighttrucks,converterdollies,fulltrailersandsemitrailers.
ManyofthemodelswerespecifictotheEuropeanmarketandarenotdiscussedhere,butmodels#1and#6wereverysimilarto
NorthAmericanvehiclesandarerelevanttothestudyofLCVswiththeexceptionofthesingledriveaxleonthetractorwhich,in
NorthAmerica,wouldtypicallybeatandemdriveaxleforvehiclesofthissize.

ThetwovehiclemodelsaredescribedinTable4andshowninFigure3andFigure4.

Table4SpecificationsofvehiclesinMartinietalstudy

Model1 Model6
Model1 Model6

Overalllength 16.50m 25.25m

Numberoftrailers 1 2

Numberofaxles 5 7

Gap#1length 0.650m 0.955m

Gap#2length NA 0.650m

Sinceaerodynamicdragisaffectedbyyawangle,thatistheanglethatthewindmakeswiththevehicle,theteamproduced
simulationsat0degreesyawand5degreesyawaswellasresultsthatwereanaverageofthetwoyawconditions.Theresultsof
thestudyindicatedthatmodel#6hadaCDthatwasonly0.05higherthantheconventionalvehicleat0degyawand0.13higherat
ayawangleof5degrees.MosttractortrailercombinationshaveCDbetween0.5and0.6thereforetheLCVsadditional0.05CDat
zeroyawisonly10%ofwhatthesecondtractortrailercombinationwouldhavewhereasat5degreesofyawtheincreasewouldbe
approximately22%.Asexpected,theteamdetectedarelationshipbetweenvehiclelengthandsensitivitytoyawangles,inother
words,thelongerthevehicle,thegreatertheincreaseindragwhensubjectedtocrosswinds.

Anotherinterestingresultofthestudywasthepercentagecontributionoffrictionandpressuredrag.AsdiscussedinSection3.3,
90%to95%ofthedragonatractortrailerisasaresultofpressuredrag.However,asvehiclelengthincreases,thepercentage
contributiontooveralldragfromfrictiondragrisesslightlysincethereissomuchmoreplanarsurfacealignedwiththeairstream,yet
thebluntfrontfaceofthevehicleremainsunchanged.Thestudyconcludedthatthepercentagecontributionofpressuredragon
thebaselinevehiclewas93.3%whereasthecontributionofpressuredragontheLCVwas91.7%.Thesignificanceofthisisthatas
vehiclelengthincrease,strategiestoreducefrictiondragbecomemoreeffectiveinreducingfuelconsumption.However,itisclearly
stillmorebeneficialtoreducepressuredrag,regardlessofvehicleconfiguration.Theauthorsconcludedthatsomelongvehicle
combinationscanshowanincreaseof40%infrictiondragwithonlyacorrespondingincreaseof8%inpressuredrag.However,
thisisstill40%ofaverysmallnumber,and8%ofaverylargenumberbutthepointremainsthatincreasingvehiclelengthincreases
therelevanceoffrictionaldragreductionstrategies.

Afterstudyingoveralldrag,theteamanalysedthedragatvariouslocationsonthecombinationvehicles,particularlyaroundgaps
betweentrailers.Theteamconcludedthatthesizeofthegapbetweentheleadandtrailingtrailerplayedasignificantroleinthe
amountofdragexperiencedbythecombinationvehicle,particularlyathigheryawangles.

Figure3Model#1,conventionaltractorsemitrailer

Figure4Model#6,LCV

Mostoperatorsarenotdirectlyconcernedwithdrag,however.Tothemitistheeffectofdragreductionthatimpactstheir
operations,viaanassociatedfuelconsumptionreduction.ThefollowingcasestudydescribestheeffectsofdragonLCVswith
respecttofuelconsumptionandthus,fuelcosts.

Thecalculationsarebasedonanassumptionthattwotractortrailersareeachtravelling100,000kmperyearatasteadyspeedof
100km/h,eachpulling53footvansemitrailers.Theaveragefuelconsumptionofthetwovehicles,takenfromNRCanswebsite
[17],isassumedtobe40L/100km.Athirdvehicleisusedforcomparison:anLCV,consistingofonetractorandtwofulltrailers,
connectedinaBtrainarrangement.Thecalculationsarebasedonassumptionsthatat100km/h,aerodynamiceffectsare
responsiblefor50%offuelburnedinahighwaytractortrailer.UsingtheMartinistudy[18],itisassumedthatthecoefficientofdrag
oftheLCVisonly10%higherthanthecoefficientofdragforeachconventionaltractorandtraileratzeroyawanglesand22%
higherat5degreesofyaw.Also,usingdatafromtheBCDepartmentofTransport,itisassumedthattheLCVwillburn39%less
fuelthanthetwoconventionaltractortrailerscombined.Itisassumedthatengineefficiencyandallparasiticdrainssuchasair
conditioningandelectricalaccessorieswouldberelativelysimilarbetweentheLCVandtheconventionalvehicles.

Table5illustratestheestimateddistributionoffuelconsumptionforthetwotypesofvehiclesatfivedegreeyawwindanglesgiven
thatatractorandtraileroveranentireyearwillhaveanonzeroaveragewindyaw.

Table5FuelconsumptioncomparisonbetweenLCVandconventionalvehicleat5yawangle

ConventionalTractorandTrailers LCV

Tractor#1 Tractor#2 Tractor#1+#2

Distancedriven 100,000km 100,000km 200,000km 100,000km

Fuelburned 40,000L 40,000L 80,000L 56,800L

Fuelforaero 20,000L 20,000L 40,000L 24,400L

Fuelforrolling 20,000L 20,000L 40,000L 32,400L

4.3ManufacturerClaims
LCVsarenotaproduct,perse,thereforetherearenorelevantclaimsfrommanufacturers.However,usergroupssuchasthe
OntarioTruckingAssociation(OTA)haveendorsedtheuseofLCVsforavarietyofreasons,includingthepotentialforfuelsavings
asaresultofaerodynamicreductions.

4.4OperationalConcerns
ByfarthegreatestoperationalconcernforanoperatorwishingtouseanLCVremainsunloadingthefronttrailer.Unlikeatanker
trailer,whichcanbeunloadedviaavarietyofportsalongthesideofthetrailer,avantrailerofanLCVmuststillbeunloadedviathe
reardoors,However,thereardoorsoftheLCVsleadtrailerareblockedbythefrontfaceofthesecondtrailer,thusrequiringthe
drivertounhookthesecondtrailerwhiletheleadtrailerisbeingunloaded,orloaded.Therefore,operatorswishingtobenefitfrom
theuseofLCVsmusttakethisintoconsiderationwhenplanningtheirdeliveryandpickuptimes.Theseissuescanbelessenedby
theuseofspecialswitchingyardsneardepotswherepuptrailerscanbedroppedofforbyusingtrailersthathavesidecurtainsfor
loadingandunloading.Althoughnotcommon,combinationswithatankertrailerintheleadpositionandavantrailerinthetrailing
positioncanalsominimizeloadingandunloadingdelays.

OtherconcernsinvolvetheperceptionsofthedrivingpublicastheymustnegotiatetheirvehiclesaroundLCVswhichare
significantlylongerthanthevehiclestheyreplace,and15metreslongerthanBtrainswhichmostdrivershaveacceptedasthe
normonCanadianhighways,andevenincitycentreswhiledeliveringfuel.

4.5Conclusions
TheresultsofonestudyindicatedthatanLCVsdragcoefficientwhilepullingtwotrailerscanbeaslittleas0.05higherthana
conventionalvehiclepullingonetrailerat0degwindyawangle.Thisnumberincreasesto0.13higheratayawangleof5degrees.
Therefore,addingasecondtrailertoformanLCV,andthusdoublingthefreightcapacity,resultsinaverymodestincreaseindrag
coefficientofapproximately10%atzeroyawanglesand22%atfivedegreeyawangleswhencomparedtothesingletrailer
vehicle.Orputinotherterms,thedragcoefficientonanLCVisonlymarginallymorethanhalfofthesumofthedragonthetwo
vehiclesitreplaceswhenwindanglesareatzerodegrees.

Asvehiclelengthincreases,thepercentagecontributiontooveralldragfromfrictiondragrisesslightlysincethereissomuchmore
planarsurfacealignedwiththewind,yetthebluntfrontfaceofthevehicleremainsunchanged.Astudyconcludedthatthe
percentagecontributionofpressuredragonthebaselinevehiclewas93.3%whereasthecontributionofpressuredragontheLCV
was91.7%.Thesignificanceofthisisthatasvehiclelengthincreases,strategiestoreducefrictiondragbecomemoreeffectivein
reducingfuelconsumption.However,itisclearlystillmorebeneficialtoreducepressuredrag,regardlessofvehicleconfiguration.
Theauthorsofonestudy[18]concludedthatsomevehiclecombinationscanshowanincreaseof40%infrictiondragwithonlya
correspondingincreaseof8%inpressuredrag.However,thisisstill40%ofaverysmallnumber,and8%ofaverylargenumber
butthefactremainsthatincreasingvehiclelengthincreasestherelevanceoffrictionaldragreductionstrategiesandhasmuchless
effectonpressuredrag.
Thesizeofthegapbetweentheleadandtrailingtrailerplaysasignificantroleintheamountofdragexperiencedbythe
combinationvehicle,particularlyathigheryawangles.

ItisestimatedthatoneLCVwouldburnapproximately23,200fewerlitresoffuelwhencomparedtotwoconventionalvehicles,
assumingayearlydistanceof100,000kmathighwaycruisingspeeds.

4.6AreasRecommendedforFurtherWork
LargereductionsinpressuredragcanbeachievedbyusingLCVsandthesereductionsarewelldocumentedandunderstoodusing
Europeanvehicleswithfixedyawangles.However,thereareverylittledatapertainingtoNorthAmericanLCVsexperiencing
variablewindyawanglescorrespondingtoayearlywindaveragedrag.Theeconomicandoperationalbenefitsanddrawbacksof
LCVsarewellunderstoodasaresultoftheMTOpilotproject.

TherearestillopportunitiesforincrementaldecreasesonLCVdrag.FurtherstudycouldbeperformedonCanadianLCVstobetter
understandtherelationshipbetweengapsizeanddragtodemonstrateifdevicesthatarecurrentlydesignedtobeinstalledinthe
gapbetweenconventionaltractorsandtrailerscouldalsobeusedbetweenthetwotrailersofanLCV.Andifso,whatconfiguration
wouldbebestsuitedtooptimizedragreductionbetweenthetwotrailersofanLCV.Thisstudycouldbeperformedatbothgapsto
quantifytheincrementaleffectofaddondevices,comparedtothelargereductionsthatareachievedviatheremovalofoneofthe
tractors.AstudysuchasCooperandLeuschen[6]couldbeconductedwherebyavarietyofgapfillers,sideskirtsandboattails
aresequentiallyaddedtotheLCVinordertodetermineiftheeffectsofthesedevicesonLCVsissimilartotheireffecton
conventionalvehicles.

5CameraMirrors

5.1CurrentState
CMVSS111stipulatesthatallhighwaytractorsmustbefittedwithsideviewmirrors,onbothsidesofthevehicle,withnolessthan
325cm2(50in2)ofreflectivesurface.Therearemanyotherphysicalrequirementsinvolvingreflectivityandmirrorcurvature,allof
whichareoutsidethescopeofthisdocumentastheydonotaffecttheoverallaerodynamicsofthemirrors.

However,thereisasignificantandmeasurableincreaseinvehicleaerodynamicdragcausedbytheadditionofthemandatoryside
viewmirrorsstipulatedinCMVSS111.Theplacementintheairstreamandthebluntbodyareaofthemirrorsremaintheprincipal
factorswhenconsideringaerodynamiclosses.

Technologicaladvanceshavemadeitpossibletoreplacetherearviewmirrorswithcameras,thusdrasticallyreducingaerodynamic
drag.However,atthetimeofwritingitisstillillegaltoremovethesideviewmirrorsonahighwaytractorinCanadatherefore
camerascan,atbest,beusedasasupplementalvisionsystem.

5.2AcademicStudies
A2006study[7]bytheInstituteforAerospaceResearchattheNationalResearchCouncil(NRCIAR)testedtheindividual
contributionstoaerodynamiclossesfromavarietyofdevicesthatare,orcouldbe,attachedtoahighwaytractorandtrailer
combination.ThestudyusedaVolvoclass8highwaytractoranda28footvansemitrailer.Thecoefficientofdragofthetractor
andtrailercombinationwithoutdeviceswasmeasuredandthendeviceswereaddedbacktothecombinationvehicle,oneatatime,
todeterminetheindividualcontributiontoincreasingordecreasingaerodynamicdragforthecombinationvehicle.Thedrag
coefficient(CD)ofthebaselinevehiclewasmeasuredtobe0.659at100km/h.TheadditionofthetwoCMVSScompliantsideview
mirrors(similartothoseshowninFigure7,whichareapproximatelythreetimeslargerthantheminimumstipulatedinCMVSS111)
increasedthevehicleCDby0.0156,whichis2%higherthanthebaselinevehicle.Thisincreaseindragcouldtypicallyincreasefuel
consumptionbyapproximately1%at100km/h.TheNRCIARauthorsassumedayearlycruisingdistanceof130,000kmforeach
tractor.Theyconcludedthatifatractorstwosidemirrorswereremoved,thetractorwouldburn938fewerlitresoffuelannually
basedoncurrentfleetwideaveragefuelconsumptionvalues.ThiswouldresultinanestimatedCanadianfleetwidesavingsof
approximately212,926,000litresoffueleveryyear,or562,124,640kgofCO2ifthesideviewmirrorswereremovedfromall
227,000highwaytractors.Morefuelcouldbesavedwiththeremovalofmirrorsfromstraighttrucks,however,thiswouldbeless
effectivethanremovalonhighwaytractorssincestraighttruckstendtodriveatconsiderablyslowerspeedsthanhighwaytractor.
Similartestingwasperformedonthefendermountedconvexmirrors.Theresultsindicatedthatapproximately588litresoffuelare
burned,pertractor,annuallytoovercomethedragfromfendermirrorsonasingletractor.

5.3ManufacturerClaims
Theprojectedsavingsfromtheremovalofmirrorsmustbetemperedbythefactthatrearviewcamerasthatcouldreplacemirrors
willundoubtedlyalsoprojectintotheairstreamandthuscreatesomedrag,albeitmuchlessthanfullCMVSS111mirrors.Figure6
illustratesonecompanysprototypeofsideviewcamerasandthecantileveredbeamsrequiredtosupportthecameras.
Oneoftheriskfactorsassociatedwithsideviewcamerasisreliability.Withtheexceptionofvandalismordamagefromflyingroad
debris,traditionalmirrorshaveameantimebetweenfailurethatfarexceedsthepracticallifeofthetractortowhichtheyare
mounted.Conversely,rearviewcamerasandmonitorsintroduceavarietyofelectroniccomponents,eachofwhichwillcarrya
meantimebetweenfailurethatismostcertainlylowerthanthatofamirror(althoughtheexactamountisnotknownatthistime).It
maybenecessaryforcameraequippedvehiclestocarrysomeformofredundancyintheeventofcamerafailure.This
redundancy,however,mustbelightweightandstowedinsuchamannertonotaffecttheaerodynamicdragofthevehiclewhennot
inuseotherwisetheaerodynamicbenefitsofcameraswouldbelost.

Theeffectofaddingweighttothetractormustbeconsideredforrearfacingcamerastoensurethataerodynamicsavingsarenot
negatedbytheadditionofweight,abovethatofconventionalmirrorswhichtendtoaddverylittleweighttothetractor.Iftheweight
differentialbetweenthecameraequipmentandthetypicalmirrorswasenoughtocausethetractortoburn1%morefueleveryyear
thentheaerodynamicsavingswouldbelost.AccordingtotheEPA[19],every10percentdecreaseinatrucksweightreducesfuel
usebetween5and10%.Atagrossweightof,say,41,000kg,theaddedweightofthecameraequipmentwould,atmost,represent
a0.05%to0.1%increaseinGVW.Therefore,theestimatedfuelconsumptionincreasewouldbebetween0.025%and0.05%
whichisstillsubstantiallylessthantheestimated1%decreaseinfuelconsumptionwiththeremovalofsidemirrors.Actual
specificationsofvolumeandweightofthecameraequipmentandfullscaledynamometerandwindtunneltestingwouldberequired
toconfirmtheseestimates.

Oneareaofresearchworthnotingisshortwaveinfrared(SWIR)cameras.Thesecamerasuseinfraredtechnologytopenetrate
throughfoganddarknesstocaptureimagesthatwouldnormallybedifficultorimpossibletoseebyahumanoperator.Combining
rearvisioncameraswithSWIRswouldnotonlyreduceaerodynamicdragbutwouldalsoincreasethefunctionalityofthevision
systemabovewhatisnormallyprovidedbyconventionalmirrors.Figure5[20]illustrateshowcaptainsofseavesselscouldusea
SWIRcameratopenetratethroughfogtoseeothershipsorland.Similartechnologiescouldbeusedfordriversofheavytrucksto
seeothervehiclesorobstaclesintheroadduringfogorwhiteoutconditions.Studieswouldhavetobeperformedtodetermineif
devicesthatweredesignedtobeusedonships,inwhichtheoperatorsaretypicallylookingkilometersaheadwithawidefieldof
view,couldbeusedintractorswheretheoperatorsfieldofviewismuchcloserandwithinaconfinedlane.

Figure5ExampleofSWIRcamerainfog[20]

Figure6Exampleofinnovativetruckwithsideviewcamerasinplaceofmirrors
NRCCSTTreviewedthemirrorrequirementsintheUnitedStatesandinAustralia.CanadaandtheUnitedStateshaveharmonized
theirrequirementssuchthatCMVSS111isidenticaltoFMVSS111withrespecttomirrors.TheAustralianrequirement,Australian
DesignRule(ADR)14/02RearVisionMirrors[21]ismorecomplicatedtodecipherasitisdividedintotruckclassesthatare
differentthaninNorthAmerica,butappearstoallowamuchsmallerareaofreflectivesurfaceat150cm2ratherthanthe325cm2
requiredinNorthAmerica.Therefore,someconsiderationcouldbegiventoreducingtheamountofglassonaCMVSScompliant
mirrorandthusreducingitsareaandaerodynamicdrag.However,NRCCSTTmeasuredthereflectivesurfacesoftwoinservice
Canadianbasedtractorsusedforothertestinginwinter2011andfoundthatthesetractorswereequippedwithmirrorsthatwere
alreadytwoandahalftothreetimeslargerthanwhatisrequiredunderCMVSSregulations,ifboththeplaneandconvexsections
areconsidered.Infact,theplanesectionsaloneofthemirrorswereapproximatelytwicethesizerequiredintheCMVSS
regulation.TheexactdimensionsofthemirrorsareshowninTable6,expressedinareaandpercentageoftheCMVSS111
standardandphotosofmirrors#1and#2areshowninFigure7andFigure8.Therefore,ifmanufacturersandoperatorsare
alreadyaccustomedtovehiclesequippedwithnearlythreetimestherequiredminimuminordertodrivesafely,itisnotlikelythat
reducingthelegalminimumwillmotivatemanufacturerstoprovidesmallermirrors.

5.4OperationalConcerns
NRCCSTTinterviewedtwoexperiencedheavytruckdriversandeachofthemagreedthatratherthanalterthesizeofthemirrors,
theywouldpreferahybridsideviewmirrorthatincludedaninboardplanesectionwithanoutboardconvexsectiontoincreasethe
fieldofview.Thisincreasedfieldofviewwouldallowthemtoseesmallerandfastervehicles,suchasmotorcycles,astheypassin
thelefthandlane,possiblyinthelefthandportionoftheleftlane.Mostmirrorsystemsrequiredthedrivertolookintotheplane
mirrorandthenlowertheireyestolookintotheconvexmirrorbelowtheplanemirrorfortheexpandedfieldofview.Thehybrid
constructionwouldallowthemtoassessanemergencylanechangemuchfaster,withouttheneedtolowertheireyesorhead.
Additionally,onedriverindicatedthat(inhisopinion),newerdriverscouldeasilybetrainedtousevideocamerasystemswhereas
moreexperienceddriversmayfindthemigrationtoviewingavideoterminaltotheirrightdifficultaftersomanyyearsoflookingto
theirleft.This,hefelt,wouldbeparticularlydifficultinanemergencysituationwheretheyreactoninstinctratherthanonprocessor
thought.

Table6Sizesoftwosideviewmirrors

Section Mirror#1 Mirror#2

UpperSection(plane) 701.1cm2(216%) 597.6cm2(184%)

LowerSection(convex) 251.6cm2(77%) 235.6cm2(72%)

TotalArea 953.2cm2(293%) 833.2cm2(256%)

TheCanadianandAustralianregulationsareparaphrasedbelow:

Canada(andUSA):

27)Everymultipurposepassengervehicle,truckandbuswithaGVWRofmorethan4536kg(10,000pounds),otherthanaschool
bus,shallhaveoneachsideofthevehicleanoutsiderearviewmirrorofwhichnotlessthan325cm2(50squareinches)ofreflective
surfaceareaislocatedsoastoprovidethedriverwithaviewtotherearalongbothsidesofthevehicle.

Australia[21]

REQUIREMENTSFORMD3MD4MENBANDNCVEHICLESONLY
4.1.Thereshallbeaffixedtoeveryvehicleamirrorormirrorssodesignedandfittedandofsuchdimensionsastobecapable
ofreflectingtothedriverasfaraspracticableaclearviewoftheroadtotherearofhimandofanyfollowingorovertaking
vehicle.
4.2.Atleastonesuchmirrorshallbeaffixedtoeachsideofthevehicleandmayproject150mmbeyondthepointofOverall
WidthofthevehicleortheOverallWidthofanytraileritmaybedrawing
4.2.1.ifthevehicleisagoodsvehicleoranomnibus
4.2.2.ifthetrailerbeofgreaterwidththanthedrawingvehicleor
4.2.3.inanycasewhere,becauseofthemannerinwhichthevehicleisconstructedorequipped,orthefactthatitisdrawinga
trailerorforanyotherreason,thedrivercouldnot,bymeansofamirroraffixedtotheinsideofthevehicle,havereflectedto
himasfaraspracticableaclearviewoftheroadtotherearofhimandofanyfollowingorovertakingvehicle.
4.3.Themirrorsmayproject230mmoneachsidebeyondthepointofOverallWidthofthevehicleprovidedthatthemirroris
capableofcollapsingto150mm.
4.4.Allsuchmirrorsfittedtovehiclesshallbeatleast150squarecentimetresinarea.
4.5.Mirrorsonthedriverssideshallbeflat,andmirrorsonthepassengerssidemaybeflatorconvex.
4.5.1.Convexmirrors,iffitted,shallmeettherequirementsofClauses2.4.2.1and2.4.2.2.

Figure7Exampleoftypicalsideviewmirror

Figure8Viewoftypicaldriver'ssidemirror

5.5Conclusions
CMVSScompliantmirrorsareresponsibleforapproximately2%oftheoveralldragonaconventionaltractorandtrailer.Astudy
concludedthatifatractorstwosidemirrorswereremoved,thetractorwouldburn938fewerlitresoffuelannuallybasedoncurrent
fleetwideaveragefuelconsumptionvalues.Somemanufacturersarecurrentlydesigningprototypevehiclesthatuserearfacing
camerasandincabvideoscreensthatreplacethesideviewmirrors.However,thesesystemscannotbeusedindependently
withoutmirrors,underthecurrentCMVSSregulations.

AcursoryreviewofinservicetractorsinOntarioconfirmedthatdriversarecurrentlyaccustomedtousingmirrorsthatarenearly
threetimeslargerthanwhatisrequiredunderCMVSSregulations.Therefore,itisnotlikelythatreducingtheminimumamountof
glassrequiredunderCMVSSwouldresultinanydragsavingssincemostdriverswouldbereluctanttoreducetheirfieldofvision
fromwhattheyarecurrentlyusing.

Sideviewmirrorsareconsideredfailsafedevices.Replacingsideviewmirrorswithrearviewcameraswillmostcertainlyreduce
themeantimebetweenfailure(MTBF)ofthetractor.However,furtherworkwouldberequiredtocomparetheMTBFof
conventionalmirrorsversustheMTBFofacamerasystem.

Somedriversmayrequiremoretimetoadjusttotheconceptoflookingtotherightintoavideoscreen,ratherthanlookingleftand
rightintomirrors,particularlywhenrequiredtodosointheeventofanemergencylanechange.

5.6AreasRecommendedforFurtherWork
5.6AreasRecommendedforFurtherWork
Thedragreductionpotentialofremovingthesideviewmirrorsisunderstood,quantifiedandwelldocumentedbylabtesting
thereforetherewouldlikelybelittlebenefittoreproducingthosetests.However,thereseemstobelittledocumentedtestingwith
regardstotheperformanceandreliabilityofrearcamerasanddriveracceptanceoftheiruse.NRCCSTTrecommendsdeveloping
astudytodeterminethebenefitsanddrawbacksofsideviewmirrorreplacementforaspectsotherthanthewellknownaerodynamic
benefits.Thesewouldinclude,reliabilityandmaintainability,theweightoftheaddeddevices,theneedforredundancy,thespeedat
whichthedriverscanviewobjectsintheleftlane,anddriveracceptance,particularlyforthosedriverswhohavebeenusingmirrors
formanyyears.Ifitwasdeterminedthatsideviewmirrorscouldberemovedwithoutanynegativesafetysideeffectsitwouldbe
worthwhiletoinvestigateapilotprojecttobetterunderstandthepotentialfuelsavingsunderactualrevenuedrivingconditions.

Thebenefitsofinfraredcamerascouldalsobestudiedtodetermineiftheycouldbecombinedwithcameramirrorstoenhancethe
visionofthedriversduringinclementweather.

6Platooning

6.1Definition
Platooningistheactofcouplingtwoormorevehiclestogetherwhiletheyaretravellingonahighway.Theintentofplatooningisto
improvesafety,trafficflowandefficiencywhilealsoimprovingtheefficiencyoftheindividualvehicleswithintheplatoon[22].

Thiscouplingcanbemechanical,electrical,magneticorelectronic.Thisallowsvehiclestotravelasasynchronizedunit,reducing
thedistancebetweenvehicleswhichreducesthelagtimeassuccessivevehiclesaccelerateinthesamedirection.Italsoallows
vehiclestobrakeasoneunit,ratherthanasseparateentities,thusreducingtheriskofrearendcollisions.

Althoughplatooningisgenerallyaimedatreducingtrafficcongestion,oneofthegreatestsidebenefitsofplatooningisthereduction
inaerodynamicdragonallofthevehiclesintheplatoon,eventheleadvehicle.Althoughaerodynamicdragisafactorthataffects
allvehicles,thefuelconsumptionofClass8tractortrailercombinationsissignificantlyaffectedbyaerodynamiceffectsowingtotheir
largesizeandbluntfrontfaces.Forthisreason,theconceptofplatooningmakessensewhenappliedtoverylarge,bluntface,
vehicles.

Advancedplatooningwouldallowintelligentvehiclestojoinorleavetheplatoonatanytime,however,therearemanychallenges
involvedwithplatooning,principallytheinteractionbetweentheplatoonvehiclesandnonplatoonvehiclesaswellasstrategiesto
optimizethevehiclesspacing.

Althoughtherearemanyaspectsofplatooning,theconceptsrelatingtodragreductionofheavyvehicleshavebeenpresentedin
Sections6.2through6.6

6.2CurrentState
Platooningremainsaconceptthatisbeingstudied,researchedandtestedinmanydevelopedcountries,however,thereareno
examplesofplatoonsthatcancurrentlybefoundonactivepublicroadways.

6.3AcademicStudies
Theconceptofplatooningdatesbacktoapilotstudyconductedin1962byDr.RobertFentonattheUniversityofOhio[23].
Althoughcomputerswereused,theyfillednearlytheentirefreespaceinsidethevehiclemakingtheprojectimpracticalforeveryday
use.Thisresearchcontinueduntilfundingwascutintheearly1980s.However,computingandsensordevelopmentandevolution
hasallowedtheconceptofplatooningtobeconsideredagain,asaviableprojectforthefuture.

Globally,thereareseveralsignificantprojectsunderway,eachattemptingtodefinehowaplatooningsystemcouldbeintegratedinto
asmarthighway.Theseprojectsareasfollows:

6.3.1KONVOI
KONVOIwasaGermanstudyaimedatdefininghowplatooningcouldbeimplementedexclusivelyonheavytrucks.Althoughmuch
oftheresearchtendedtofocusontheeffectsofplatooningontrafficflow,therewerealsotheoreticalmodulesthatdealtwiththe
aerodynamiceffects.OneKONVOImodel,usingANSYS,wassetupwiththeleadtruckpullingthefollowingtruckatadistanceof
32feet,ataspeedof80km/h(50mph).Thesimulationillustratedthatasavingsofbetween11%and12%waspossible,
dependingontheweightofthetrucks.However,thepublication[101]wasnotclearifthatwasafuelconsumptionsavingsoradrag
savings.Themodelwasvalidatedusingtracktestingandtheresultsindicatedapotentialsavingofgreaterthan9%,however,once
againitwasnotclearifthiswasadragorfuelsavings.

6.3.2PATH
PartnersforAdvancedTransitandHighways(PATH)isacollaborationbetweentheCaliforniaDepartmentoftransportation,UC
Berkeleyandotherprivateandpublicinstitutionsthathasevolvedoverthepast20years.ThemissiononPATHistoreducetraffic
congestion,increasetrafficflowandsafetyanddecreaseenergyconsumption.

SomeoftheaerodynamicresultsthathavebeendemonstratedviathePATHprojectinclude:

Simulatedresultsshowedapotentialfuelsavingsupto25%whereasactualfieldtestingdemonstratedfuelsavingscloserto
15%
Allofthevehiclesinaplatoonbenefitfromtheplatoon,eventheleadvehicle
Thegreatestaerodynamicbenefitsareachievedbythevehiclesinthemiddleoftheplatoon,thenbythelastvehicle,andthen
theleadvehicle
Althoughsmallergapdistancesarepreferable,thedifferenceinfuelsavingsbetweena2mto10mgaparerelativelylow
Optimalperformancecouldbegainedinagroupofvehiclesbyhavingtheaerodynamicallycleanvehicleattheleadposition
andtheaerodynamicallydirtyvehicleinthelastposition.Dirtyreferstovehicleswithmanyprotrusions,disturbancesand
edges.
Studieswouldberequiredtodetermineifplatooningcouldcausealackofairflowtotheenginesofthenonleadvehicle,thus
increasingtheriskofengineoverheatingornecessitatingtheuseofaccessorycoolingfansthatcouldcreateaparasiticdrag
ontheengine,increasingfuelconsumptionslightly.

6.3.3SARTRE
SafeRoadTrainsfortheEnvironment(SARTRE)isaEuropeanconsortiumprojectaimedatstudyingthepossibilityofamulti
vehicletypeplatoonsystemthatcouldincludepassengervehicles,heavytrucksandbusesdrivingonunalteredconventional
roads.Themainfocusoftheprojectistheenvironment,trafficsafetyandtrafficcongestion.

Thesystemcomprisesoneleadvehicle,drivenbyaprofessionaldriverwholeadstheplatoon,andaseriesofautonomousfollowing
vehicles,operatedbyconventionaldrivers.Thefollowingdriversarethenfreetoengageinactivitiesthatwouldnormallybe
prohibited,suchasreadingorusingacellphone.Oneoftheprincipalgoalsoftheprojectistodeterminehowaplatooncanbe
successfullyintegratedwithothernonplatoontraffic,forsuchthingsaslanechangesanddepartingthehighway.

OneoftheprincipalgoalsoftheSARTREproject[27]istodeterminetheoptimumspacingforvehiclessuchthataerodynamicgains
aremaximizedwhilestillrespectingtheneedstomaintainasafedistance.Evensophisticatedcontrolsystemsrequiresome
feedbacktimetobrakethetrailingvehiclefastenoughtopreventacollision,thereforealimitontheminimumdistancebetween
vehicleswillberequired,regardlessofaerodynamiceffects.

6.3.4PROMOTECHAUFFEUR
OtherresearchershavepartneredwiththePROMOTECHAUFFEURprojecttogaininsightintoavarietyofotherfactors.Onesuch
study,performedbyBonnetandFritz[26]studiedtheaerodynamiceffectsofhavingoneheavytruckfollowingasimilarheavytruck
byaslittleas5m.Theprincipaldifferencebetweenthisstudyandmanyotherswasthefocusonfuelconsumptionratherthandrag
coefficient.

Theydevelopedwhatwasknownasanelectronictowbarwhichessentiallyjoinedthetwovehiclestogetherwithoutanyformof
mechanicallinkage.Thepurposeofthestudywastodeterminetherelationshipbetweenfollowingdistanceandpotentialdrag
reduction,assumingallotherfactorssuchasgrade,windspeed,vehiclespeedandrollingresistanceremainedconstant.Thelead
vehiclewasdrivenbyahumandriveratsteadyspeedsof60km/hand80km/hwhereasthetrailingvehiclewasoperatedbythe
electronicvehiclecontroller.Infraredlightsmountedontherearoftheleadvehiclewereusedtosendinformationtothetowed
vehiclecontroller(TVC)whichcontrolsthelateralandlongitudinalpositionofthetrailingvehiclebyaccelerating,steeringand
brakingasnecessary.However,thedriverofthetrailingvehiclealwaysmaintainstheoptionofoverridingthesystemanddriving
thevehiclemanuallyifrequiredforemergencyoroperationalreasons.

Thevehiclesweredrivenattrailingdistancesbetween6and16metresandthefuelconsumptionofbothvehicleswascalculated
usingamovingaveragetakenevery10secondsandbycalculatingthetotalamountoffuelconsumedforeachtestleg.Thesetwo
methodswerethenaveragedtoobtainanoverallfuelconsumptiondifferenceatvariousfollowingdistancesforeachofthevehicles
comparedtowhenthevehicleswerebeingdrivenatatypicalfollowingdistance.

Someoftheimportantfindingsofthereportwereasfollows:

Asexpected,fuelconsumptiondifferenceswerehigherat80km/hthanat60km/h
Relativetothebaselinecondition,thefuelconsumptionofthetrailingvehicledecreasedlinearlyfromatrailingdistanceof
about16mupto10mandthenleveledofffrom10mdownto6m.Thehighestpercentagereductioninfuelconsumption
was21%andappearedatavehiclespacingof8m
Platooningwithafollowingdistanceof16mat80km/hstillresultedinafuelconsumptionreductionofmorethan15%
Similartrendswerefoundatspeedsof60km/h,however,thereductionrangedfrom10%to16%
Fuelconsumptionreductionwasalsoachievedintheleadvehicle,however,theywerelessthanthatofthetrailingvehicle
At80km/htheleadvehicleexperiencedarangeoffuelconsumptionreductionfrom4%atatrailingdistanceof14mto10%
at10m
At60km/htheleadvehicleexperiencedarangeoffuelconsumptionreductionfrom4%atatrailingdistanceof8mto7%at5
m

Thetestteamconcludedthatatrailingdistanceof10mwasoptimumwhenconsideringavarietyofspeedsaswellasthefuel
consumptionreductionforboththeleadandtrailingvehicles.Trailingdistancesoflessthan10mdidnotproduceincreased
benefits.

Thetestteamalsoinvestigatedtheeffectsofvehicleweightonthepotentialfuelsavings.Theleadandtrailingtestvehicleshad
massesof14.5tonnesand28tonnesrespectively.Sincerollingresistanceisgreatlyaffectedbyvehicleweight,itstandstoreason
thattherelativeaerodynamicbenefitofplatooningdecreasesasvehicleweightincreasesasmoreandmorefuelisbeingusedto
overcomerollingresistance.Usingextrapolationmethods,theteamcalculatedthatalightlyloadedtrailingvehicleat14.5tonnes
couldpotentiallyachievefuelsavingsof28%ata10mfollowingdistancewhereasaheavilyloaded40tonnetruckwouldlikelyonly
achieveasavingsof17%at10meters.

6.4OperationalConcerns
Platooningremainsalargelytheoreticalstudy,withnoknowncurrentpracticalapplications.Thereforeitisdifficulttoitemizeallthe
areasthatmaybeofconcerntoanoperator.Certainlythebiggestoperationalconcernrelatestohownonplatoonvehicleswill
interactwithlongplatoonsofheavyvehicles.Eveniflongplatoonscouldbearrangedinasafeandefficientmanner,therewillbe
manychallengesregardinghowothervehicleswillnegotiatearoundtheplatoons,particularlywhentryingtoexitahighwayviathe
rightmostlane.Ofalltheitemsdescribedinthisreport,platooningremainsthefurthestfromactualdeploymentduenotonlytothe
largetechnicalchallenges,butalsotothemonumentaltaskofdetermininghowothervehicleswouldinteractwiththeplatoon.

6.5Conclusions
Severalresearchstudieshavedemonstratedthatplatoonscanbeeffectiveatreducingthedragonallofthevehiclesintheplatoon,
eventheleadvehicles.However,thelargestreductionindragoccursforthevehiclesbetweenthefirstandlastvehicle.Itis
estimatedthatvehiclesinaplatooncouldexperiencebetweena9%and25%reductioninfuelconsumption,dependingonspacing,
vehiclespeed,vehiclepositionandvehiclemass.

Itisclearthatplatooningrequiressignificantchangestotheroadinfrastructureandwouldalsorequireasignificantchangeindriving
behaviourfordriversinothervehicleswhoaresurroundingtheplatoonbutnotactuallyintheplatoon.

6.6AreasRecommendedforFurtherWork
Althoughplatooningappearstohaveagreatpotentialtoreduceaerodynamicdragitdoesnotappeartobeapracticalsolutionto
CanadiantruckinginthenearfutureduetothesizeofCanadasroadnetworkandtheimmaturestatusofthetechnology.Thereare
toomanylogisticalandinfrastructurebarriersthatmustbeovercometomakethisaviableconceptforthenearfuture.Evenif
technologycouldallowtwoormoreheavyvehiclestobeelectronicallyconnected,thelogisticsofintegratingthesevehiclesinto
existingtrafficflowswillprovetobeextremelydifficult.FurthertestingandunderstandingofLCVswouldbeamorepractical
approachtomultivehicleaerodynamicreductionsuntilplatooninghasbeenperfectedinsmallercountriesinEurope.

Itwouldappearthatmanyoftheresearchstudiesfocusedonvehiclesthatwerelighterthantypicalheavyvehiclesfoundin
Canada.Theresultsofplatooningcanbemorefavourablewhenusinglightervehiclessinceahigherpercentageoffuel
consumptioncanbeattributedtoaerodynamiceffects.TheeffectsofplatooningwithvehiclesloadedtothemaximumCanadian
legalweightwouldprovidemoreusefulinformationaboutthepotentialforplatooningonCanadianroads.

GiventhecomplexityofplatooningandtherelativesimplicityofLCVs,itwouldbeusefultoquantifythedifferencesinfuel
consumptionreductionfromvehiclesinaplatoonversusanLCV.ThestudycouldbeginbycomparinganLCVagainstatwovehicle
platoonandthenagainstplatoonswithincreasinglyhighernumbersofvehicles.

7TRACTORTRAILERDRAGREDUCTIONDEVICES

7.1Definition
Today,therearealargenumberofClass8tractortrailerdragreducingdevicesandtechnologiesbothinuseandunder
development.Manyofthesehavebeenextensivelystudied,withtheperformancebenefitswelldocumentedintheresearchpress.
Theseincluderoofdeflectors,cabsideextensions,trailerboattailsandtrailersideskirts.Thesectionwillalsodescribesomeof
thelesswellstudied,andlesscommerciallyadoptedtechnologiesforimprovingaerodynamicefficienciesoftractortrailor
combinations.
InareportbytheUSNationalAcademyofSciencesthatdocumentedcurrentandemergingtechnologiesforfuelreductionof
mediumandheavydutyvehicles[2],theyidentifiedthefourfollowingcriticalareasforaerodynamicimprovementoftractortrailers
underhighwayconditions:

Tractorstreamlining
Managementofairflowaroundthetractortrailergap
Managementofairflowunderthetrailer
Managementofairflowattherearofthetrailer.

Withthestatusofsomecurrentandemergingtechnologies,itispredictedthataerodynamictreatmenttothesekeyareascanlead
toareductioninfuelconsumptionunderhighwayconditionsontheorderof15%withinthe2015to2020timeframe[2].

Thedragreductiontechnologiesdescribedinthissectioncanbeseparatedintotwomajorcategoriesthosemountedtothetractor
andthosemountedtothetrailer.AsispointedoutbyLeuschenandCooper[29]andothers,thereexistasmanyasthreetofour
timesasmanytrailersinserviceastherearetractors.Asalargemajorityofaddondragreductiondevicestendtobetrailer
mounted,therehasbeenreluctanceintheindustrytoadoptthesedevices,asthereisacleardistinctionbetweentractor
owners/operatorsandtrailerowners.Sincetrailermanufacturersaretypicallynotalsooperators,andthecostofgapdevices
increasesoveralltraileracquisitioncosts,thereislittlemotivationonthepartofthetrailermanufacturerstoadoptthesedevices.The
paybackperiodfortractormounteddeviceswillbemuchshorterthanthatfortrailermounteddevices,whichwillaffecttherateof
adoptionofsuchtechnologiestothetransportationindustry.Assuch,thetractordevicesandtechnologieswilllikelybeadopted
earlier.

Whenevaluatingthepotentialfuelsavingsoftractortrailerdevices,itisimportanttounderstandthecontextunderwhichany
measurementsorevaluationshavebeenperformed.Results,especiallythosebasedonroadtesting,canbebiaseddependingon
theconditionsofthevehicleandtheenvironmentalunderwhichtheyweretested.Forexample,favourabledragreductionclaims
basedonfueleconomytestscanbebiasedifadeviceistestedonalightlyloadedvehicleinlowwindconditions.Also,although
manufacturersandresearchersclaimsmaybevalidat60to65mph,oneresearcher[30]reportstheaveragespeedofahighway
tractorisapproximately48mphthereforetheactualfuelconsumptionreductionwouldbelessthanthepublisheddataat60mph.
Thisprovidesdifficultyinevaluatingvarioustechnologiesbasedonseparatestudiesorclaims.Asystematicandconsistentmanner
inwhichthedevicescanbetestedwouldberequiredtoprovideasetofrecommendationtopolicymakers,manufacturers,and
operators.

Muchofthepreviousresearchhasbeenconductedonveryspecific,orasmallsetoftractortrailercombinations.Sincemanyof
todaystractorsmaypullloadsconsistingofavarietyoftrailertypes,thatthemselveshavesignificantlyvaryingaerodynamic
properties,itiswellworthstudyingtheeffectsofthemostcommoncommerciallyavailabledragreductiondevicesonvarioustractor
trailercombinations.Specifically,therehasbeenlittlestudyofthepossiblenegativeeffectsthatcouldarisefromcabrooffairings
andsideextensions,whenusedwithcertaincombinationsoftrailers.[31]Mostrecentstudiesaimedatthesecondgeneration
technologiesgenerallyperformevaluationofdragreductionorfueleconomyusingastreamlinednewergenerationtractorshape.
Lifestyletruckersoftenpreferolderboxierstyletractorswithmanyappendages,lights,andnoairdeflectors.Itisalsoworthwhileto
evaluatetheeffectsofsomenewertechnologies,thosethatmaynotsignificantlyaffecttheappearanceofthevehicle,onthese
classicstyletractors.

Asnotedabove,fourcriticalareasareidentifiedforapplicationofdragreductiontechnologies.Inthefollowing,dragreduction
devicesandtechnologiesforeachofthesefourareasaredescribed.Initiallyagenerallistofconceptswasdevisedbasedon
severalreferences[2],[5],[6],[7],[8],[14],[23],[32],[33],[34],[35]thatidentifytechnologiesanddevicesthatcanbeevaluatedfor
dragreductionpotentialoftractortrailercombinations.Furtherreferencesareprovidedwithinspecificsectionbelow.

7.2TractorStreamlining

7.2.1Currentstate
Tractorstreamlininghasbeenadrivingfactorintractordevelopmentbymanufacturersforthelastthreedecades.Thefuelcrisisof
the1970spromotedthedevelopmentandsubsequentadoptionofaerotractorstothemarketinthe1980sandthroughthe1990s.
Despitethedemandbyoldergenerationdriversfortheclassicstyletractorswithsquarehoods,flatbumpers,andlargeexternal
appendagessuchasairfiltersandexhaustpipes,allmanufacturershaveaerotractormodelsthathavebeendevelopedwithfuel
economyinmind.Aerotractormodelsprovideareductioninaerodynamicdrag,overtheclassicstyle,ontheorderof30%[5].This
isaccomplishedprimarilythroughroundingofthefrontsurfaces,theuseofroofairdeflectors,andtheuseoffairingsoverthefuel
tanksbetweenthesteeringaxleandthedriveaxles.Examplesofaclassictractormodelandamodernaerotractormodelare
showninFigure9.
Figure9Tractorstyles:Classic(leftPeterbuilt389),Aero(rightInternationalProStar)

Currenteffortstowardsincrementaldragreductionoftractorsaredirectedatthebumperareas,theunderbody,andthegapregion
betweentractorandtrailer.

AsummaryofmanyofthemostcurrentandpopulartractoraddonscanbefoundinLeuschenandCooper[29],andrepeated,in
part,below.Thevaluesbelowhavebeencalculatedonanassumeddistanceof130,000km(81,000mi)coveredatanominalwind
averagedcruisingspeedof107km/hr(65mph).ThespecificdetailsofthecalculationsarewellpresentedbyLeuschenandCooper.
Ofnoteisthattheadditionofsomecommondevices,suchasOEMMirrors,bugdeflectorsandfendermirrorsnegativelyimpactfuel
burn.

Table7TractorAddonspotentialFuelSavings[29]

PotentialFuelsavings/yr(L)

OEMSideMirrors
938

OEMBugdeflector
903

OEMfendermirrors
588

BlockedEngineInlets
6

SunVisor/windshieldbrow
54

Truckandtrailerhubcaps
120

DeerBumper
120

Wraparoundsplashguards
292

Prototyperoofdeflectorfiller
825

Gapreductionof10inches
982

OEMcabtankskirts
1596

OEMSideextenders
2499

OEMRoofDeflector
4318
Manyothersignificantareasofpossibleaerodynamicdragreductionfortractorshavebeenidentifiedorproposed,asdescribed
below.

7.2.2Technologies

7.2.2.1Mirrors
Generally,truckmanufacturersaerodynamicallyoptimizetheirstandardmirrordesign.However,asnotedinSection5,these
standardmirrorsarelargerthanrequiredbylaw.Proposedcamerasystemsinsteadofsidemirrors,asdescribedinSection5,or
combinationsofboth,mayrequireaerodynamicoptimizationforshape,sizeandlocation.

7.2.2.2Bumpers
Theshapeofatractorinitsbumperregionprovidesastronginfluenceontheflowunderneaththetractor.Loweringofthetractor
bumperusingairdamsorspoilerscanredirectflowtothesidesofthevehicleratherthanunderneathit,whichmayprovidea
reductionindragbyreducingthemomentumoffluiddirectedtotheunderbody.

InthestudybyLeuschenandCooper[29]describedabove,theDeerBumperprovidedaslightdecreaseindrag,howeverits
magnitudewasontheorderoftheexperimentaluncertainty.Thisindicatesthatsuchbumpersmaynotnecessarilyreducefuel
consumption,buttheirproximitytothestagnationregiononthefrontfaceofavehiclemaymakebethemaerodynamicallyneutral.

Manytransportcompaniesarechoosingheavydutybumpersbecauseofthecombinedeffectofveryhighinsurancepremiumsand
thefragilityofthelightweightmaterialsusedforfrontendcomponents.Havingaheavydutybumpermakesitpossibletoavoid
claimingminorcollisionsbutcomeswithafuelconsumptionpenalty.Theimpactonfuelconsumptionofthisapproachwasalso
evaluatedbyFPInnovationsduringEnergotestcampaigns[37].Testingresultedina2%increaseinfuelconsumptionforthe
vehicleequippedwiththeheavydutybumper,whichcanbepartlyexplainedbyincreasedweight.Aerodynamicoptimizationofsuch
bumpersmaybepossibletolimitanyfuelconsumptionsolelytoweightincreases.

Figure10Heavydutybumpermountedtoatractor

Thebumperislocatedincloseproximitytotheground,andtherelativemotionofthegroundwithrespecttothevehiclecreates
complexaerodynamicflowcharacteristicsthatarenotintuitive.Anyaerodynamicevaluationofbumpershapesandtechnologies
wouldrequireproperaccountingofthisrelativemotion.WorkdoneattheNRCinawindtunnelusingarollingroadsystemto
simulateproperlythevehicleairgroundmotionshasshownforsomelowervehiclemodificationssignificantlydifferentaerodynamic
behaviordependingonwhetherthegroundplanewasfixedormoving.Someconfigurationsthatprovidedinadecreaseindragwith
afixedfloorprovidedanincreaseindragforamovingfloor,indicatingthisstrongdependenceoflowervehicleaerodynamicson
theserelativemotions.Inawindtunnelsimulation,themovingfloorrepresentsmostaccuratelytheonroadcase.

7.2.2.3Accessories
Apotentialexistsforaccessoriessuchashubcapsandmudflapstoprovidesomeaerodynamicbenefittoreducingfuel
consumptionofvehicles.

LeuschenandCooper[29]noteasmalldecreaseinthedragofatractortrailerwithsmoothhubcaps,basedonwindtunneltests
withstationarywheels.Thedecreaseindragwaswithintheexperimentaluncertaintyofthetests,howeverwithrotatingwheels
theremaybeanadvantagetocoveringthewheels.Ifanetbenefitcanbegainedbyusinghubcapsorwheelcovers,itwillalsobe
necessarytoevaluatetheireffectonbrakecoolingtoensuretheydonotrestrictairflowtothebrakes.
Mudflapsinhibittheliftingofsoil,rocksandmudintotheairbyblockingthemotionofairinthedirectdownwindvicinityofthe
wheels.Thisprovidesrestrictiontotheflowandthereforeintroducesdragtotheoverallvehicle.Someconceptsforslottedmud
flapshavebeenproposed[14]thatblockthemotionofsolidparticleswhileallowingsomeairtopassthrough.UsingComputational
FluidDynamics(CFD),Hyamsetal.[38]indicatethata9%reductionindragcanbeattainedbyusingslottedverticalslatsbehind
thetrailerbogieinsteadoffullflaps.

7.2.2.4DeturbulatorTapesandSurfaces
Sinha[33]describesapassivetechnology,calleddeturbulators,consistingofstripsofmaterialthatclaimstodampentheenergyof
largescalevortexstructuresandprovideimprovedflowconditionsoveratractortrailerthateffectivelyreducesthedrag(See
Figure11).Fueleconomytestsshoweda4%reductioninfuelconsumption.Nouptakeofthistechnologyhasbeenobserved,and
anindependentevaluationofthisapproachisrequiredtodemonstrate/validatethistechnologyfully.

Figure11Effectofdeturbulatoronatractortrailer[95]

7.2.2.5SuperhydrophobicCoatings
Inmanyaircraftstudiesusingagenerictransportmodel[39],[40],[41],theeffectoficebuilduponaerodynamicdraghasbeen
studied.Dependingonwhereiceaccretes,anincreaseindragmaybeobservedfortractortrailersinicyconditions.Additionally,ice
builduponatractortraileralsoleadstoweightincreaseswhichleadtohigherfuelconsumption.Finally,thereisanincreasedriskto
otherroadusersshouldlargechunksofattachediceandsnowdislodgeathighwayspeeds.

Oneproposaltoalleviatethebuildupoficeandsnowontractortrailerandvanbodiesistheadoptionofsuperhydrophobic
coatings.Superhydrophobicsurfaces,suchastheleavesofthelotusplant,arehighlyhydrophobicwhichmakesthemextremely
difficulttowet.Thecontactangleofawaterdropletexceeds150andtherolloffangleislessthan10.Thisisreferredtoasthe
Lotuseffect,asseeninFigure12,andconsequentlywaterdoesnotremainontreatedsurfaces,andbyextensioniceshouldnot
accumulate.

Therehavebeensignificantadvancesinthedevelopmentofthesesuperhydrophobiccoatings,whoseapplicabilitytoreducingsnow
andiceaccumulationcouldbeinvestigated.Additionally,thewaterdropletinteractionatthesurfaceofatreatedsurfacecouldbe
investigatedtoseeiftherearebenefitsinthereductionofroadspray.Itispossible,thoughasyetunstudied,thatsuperhydrophobic
surfacesmaycausewatersheddingthatreducestheeffectsofroadsprayonotherroadusers.

Figure12Waterdropletonalotusleaf

Notethelargeincludedangleattheinterfaceofthedropletandleafsurface.Ifthisangleislarge,contactforcesbetweenthedropletandtheleaf
aresmall,resultinginlowdropletadhesion.

7.2.2.6BaseBleeding
Someofthemostsignificantsourcesofdragonatractortrailerresultfromthelargepressuredifferencesbetweenthefrontofthe
cabandtherearofthetrailerandfromtherearofthecabandthefrontofthetrailer,previouslydiscussedasthegapdrag.Alarge
pressureonthesurfacefacingtheflow,coupledwithanegativepressureonthesurfacesfacingawayfromtheflowresultin
significantaerodynamicdrag.
Oneproposedtechniquetominimizethissourceofdragiscalledbasebleeding.Essentially,highpressureairisintroducedinto
theselow/negativepressurezones.Theresultisthatthedifferentialpressurebetweenthetwosurfacesisreduced,and
consequentlydragisreduced.Twomethodsforachievingthispressureequalizationhavebeenstudied.[42],[43].Thesemethods
comprisesocalledactivebasebleedingandpassivebasebleeding.

Inactivebasebleeding,amechanicalsource(compressor)isusedtogeneratevolumesofairwhichareintroducedintothelow
pressureregions.Thesetechniquesareclaimedtobeaerodynamicallyeffectiveunderresearchconditions(windtunneltestingand
computationalanalysis)butinpractice,canbeverydifficulttoimplement.Thesesystemsaddweight,electricaldragontheengines
(i.e.requirepower)andcanbequitecomplex.Aswell,activebasebleedingtechniqueswouldmostlikelysuffersimilarreliability
issuesduetosleet,snowanddirtaccumulation.

Passivebasebleedinginvolvesthecarefulmanipulationandductingofnaturallyoccurringhighpressureairtoareasoflow
pressure.Thoughtheelectricalsystemloaddragiseliminated,therearestillweightandspacepenaltiesandthesystemsneedto
becarefullytunedinordertooperatemosteffectively.Thisfinetuningisoftenspeeddependent,andreliantonmaintainingexacting
geometries.Inpractice,thismightbedifficulttomaintainduringnormaltruckingoperationsonroadswheresnow,sleetanddebris
areoftenpresent,resultinginthepossibleobstructionofthebasebleedingstructures.

Severaluniversityteamsarelookingatactivesuctionand/orblowingtechnologiestoincreasethebasepressureoftrailers.
ATDynamicshasroadtestedtwosuchconfigurations(fromTelAvivUniversityandGeorgiaTechResearchInstitute)andfoundthat
whentheenergyexpenditureofthefans/blowersareaccountedfor,thereisanetlossinsystemefficiency[44].Improvementinthe
airsupply/suctionsystemscanbemade,butthesamestudyshowedpassivepanelsandboattailsprovideatleastasmuchdrag
reductionastheactivedevices,withoutanyenergyexpenditure.

Operationally,activesystemswillbemuchmoredifficulttomaintain,especiallythosethatrequireairexchangethroughthinslots
andholessuchasthosestudiesbyATDynamics.

Giventheexpectedreliabilityissuesofactiveandpassivebasebleedingsystemswhenoperatingundernormalweatherconditions,
furtherstudyinthisareaisnotrecommended.

7.2.2.7Coolingairflowexhaust
Enginecoolingisaccomplishedbyairflowthroughtheenginecompartment,eitherdrivenbyfansatlowdrivingspeedsorbyram
effectsathigherspeeds.Asthecoolingairpassesthroughtheenginecompartmentafterpassingthroughtheradiator,condenser
andotherauxiliarycomponents,itisthenreintroducedintothemainairstream.

Themannerinwhichthecoolingairflowexhaustsfromtheenginecompartmentmayhaveaneffectonthedragcharacteristics,
particularlyforunderbodyeffects.Itisnotexpectedthatcoolingflowcanbeusedforthepassivebasebleedingapplications
describedintheprevioussectionduetothelargelossinpressure/energyasittravelsthroughtheenginecompartment.For
exhaustingbelowthevehicle,therelativemotionsbetweenthevehicle,theroad,andthemainairflowwillbeimportant,andone
couldconceiveofscenariostocreateeitheradragreductionoradragpenalty.

7.2.2.8CabUnderbodyTreatments
Manyaerodynamictreatmentsexistthathavebeenproposedforthetractortrailerindustry.Some,likesideskirts,wereadopted
longagofortractorsandarebeginningtobeadoptedfortrailers,butmanymoreremainattheresearchphase.Oneareawhere
possiblegainsexistwiththeadditionofaerodynamictreatmentsistheunderbodyofthetractor.Asreportedinresearch[45],there
weremeasurableimprovementsinaerodynamicperformancewhensmoothingplateswereaddedtotheundersideofthetractor.
Thesebenefitsweremeasuredtobeintherangeofa0.015to0.018reductionindragcoefficient.Usingthemethodsfoundin
LeuschenandCooper[29],thesereductionswouldequatetoanannualpossiblefuelsavingofupto1080litresoffuelpertractor.
Thisisanareaofthevehicleforwhichtherelativemotionbetweenthevehicle,thegroundandthemainairflowiscritical.Asyet
unpublishedexperimentsatNRChaveshowndivergingresultsfortechniquesappliedtothelowerbodydependingonthemotion,
orlackthereof,ofthewindtunnelfloor.

Implementationofsuchdevicescouldposeoperationalissueswithregardstomaintenance,andincreasedweight,however,some
benefitsmaybeobservedinthatcriticalundercabcomponentswouldbebetterprotected,andfewerlocationsmayexistforthe
accumulationofdirt,snowandice.

7.3Managementofairflowaroundthetractortrailergap

7.3.1Currentstate
TheareaimmediatelybehindaClass8tractorandinfrontoftheattachedtrailerisdefinedasthetractortrailergap(SeeFigure13).
Theflowbehaviourinthisgapregionaffectsdirectlythepressuresonthebackfaceofthecabandthefrontfaceofthetrailer,both
ofwhicharelargesurfacesperpendiculartothevehiclemotionandthereforestrongcontributorstotheoveralldragonthevehicle.
Whenprevailingwindsimpingeonthetractortraileratevenmoderateobliqueangles,thecrossflowthroughthegapmodifiesthe
pressuresonthecabandtrailerfacesresultinginanincreaseinoverallvehicledrag[46].Thisisadominantregionforwhicha
windaverageddragevaluationisrequiredtoascertainthebenefitsofdragreductiondevices.

Figure13Typicaltractortrailergap

Tominimizetheeffectofthegapflowondrag,completelysealingthegapwouldeliminateitsdragcontributionundercrosswind
conditions.However,duetooperationalrequirements,aminimumgapdistanceisrequiredtoallowthetractortoarticulaterelativeto
thetrailertofacilitatemanoeuvringatloadingfacilitiesandvehicledepots.Typicaltractortrailergapsareintherangeofabout1.0
meter(40inches).

Ithasbeenshownthatthegapbeginstohaveasignificantimpactonvehicledragonceitisgreaterthanabout0.45m,withthedrag
increasingbyabout2%forevery0.25mofincreasedgapbeyondapproximately0.75m.ResearchbyLandmanetal.[47]has
suggestedthatbycompletelyaddressingthegapissue,dragsavingsontheorderofabout6%couldbeachievedforatypical
tractortrailer.Thiswouldamounttoanapproximate3%improvementinfuelconsumptionat98km/h(60mph),asillustratedin
Figure14.

Appr.FuelTrendasFunctionofGap

Figure14Fuelburnincreasevs.gap[99]

Therearetwoprimarytypesofdevicesaimedatreducingaerodynamicdraginthetractortrailergap.Thesearetractorside
extensionsanddevicesinthegaps.

7.3.2Technologies

7.3.2.1TractorMounted
Sideextenders(showninFigure15)acttoextendtherearedgeofthecabtoinhibittheflowofairintothegapregion.MostOEMs
offersideextendersasstandardoptionsfortractors.
Figure15Cabsideextensions

Additionally,thegapareaisalsooftenusedtostoreancillarytractorequipment.Itisenvisionedthatastowagesolutioncouldbe
designedthatwouldnotonlyallowthesecureandefficientstowageoftheancillaryequipment,butcouldalsoserveasacab
mountedgapfillerdevice.

Ithasbeenreportedintheresearch[43],[45]thatsignificantopportunityexistsforaerodynamicimprovementsinthetreatmentof
thesurfacesimmediatelybehindthetractorcab.Bycoveringtheareainahorizontalfairingandblendingitintothewheelfairings,it
hasbeenobservedthatsignificantaerodynamicbenefitsarepossible.

Agapsplitter(largeverticalplate)isatechniqueoftenpromotedfortrailers(seenextsection).Cooperdemonstrated[16]thisas
viabletechniqueforcrosswindconditions.Atractormountedgapsplitterwouldbehavesimilarlywhileminimizingthecostof
implementation.

Afinaltractormountedtechniquetoreducethedragassociatedwiththegapistoreducethedistancebetweentherearofthe
tractorandthefrontofthetrailer.Thismethodislimitedbytheneedoftheoperatortoretainsufficientturningradiustoenable
loadingandunloadingatconstraineddockareasortonegotiatetightrightturns.Navistar/InternationalTrucksisdevelopingan
activefifthwheelsystemthatwillprovideactuatedgapreductionsathighwayspeedstoreduceaerodynamicdrag[48],thus
eliminatingthearticulationproblemsofsmallgapsatlowspeeds.Thisconceptwouldlikelyrequirelowenergyconsumptionthat
wouldbemorethanoutweighedbythebenefitofasmallergapinhighwayconditions.Additionally,fortractorswithoutrooffairings,
orthosewithfairingnotoptimizedforthetrailerbeingpulled,gapreductionmaynotprovideanysignificantbenefit.

7.3.2.2TrailerMounted
Manyoftheproposeddevicesintendedtoreducetheaerodynamiclossesinthegapregionaretrailermounteddevices.
Consequently,therehasnotbeenahighlevelofadoptionofthecurrentgapsealdevices,withtheexceptionofthetractormounted
sideextensionsdiscussedbelow.Gapsplitters,trailerfairingsandgapfillersaretheheremaintechniquesappliedtothetrailer
(Figure15).Further,gapsplitterstypicallycomeintwovarieties:centerplaneboards,anddevicesthatattempttofilltheactualgap.

Figure16Devicesforthegapregion:gapsplitter(left),trailerfairing

Severalmanufacturershavecommercialproductsforthegapregionsonthemarkettodaythatclaimfuelsavingsontheorderof
2%.Thepercentagesavingsare,however,highlydependentofthetestprocedurechosen,includinginitialgapsize,andtestspeed.

Someofthegapfillingdeviceslooksimilartorefrigerationunits.Itmaybepossibletooptimizetheshapeofsuchrefrigerationunits
totakeadvantageofthegapreductioneffect.

7.3.3Generalstudies
Numerousacademicstudieshaveinvestigatedthepotentialfuelsavingeffectsoftractortrailergapdevices.Itishowever
appropriatetoinvestigatefirstthetheoreticalmaximumbenefitofcompletelyclosingthegap.Suchastudy[47]suggestedthatthe
upperlimitofaerodynamicimprovementexpectedwasintherangeofa7%dragreduction.Atatypicalspeedof55mph,thiswould
translatetoanapproximate3.5%fuelsaving.

Otherstudies,including[29],[37],[49]havereportedfuelsavingsofbetween1%and3%fortypicalgapclosuredevices.Theseare
importantfindings,astheyareinlinewithquotedmanufacturersnumbers.Theredoesexist,however,asignificantopportunityto
refineandoptimizethetraditionalgaptreatmentdevicestoattainthemaximumpossiblefuelsavings.Additionally,littlehasbeen
donetostudytheeffectsoftowingavarietyoftrailersbehindanaerodynamicallystreamlinedcab.Thereexiststhepossibilitythat
somecombinationsoftractortrailermayexhibitreducedaerodynamicperformancewiththeadditionofcertaingaptreatments.

7.4Managementofairflowunderthetrailer

7.4.1Currentstate
Inasimilarmannertothegapbetweenthetractorandtrailer,theopenareabelowthetrailerprovidesagreaterdragdetriment
undercrosswindconditions.Thegeneralapproachtominimizedragassociatedwiththisregionistopreventairfromentering.
Recently,Mercedesintroducedaconcepttrailerthatisreportedtoprovidean18%reductionindragforafullEuropeantractor
trailercombination(consistofacabovertractor)[50].Thetrailermakesuseofairdams,trimpanels,sideskirts,wheelfairings,and
aboattailtoreducetheoverallvehicledrag.Theconceptisacompletepackageanddoesnotconsistofindividualaddon
components.Athoroughlyevaluatedcombinationofaddondevicesmayprovidethesamelevelofdragreduction.

7.4.2Technologies

7.4.2.1SideSkirts

Sideskirts,showninFigure17,areusedtopreventairflowfromenteringtheundertrailerregion.Inrecentyears,thesehavebeen
widelyadoptedandarecommonlyobservedonmanytrailers.Fuelconsumptionreductionsontheorderof37%havebeen
reported[2].Also,thesedeviceshavesimplemechanicaldesignssuchthatmaintenanceandreliabilityshouldnotbeamajor
concern.

Figure17Exampleoftypicalsideskirt

Somevariantsonsideskirtshavebeenproposed.Modifiedversionofsideskirts,wedgeskirtsandsidewings[14]areclaimedtobe
optimizedtoenhancefurthertheunderbodyaerodynamics.

7.4.2.2TrailerUnderbodyBoxing
Inasimilarmannertosideskirts,oneapproachtominimizeundertraileraerodynamicsdragmightbethedevelopmentof
lightweightunderbodyboxes,similartothoseseenoncommercialmovingvans(Figure18).Dragreductionsontheorderof1015%
havebeenshownforwindtunneltestsusingscaledmodelsofsuchconfigurations[51].
Figure18Commercialmovingtruckwithunderbodyboxes

Thereareoperationalissuesthatwouldneedtoberesolved,aswellassignificantweightpenaltiesthatmayariseaswellas
changestothebreakoverangleofthetrailerhowevertherearebenefitsaswell.Itisenvisionedthattheseboxescouldbe
developedforthestowageofbindingstraps,chains,sparetiresandotheraccessories.Suchboxescouldoffersideunderride
protectiontovulnerableroadusers.Anysuchimplementationwouldhavetobewelldesignedtoensurethatnogroundclearance
operabilityissuesarose.

7.4.2.3Wheel/bogiefairings
LeuschenandCooper[29]foundameasurabledragreductionassociatedwithfairingsaroundeitherthetrailerwheelsoraroundthe
fullbogie.However,basicsideskirtsprovidealargermagnitudeofdragreductionandaregenerallyofsimplerdesignand
construction.Thereforeitisnotexpectedthatfairingswillbestrongcontendersforthetransportationindustry.

7.5Managementofairflowattherearofthetrailer

7.5.1Currentstate
Thetrailerbaseisoneofthelargestsourcesofdragfortractortrailers.Lowpressureonthetrailerfaceduetotheaerodynamic
wake,combinedwiththehighpressureonthefrontfaceofthevehicle,causesanetpressuredifferentialthatgeneratesaforcein
thedownwinddirection.Thisfronttobackpressuredifferentialistheprimarysourceofdragformostheavyvehicles.

Increasingthebasepressurewillreducethisdifferentialandreducethenetdragonthevehicle.Therefore,manydragreduction
technologiesforthetrailerareaimedatincreasingthisbackpressure.

7.5.2Technologies

7.5.2.1Boattails/extensionpanels

Taperingthebackendofalongvehiclewillincreaseitsbasepressurebyprovidingpressurerecoveryofthesurroundingflowbefore
itleavesthesharpbackedgesandformsawake.Thisincreasedbasepressureprovidesaloweredoverallpressuredifferencefrom
fronttobackofthetractortrailercombination.Boattails,otherwiseknownasextensionpanels,isanothertechnologythathasbeen
demonstratedtobeeffectivetoreducethedragoftractortrailercombinations,althoughvariousconfigurationsareavailable(see
examplesinFigure19).

Figure19Boattailconcepts

Windtunnelandroadtests[23],[32]havedemonstratedthataboattailwithalengthof24to32inchesisoptimalfordragreduction
purposesandtypicallengthrestrictions.Aswithsideskirts,theinteractionofboattailswithotherdevicesisimportantfor
optimization.AcollaborationbetweenNRCandTransportCanadahasidentifiedsomeoptimumconfigurations(aerodynamically
andoperationally)usinga1:10scalewindtunnelmodel.Demonstrationinrepresentativeroadconditionswouldbebeneficialto
providefurtherrecommendations.

7.5.2.2Vortexgenerators
Vortexgeneratorsaredevicesthat,whenplacedonasurface,generateavortexorarrayofvorticesintheflowalongthesurface
thatcaninfluencetheflowseparationbehaviourfurtherdownwind.Severalconceptsforimplementingsuchdevicesonthesides
andtopsoftrailershavebeenproposedasameanstoreducetheaerodynamicdragofheavyvehicles.Asmallscalewindtunnel
studyofavortexstrakeconceptshowedasmallbenefit[49].

Intheir2006study,LeuschenandCooper[29]attemptedbutwereunabletofindavendororconceptdeveloperavailabletohave
theirvortexgeneratordevicessystematicallytestedonafullscaletruckinawindtunnel.Therefore,theydevelopedtheirown
prototypevortexgeneratorfortestingpurposes,whichwasbasedonthevortexstrakeconceptstudiedin[29].Theyfoundit
providedameasurableincreaseinvehicledragwithanassociatedincreaseinfuelconsumptiongreaterthan1%fortypicalusageof
longhaulvehicle.
Sincethefirstpublicationofthisreportin2012,aprivatelyfundedtracktestprogramhasdemonstratedlimitedpotentialofavortex
generatorconceptappliedtotheroofandbacksideedgesofa53fttrailer[36].Testresultsindicatedafuelsavingssmallerthan
1%.

7.5.2.3Lowered/retractabletrailers

Thefrontalareaofatractortrailerisdictatedbythetraileranditscargovolume.Toreducethedragofatractortrailercombination
whenrunningwithanemptytrailer,BradBennett,adesignerfromBritishColumbia,hasproposedaretractabletrailerconceptas
showninFigure20[52].Thistechnologyalsorequiresaretractabletractorfairing,inordertobeeffective.

Figure20Retractabletrailerconcept

7.5.2.4SystemDragReduction(SDR)
ASpanishcompany,SystemDragReduction,S.L.hasdevelopedatechnologythatincreasesthebasepressureonthebaseofthe
trailerbyredirectingflowaroundtheupperrearedgethetrailer[35].SDRclaimsa46%reductioninfuelconsumptionandalso
claimthedevicereducesturbulenceinthewake.

7.6OperationalConcerns
Themostsignificantbarriertotheadoptionofanyoftheaforementioneddeviceswillnotbefromatechnicalpointofview,but
rather,fromanoperationalstandpointandindustryacceptance.Itisbelievedhowever,thatwithanappropriatebalancebetween
operationalconcernsandaerodynamicbenefit,significantenhancementscanbemadewithoutundulyaffectingoperationorgreatly
increasingoveralltractorortraileracquisitioncosts.

Inanyofthesefuturestudies,theapproachshouldfirstbetounderstandtheoperationalconcernsandbarrierstocommercialentry,
priortoundertakinganyaerodynamicexperimentationorsimulation.

7.7Conclusions
Trailersandtractorsarenotalwaysownedbythesameoperatorsthereforetheremaybereluctanceonthepartoftrailerownersto
payfordevicesthatwillbenefitthetractorowners.

Theresultsofaerodynamictestingonheavydutyfrontbumpershavebeenscattered,howeverotherfactorsaredrivingoperatorsto
usesuchdevices.Thevehicleroadwindrelativemotionisanimportantforevaluatingbumperandlowerbodytechnologies.

Modestaerodynamicimprovementsmaybeachievedwiththeuseofwheelcoversandslottedmudflaps.

Superhydrophobiccoatingscouldbeusedtoreducethelikelihoodthatwaterandicecouldbuilduponatrailer.However,this
technologyremainslargelyuntestedonroadvehicles.

Basebleedinghasbeenshowntoreducedraginlaboratorysettings,however,theneedforelectricaldevices(whichthenbecome
anelectricaldrainonthechargingsystemandthusaparasiticlosstotheengine)toprovideairflowandtheneedtotunetheducting
ofpassivesystemsmakesbasebleedingamuchlesspracticalalternativetodragreduction.
Cabunderbodytreatmentshavebeenshowntodecreasetheaerodynamicdragoftractors,however,testingshouldbeperformed
usingarollingroadtypewindtunneltoquantitytheimportantvehicleroadwindrelativemotionsandhenceactualperformance
gains.

Ithasbeenshownthatthegapbeginstohaveasignificantimpactonvehicledragonceitisgreaterthanabout0.45m,withthedrag
increasingbyabout2%forevery0.25mofincreasedgapbeyondapproximately0.75m.Researchhassuggestedthatby
completelyaddressingthegapissue,dragsavingsontheorderofabout6%couldbeachievedforatypicaltractortrailer.This
wouldamounttoanapproximate3%improvementinfuelconsumptionat98km/h(60mph).Atleastonemanufactureris
developingatractorfifthwheelthatwouldmovelongitudinallytoeffectivelyreducethetractortrailergapathighspeed.

Severalmanufacturershavecommercialproductsforthegapregionsonthemarkettodaythatclaimfuelsavingsontheorderof
2%.Thepercentagesavingsare,however,highlydependentofthetestprocedurechosen,includinginitialgapsize,andtestspeed.

Numerousacademicstudieshaveinvestigatedthepotentialfuelsavingeffectsoftractortrailergapdevices.Itis,however,
appropriatetofirstinvestigatethetheoreticalmaximumbenefitofcompletelyclosingthegap.Studieshavesuggestedthattheupper
limitofaerodynamicimprovementexpectedwasintherangeofa7%dragreduction.Atatypicalspeedof55mph,thiswould
translatetoanapproximate3.5%fuelsaving.

Recently,Mercedesintroducedaconcepttrailerthatisreportedtoprovidean18%reductionindragforafullEuropeantractor
trailercombination(consistofacabovertractor).

Sideskirtsareusedtopreventairflowfromenteringtheundertrailerregion.Inrecentyears,thesehavebeenwidelyadoptedand
arecommonlyobservedonmanytrailers.Fuelconsumptionreductionsontheorderof37%havebeenreported.

Sideunderbodyboxeshavealsobeenshowntoreducedragbyasmuchas10%to15%andcanbeusedtostoreequipmentthat
wouldnormallybestrappedtotheoutsideofthetractorortheundersideofthetrailer.Sideunderbodyboxescouldalsobeusedin
placeoftraditionalsideguards.However,theyaddweighttothetrailerandcouldalsoaffectthebreakoverangleastrailerspass
overrailroadtracksandotherobstacles.

Windtunnelandroadtestshavedemonstratedthataboattailwithalengthof24to32inchesisoptimalfordragreductionpurposes
andtypicallengthrestrictions.Aswithsideskirts,theinteractionofboattailswithotherdevicesisimportantforoptimization.

Currently,limitedevidenceexistsinpeerreviewedscientificsourcestoindicatethatvortexgeneratorshaveasignificantimpacton
fuelsavingsforheavyvehicles.

Retractabletrailers(i.e.trailerswhoseheightreducesbyawidemargin)arebeingprototypedinCanadabuttestinghasyettobe
performedtoquantifythepotentialfordragreduction.

Aerotractormodelsprovideareductioninaerodynamicdrag,overtheclassicstyle,ontheorderof30%.Thisisaccomplished
primarilythroughroundingofthefrontsurfaces,theuseofroofairdeflectors,andtheuseoffairingsoverthefueltanksbetweenthe
steeringaxleandthedriveaxles.

7.8AreasRecommendedforFurtherWork
Itissuggestedthatallthedevicesdescribedinthissectioncouldbeworthycandidatesforfurtherstudywiththeexceptionofthe
basebleeddevicesandactiveflowcontroltechnologies.Furthermore,anintegratedstudyofallthedevicescouldbemadeto
ensurethattheaerodynamicgainsofonedevicedonotreducetheaerodynamicperformanceofanotherdeviceinstalledfurther
downstreamonthevehicle.

Thesuggestedprocesscouldinvolvescaledwindtunneltestsinvolvingthesequentialadditionofeachdeviceuntilthevehiclewas
equippedwithalloftheabovementioneddevices.Followingthatpreliminarystage,fullscaleprototypescouldbedevelopedor
purchasedandtestedincontrolledrealworlddrivingsituations.Applicationtodifferenttrailertypes(dryvan,tanker,flatbedwithand
withoutrepresentativecargo)shouldalsobeevaluatedtoidentifythebenefitstotheoveralltransportationindustry.Thewind
averageddragcoefficientmeasurement,whichwasdesignedtoaccountforanglevariationsinterrestrialwinds,isthemosteffective
evaluationcriteria.

Inordertobestservethetruckingcommunity,andmeetoverallfuelconsumptionimprovementgoals,itissuggestedthateffortbe
focusedmoreondevelopingtractorbaseddragreductionsolutions.Thatsaid,thereisstillastrongbenefittotrailerbaseddevices
suchassideskirtsandboattailsduetotheirdemonstrateddragreductionpotentials.

Inanyofthesefuturestudies,theapproachcouldfirstbetounderstandtheoperationalconcernsandbarrierstocommercialentry,
priortoundertakinganyaerodynamicexperimentationorsimulation.

8AERODYNAMICDRAGREDUCTIONFORINTERCITYBUSES

8.1Definition
Canadaisamajorplayerinthedesignandmanufacturingofintercitycoaches,withtwomanufacturerssharingapproximately75%
oftheNorthAmericanmarketin2009,andemployingatotalofapproximately2000workers[53].TheCanadianproductionof
intercitybusestotalledapproximately1800units,withbothmanufacturersexportingabout90%oftheirproductiontotheUnited
States.In2009,approximately35,000intercitycoacheswereinoperationinNorthAmerica.

Thebodyofavailableliteratureonaerodynamicdragreductiontechniquesandaddondevicesforintercitybusesislessextensive
thanforclass8tractortrailers.Severalfactorsmayaccountforthisdifference.TheNorthAmericanbusfleetismuchsmallerthan
thetractortrailerfleetandconsequently,theannualfuelconsumptionandGHGemissionsbyintercitybusesaresignificantlylower.
Unliketractormanufacturers,busproducershavecontrolovertheaerodynamicdesignoftheentirevehicleandnotwithstanding
operationalandregulatoryconstraints,theybenefitfromconsiderabledesignfreedomtominimizeaerodynamicdragthroughshape
optimisation,amongotherthings,withadirectimpactonvehicleefficiency.Therearealsofewmanufacturersofintercitybusesand
inthiscompetitiveindustry,designsecrecyistheruleandlittleinformationismadepublic.

Thepopularbeliefisthatbuses,duetotheircharacteristicshape,arenotburdenedbythelargeaerodynamiclossesthatplague
tractortrailers.Thisassertionisinaccurateandmustbeconfrontedtophysicalarguments.Basedontheanalysisoftherespective
contributionsofmechanicalandaerodynamiclossestotheenergyconsumptionofroadvehicles,itispossibletodeterminea'cross
over'vehiclespeedbeyondwhichaerodynamiclossesdominate.Figure21presentsanadaptationoftheanalysisofCooper[55]
whoderivedcrossoverspeedsforvariouscategoriesofvehicles.Aloadedintercitybus(24tonnes)hasacrossoverspeedof
about70km/h,whereasfortheempty,17tonnebusthisspeedreducestoapproximately60km/h.Incomparison,foratractor
trailerwithagrossweightof36tonnes,thecrossoverspeedreachesabout90km/h.Byvirtueofitslowerratioofrollingto
aerodynamicresistance(thedragdensityparameter),theaerodynamiclossesofanintercitybusoutweighthemechanicallossesat
asignificantlylowervehiclespeedthanforatractortrailer.Athighwayspeeds,asignificantfractionoftheenergyexpendedis
dissipatedintoaerodynamiclosses.Thecorollaryisthatforagivenpercentreductionindragcoefficient,thenetpercentreduction
infuelconsumptionislargerforabusthanitisforatractortrailer.ForaconventionalNorthAmericanintercitybustravelingat
highwayspeed,aerodynamicdragrepresentsapproximately60%oftheenergyexpendedtomaintainvehiclespeed.

Figure21Crossoverspeedforwhichaerodynamicandmechanicalresistancesareequal,forseveralvehicletypes.
AdaptedfromCooper[55]

Atypicalintercitybusischaracterisedbyarefinedandenclosedshapeandtheabsenceofpronounceddiscontinuities.This
configurationhasthepotentialtoprovideahighlevelofaerodynamicefficiency,providedthatthedesigntakesunderserious
considerationthephysicsthatwillgoverntheaerodynamicbehaviourofthevehicleinitsrealoperatingenvironment.The
aerodynamiclossescanbebrokendownintofourcategories,eachrequiringacustomtreatment:

A.Externalaerodynamics(bodyshape,texture)
B.Appendageaerodynamics(mirrors,antennae,etc.)
C.Underbodyaerodynamicsand
D.Enginecoolingaerodynamics.

AThedominantcontributiontotheaerodynamicdragofanintercitybusisthepressuredifferentialbetweentheforwardand
rearwardfacingsurfacesofthebody,withaminimalcontributionfromskinfriction.AccordingtoCooper[56],about60to70percent
ofthetotalwindaverageddragofabusisattributedtopressureloadsactingonthevehicleforebody,makingittheprincipalareafor
dragreductionstrategies.Byfarthemostefficientmethodofreducingforebodydragistominimizeflowseparationbycombiningthe
roundingoftheforwardcorners(sidesandtop)withthetaperingoftheforebody.Thiswasalsoconfirmedbytheexperimentsof
McDonaldandPalmer[57]whoretrofittedexistingbusmodelswithforebodyfairings,achievingdragreductionsupto27%.Camara
andGirardi[58]reporteda40%dragreductionwithoptimalrounding,comparedtoasquarefront.Thisreductionwasattributedto
reducedstaticpressuresonthecorners,indicatingflowattachment.RecentexperimentsbyNewnhametal.[104]revealthatthe
flowfieldaroundsuchcornersisstronglyinfluencedbyfreestreamturbulence.Hence,apropersimulationaimedatminimizingthe
aerodynamicdragofbusesmustreproduceboththeReynoldsnumberandtheturbulencecharacteristicsthatwillbeexperienced
bythevehicleinrealoperatingconditions.Ofsignificantimportance,aswell,isthepresenceofobstaclesinthevicinityofacorner,
suchasrubbermouldingsorjoints,whichmaytriggerprematureflowseparation.Notwithstandingthecriticalimportanceofforebody
flow,gainscanalsobemadeinthetailregion,whereitisdesirabletoenergizethewakeandreducethespatialextentofthe
separationbubble.Experimentalandnumericalworkhasbeendoneongenericbluffbodyshapeswhereparametricvariationsofa
taperedtailwerestudied[59].Bycombiningcornerroundingandtaperingwithaninnovativetailcomprisinga"vortextrap",Fletcher
andStewart'swindtunnelinvestigation[60]reportedareductionoftheaerodynamicdragcoefficientfrom0.43to0.29,comparedto
abaselinecommercialbusconfiguration.Morerecently,theCFDexperimentsofRaveendranetal.[61]revealedaCDreduction
from0.53to0.29,resultingfromaradicalredesignincorporatingfeaturessuchas:reducedfrontalarea,windshieldinclination,
cornerrounding,rearrooftaperandtheeliminationofrearviewmirrors.AnotherwindtunnelinvestigationbyBalakrishnanetal.[62]
onscalemodelsofcommercialbusesexploredthecombinedeffectsoffrontedgeroundingandtaperingoftherooflineinthetail
area.Thesemodificationsallowedthecoefficientofaerodynamicdragoftheoriginalboxlikebusestobereducedfromashighas
0.93,downto0.42.TheCFDexperimentofKimetal.[63]onamodifiedbusmodelrevealedthattheadditionofadownwards
slopingrearroofspoilerreducedtheaerodynamicdragcoefficientbyabout0.083,areductionofmorethan13%.Inlightofthelarge
CDreductionpotentialaffordedbyasoundaerodynamicdesignofthebodyshape,abusoptimisationprocessaimedatreducing
fuelconsumptionoughttoassignahighprioritytoaerodynamicshaping,earlyinthedesignprocess.

AspointedoutbyFletcherandStewart[60],reducingaerodynamicdragbyoptimisingbodyshape,besidesdiminishingfuel
consumption,alsoprovidessubstantialsecondarybenefitsassociatedwitha"cleanerflow",including:

betterhandlinginsidewinds
saferpassingandovertaking
lesseneddirtaccumulation(soiling,visibility)
reducedaerodynamicnoise(attachedflow)and
reduceddriverfatigue.

BItisparadoxicalthatbusappendagessuchasrearviewmirrors,whenfastenedtoanaerodynamicallyoptimisedbusbody,may
causeanonnegligibledeteriorationofthevehicle'saerodynamicperformance.Considerapairofmirrors,eachwithasurfacearea
of0.08m2,withadragcoefficientofunity.Wheninstalledonatypicalintercitybusmodel(frontalareaof8m2),theincrementaldrag
coefficientcausedbythemirrorscanbeestimatedtobeCD2x0.08/8=0.020.Thiscorrespondstomorethan3%ofthe
overallaerodynamicdrag,forabuswithadragcoefficientofCD=0.60.Thisiswithoutconsideringthatthepresenceofsuchmirrors
inthevicinityoftheforwardlateralcornersperturbsthelocalflowfieldandmayinducedetrimentalflowseparationcoupledwitha
furtherdragincrease.Asthedesigntrendsmovetowardsbusconfigurationswithstreamlinedshapesanddragcoefficients
approaching0.30,thedragpenaltyassociatedwithrearviewmirrorsandotherdragenhancingappendageswillbecomeless
tolerable.Inthiscontext,regulationsauthorizingtheuseofstandardrearviewcamerastoreplacemirrorswouldbeastepinthe
rightdirection,tominimizeaerodynamicdisturbances,aswasdiscussedinSection5inregardstotractortrailers.This
implementationcouldbecoupledwiththemandatoryinstallationofstandardmechanicalpopoutmirrorsthatwoulddeployinthe
eventofcamerafailure.

CUnderbodyaerodynamicsisbecomingincreasinglyimportant,inthequesttoreducefuelconsumptionofsurfacevehicles.A
recentexperimentalprogramconductedatBMW[64]andcomprisingwindtunnelandroadtests,quantifiedthereductionof
aerodynamicdragresultingfromtheinstallationofunderbodypanelscoveringapproximately60%oftheunderside.Thecorrelation
betweenthewindtunnelandtracktestswerebaseduponthemeasurementof124staticpressures,distributedoverthepanels.The
windtunneltestsshowedadragreductionreachingaboutCD0.012,asaresultoftheunderbodypanels.Inaddition,itwas
foundthatstreamliningthewheelswithhubcoversfurtherreducedCDby0.022.Thestudyrevealedtheimportanceofproper
groundsimulationandwheelrotation,toensuretherealismofthewindtunnelmeasurementsoftheunderbodyflow.ArecentCFD
parametricstudyconductedbyOrtegaandSalari[65]focusedontheeffectofanunderbodyfairinginstalledontheundersideofa
trailerattachedtoaheavydutytractor.Eachtaperedfairingtestedwaslocatedimmediatelydownstreamofthetractorwheelsand
extendedasfarasthetrailerbogey.Itsmainpurposewastomitigateoreliminatetheobservedflowrecirculationzoneoriginating
downwindofthetractordrivewheelsandinducingnegativepressuresondownstreamfacingelements.Thebestconfiguration
tested(longestfairing)wasfoundtoreducethedragcoefficientby0.042,areductionofabout6.5%,aperformancethatwasfound
tobesuperiortothatofsideskirts.Theobjectivesofunderbodymodificationscanbesummarisedintothreefundamentalsub
objectives:

toshieldforwardfacingsurfacesfromhighspeedflow
tomitigatewakesbehindunderbodyelements,inordertoattenuatesuctionpressuresonrearwardfacingsurfacesand
tomaximizetheairvelocityexitingattherearofthevehicleunderside,inordertoenergizethevehiclewake,therebyreducing
themagnitudeofthenegativebasepressure.

Theundersideofanintercitybusisalreadyquite"clean",whencomparedtoothervehicletypes.However,thereareareaswhere
fairingscouldreducetheexposureofunderbodycomponentstohighspeedflowsorattenuatewakeinduceddrag.Inparticular,the
shieldingofprotrudingsuspensioncomponentsintheforward,highspeedflowregion,coupledwithawakemitigatingfairing,offers
apotentialfordragreduction.Fortractortrailers,sideskirtscoupledwithunderbodyfairingscanprovideasubstantialreductionin
aerodynamicdrag[66].Intercitybuseseffectivelyalreadyincorporateaskirtlikeconfigurationwhichcouldbefurtheroptimised.
Channelingtheunderbodyflowtowardsthevehiclerearendwithminimalobstructioncouldprovidetheopportunitytoutilisethe
kineticenergyoftheflowtoenhancetheefficiencyofenginecooling(partialRAMeffect),and/ordirectthischannelledflowintothe
wakeregion.

DEnginecoolingrequiresambientairtobechannelledfromaninlettowardsaheatexchanger,andthereafterexpelledintothe
surroundingsthroughanoutlet.Throughthisprocess,energeticlossesareincurred,whichcontributetoaneffectiveincreaseofthe
vehicleaerodynamicdrag.ForRAMcooling,wherethecoolingflowisdrivenpassivelybymakinguseoffavorablepressure
differentialsbetweentheinletandoutlet(i.e.withoutacoolingfan),thecoolingdragwasdefinedasfollowsbyWilliams[67]:"the
increaseinvehicledragfromaclosedfrontendreferencecondition.Itconsistsoftwopartstheinternaldrag(internalmomentum
loss)ofthecoolingairflowandtheexternalinterferencetovehiclepressuredistribution,bothattheinletandattheexit".Much
insightcanbegainedintothephysicsofcooling,viaanalyticalmeans,byexaminingthemomentumbalanceofasimplifiedcooling
system.AccordingtoIvaniandGilliron[68],forconventionalautomobileconfigurations,thecoolingdragcanrepresentasmuch
as10%oftheaerodynamicdragofanautomobile.Theiranalysis,coupledwithwindtunnelexperimentsonamodelincorporatinga
simplifiedpassivecoolingsystem,identifiesthefundamentalparametersdefiningtheenergeticefficiencyofacoolingsystem:the
inlet/outletcrosssectionratioandtheinflowandoutflowanglesatthecoolinginletandoutlet.Theiranalysisrevealsthatcooling
efficiencyisincreasedunderthefollowingconditions:

1.Thecoolinginletislocatedintheregionofstagnation,onthevehicleforebody
2.Thecoolingoutletislocatedinalowpressureregion,suchasthevehiclerearend(wake)
3.Anoutletangleofabout50fromthehorizontalappearedmostfavourable
4.Aninlet/outletsectionratioofunitismostfavourable

Theseconditionsarenotnecessarilytrivialtoimplementforalongvehicle,suchasanintercitybus.Thefactthattheengineis
locatedattherearfacilitatestheejectionofcoolingairinthewakeregion.However,thevehiclestagnationzoneislocatedsome
twelvemetresforwardoftheengine.AdesignconsistingofconveyingRAMairoverthisdistancethroughadedicatedductislikely
tosufferfromsignificantstaticpressurelossesthatwillresultininsufficientcoolingflow.Forthisreason,acoolingfanisnecessary.
Notwithstanding,theconfigurationofthecoolingsystem,inparticularthelocationandorientationoftheinletandoutlet,aswellas
theinternalconfiguration,willdeterminethepowerrequiredbythefantoachievepropercooling.Asmentionedabove,theefficient
channelingofunderbodyflowtowardstherear,wherethecoolingintakewouldbelocated,mayenhancecoolingefficiency.
Consideringthatthefanpowerisprovidedbytheengine,theoptimisationofthecoolingsystemtominimizelossescanleadto
measurablereductionsinfuelconsumption.Fordevelopmentandoptimisationpurposes,asstatedbyCooper[55],thewindtunnel
remainsthemostefficienttool.However,aspointedoutbyWickernetal.[69],forcoolingsystemoptimisation,properground
simulationincorporatingamovinggroundplaneandrotatingwheelsiscriticaltoensuretherealismofthewindtunnelsimulation.It
wasfoundthattestingavehiclewithoutpropergroundsimulationresultedinaconsiderableunderestimateofcoolingdrag.

Itwasconvenienttobreakdownthecontributionstoaerodynamicdragintofourcatagories(AD),inordertodirectthefocuson
independentlycoherentthemes.However,itmustberecognizedthatallfouraerodynamiccategoriesinterplaywitheachother.The
importantobjectiveistheendresults,thatis,aglobalreductionoftheaerodynamicdrag,whichcanonlybereachedviaanall
encompassing,"holistic"approach,alsoincludingpracticalandoperationalconsiderations.Forthispurpose,threetestmethodsare
available:Windtunneltesting,CFDandroadtesting.Whilethewindtunnelisachoicetool,CFDgeneratesawealthofinformation
notavailableotherwise,andcanprovidemuchinsightintoflowphysicsandguidanceforthedesignofwindtunnelexperiments.The
ultimateverificationtoolisroadtestingwhichprovidesreallifeoperatingconditionstovalidatevehicleefficiency.Thesedifferent
testingmethodsaredescribedinSection11.

Finally,thereislittleresearchthathasbeendoneonslopingtherearrooflineofintercitybuses.Asbusesdonotsufferthesame
constraintsoncubicinteriorvolumeashighwaytrailers,thereisroomtoinvestigategainsbyslopingtherearportionofthebusroof.

8.2CurrentState
ConsideringthedesignofpresentdayNorthAmericanintercitybuses,itisnotunrealistictoexpecttheirdragcoefficienttobein
excessof0.50,atzeroyawangle.Forcomparison,therecentbusdesignshowninFigure25,producedbyaGermanmanufacturer
andcurrentlyinoperationonEuropeanroads,ischaracterizedbyadragcoefficientof0.35[70],[71]Giventhelowdraglevelsthat
havebeenreportedintheliteratureforoptimisedconfigurationswithCDaslowas0.28,itisclearthatthereexistsapotentialfor
substantialimprovementsofNorthAmericanbusdesigns,inallfourareasoutlinedabove.Forexample,areductionofthe
aerodynamicdragcoefficientfrom0.60to0.30wouldleadtoadecreaseoffuelconsumptionofapproximately30%.Aproposed
directionforfutureworkisprovidedinlastsectionofthischapter.
Figure22GermandesignedintercitybuswithCD0.35.

8.3OperationalConcerns
Aerodynamicoptimisationwouldbeeasilyachievedwithoutoperationalandpracticalconstraints:allvehicleswouldbeteardrop
shaped.Intercitybuses,whicharemeanttotransportanumberofpassengers,havespecificconstraintsthatimposecompromises
totheaerodynamicist.Theseinclude:

1.maximisingnumberofpassengers
2.interiorspaceandpassengercomfort
3.heating/cooling/ventilationofbusinterior
4.drivervisibilityforward,lateralandrearward
5.needforrearviewmirrors(ideallycameras)
6.requiredappendages(antennae,etc.)
7.accessandemergencydoors,windows(potentialsurfacediscontinuities)
8.exteriordimensionsandclearances(regulations)
9.needforcargospace(forluggage,etc.)
10.soilingmustbeminimised
11.snowandiceaccumulationinwheelwellsandunderbody
12.windshieldwipers(flowdisturbance)

Finally,anareaofpossibleaerodynamicbenefitisbyreprofilingtheroofline.Ascoachbusesdonothavethesamecargocapacity
constraints,itisbelievedthattherearrooflinecouldbemodifiedwithminimalimpacttopassengercomfort.Operationalissues
shouldnotbeaconcern.

8.4Conclusions
Theapplicabilityofaerodynamicaddondevicesforuseonlonghaulintercitymotorcoachbuseshasbeenlesswellstudiedthan
thoseofclass8tractortrailers.TheNorthAmericanbusfleetismuchsmallerthanthetractorfleetandconsequently,theannual
fuelconsumptionandGHGemissionsbyintercitybusesaresignificantlylower.

Atypicalhighwaycoachexhibitsanumberofaerodynamicadvantagesoveraclass8tractortrailer:thereisnogapthebody
comeslowertothegroundeffectivelyincorporatingsideskirtsandaflatfrontendeliminatesthemultipleaerodynamic
discontinuitiestypicallycausedbyradiatorhood,hoodwindscreenandwindscreenfairinglocations.Consequently,astocklong
haulhighwaycoachmayhaveaCDaslowas0.384.

Byvirtueofitslowerratioofrollingtoaerodynamicresistance(thedragdensityparameter),theaerodynamiclossesofanintercity
busoutweighthemechanicallossesatasignificantlylowervehiclespeedthanforatractortrailer.Foragivenpercentreductionin
dragcoefficient,thenetpercentreductioninfuelconsumptionislargerforabusthanitisforatractortrailer.

Thedominantcontributiontotheaerodynamicdragofanintercitybusisthepressuredifferentialbetweentheforwardand
rearwardfacingsurfacesofthebody,withaminimalcontributionfromskinfriction.

About60to70percentofthetotalwindaverageddragofabusisattributedtopressureloadsactingonthevehicleforebody,
makingittheprincipalareafordragreductionstrategies.Byfarthemostefficientmethodofreducingforebodydragistominimize
flowseparationbycombiningtheroundingoftheforwardcorners(sidesandtop)withthetaperingoftheforebody.

Underbodyaerodynamicsisbecomingincreasinglyimportant,inthequesttoreducefuelconsumptionofsurfacevehicles.Wind
tunneltestsshowedadragreductionreachingaboutCD0.012,asaresultoftheunderbodypanels.Inaddition,itwasfound
thatstreamliningthewheelswithhubcoversfurtherreducedCDby0.022.Althoughtheundersidesofbusesarealreadyquite
aerodynamicallyclean,researchcouldbeconductedtoinvestigatechannellingtheunderbodyflowtowardsthevehiclerearend.
Airmustbedivertedintotheengineforcoolingpurposesandthiscanbeasignificantfactor.Busundersideswithminimal
obstructioncouldprovidetheopportunitytoutilisethekineticenergyoftheflowtoenhancetheefficiencyofenginecooling(partial
RAMeffect),and/ordirectthischannelledflowintothewakeregion.

Finally,anareaofpossibleaerodynamicbenefitisbyreprofilingtheroofline.Ascoachbusesdonothavethesamecargocapacity
constraints,itisbelievedthattherearrooflinecouldbemodifiedwithminimalimpacttopassengercomfort.Operationalissues
shouldnotbeaconcern.

8.5AreasRecommendedforFutureWork
Giventhesecrecycharacterizingthebusindustry,itisclearthattheoptimizationprocesstakingintoconsiderationaerodynamic
performanceobjectivesandoperationalconstraintswouldremaintheresponsibilityoftheCanadianbusmanufacturers.Inthis
respect,andoutsidethescopeofthisprogram,theNRCandTransportCanadacouldcontribute,uponclientrequest,tothis
processasanadvisorprovidingaerodynamicexpertiseandguidancetotheindustry.

AnareathatcouldrequirefurtherinvestigationwithinthecontextoftheecoTECHNOLOGYforVehiclesIIprogram,isa
recommendationsdocumenttoCanadianbusmanufacturersandoperatorsthatcanhelpguidetheirdevelopmentandselection
efforts,respectively,towardsreducingthefuelconsumptionandemissionsfromintercitybuses.Suchadocumentcanbebasedon
informationcontainedwithinthisreport.

9SHEDDINGOFICEANDSNOW

9.1Definition
Theideaoficeandsnowsheddingoffhighwaytractorsandtrailersisnotnew.However,theadditionofanyoftheaerodynamic
devicesdescribedinthisdocumentprovidesmoresurfaceareaontowhichsnowandicemayaccumulate.Theiceandsnownot
onlyaddsweighttovehiclesthatmayalreadybenear,orat,theirlegalweightlimitbutthesnoworicemayeventuallybecome
dislodgedorejectedontovehiclessurroundingthetractorortrailer.Forthesereasons,itwillbeimportanttounderstandif
aerodynamicdevicesthataredesignedforusein,say,SouthernCaliforniacouldcontributetoiceandsnowaccumulationand
sheddingwhenusedinCanada.Itwillalsobeimportanttounderstandifsnowandicecouldaccumulateonanaerodynamicdevice
tothepointthatthedeviceactuallybeginstoincreasetheaerodynamicdrag,comparedtoavehiclewithoutthedevice.Another
effectworthconsideringissplashandsprayandhowaerodynamicdevicescouldaffecttheflowofwaterandslushasitleavesthe
tractorandthetrailer.

9.2CurrentState
Currently,Canadianoperatorsusesideskirts,boattailsandotheraddondeviceswithlittleregardforiceandsnowsheddingother
thantobangoffthesnowduringtheirpretripinspectionorattruckstopswhilerefuelling.Andthisislikelydonetoremoveexcess
weight,ratherthantopreserveanyaerodynamiceffectsofthedevices.

9.3ManufacturerClaims
Manymanufacturersofaerodynamicdevicesmakeclaimsthattheadditionoftheirdevicesalterstheflowfielddownstreamofthe
trailer.However,thedonotspecificallymakementionofhowsnowandiceareshedfromtheirdevices.Theclaimsofoneboattail
manufacturerarelistedasfollows:

Improvedvehiclestabilityfromstreamlinedflow
Improveddrivervisibilityduetoreducedsprayfromrearwheelsand
Reducedtailgatingandfatalrearendcollisionsdueto4ftcollapsibleextension.

9.4AcademicStudies
NRCCSTTperformedastudy[32]todeterminewhateffectsboattailswouldhaveonothervehiclesontheroad,particularly
vehiclesthatweretravellingdirectlybehindaboattailequippedtrailer.

Thetermboattailreferstoakitofextensionpanelsorfairingsthataremountedtotherearofatrailerforthepurposeofreducing
overallvehicledragbyreducingturbulenceandpressuredropattherearofthetrailer.Althoughitwouldbepossibletodesignrear
fairingsfornearlyanytypeoftrailer,boattailsarenormallyusedondryvansemitrailersasthesetrailerstendtohaverelatively
highdragduetotheirlargesurfacearea(bothfrontalandside).Dryvantrailersalsolendthemselvesnicelytotheadditionof
extensionpanelsofftherearedges,providedcareistakentodesignthemsuchthataccesstothedoorsisnotimpeded.Current
commerciallyavailableboattailsarefullyextendedwhileinuseandfoldbackagainstthetrailerdoorswhenthedriverwishesto
backthevehicleintoaloadingdockand/oropenthereardoors.
Thethreemajorsectionsofanoninflatable,straightpanelboattailarethesidepanels,thebottompanelandthetoppanel.Thetwo
sidepanelsareattachedtotherightandleftrearverticaledgesofthetrailerandmustbeangledinboardinordertobe
aerodynamicallyeffective.Thetopandbottompanelsareoptionalpanelsthathelptofurtherreducedragbeyondwhatcouldbe
achievedwiththetwosidepanels.

Theboattailworksbystreamliningtherearofthetrailer.Theairfollowsthepanelsofftheboattailaroundtherearcorner,Insteadof
separatingattherearedgeofthetrailer.Thesuctiondragontherearofthetrailerisreducedbydeflectingtheairinwards.

OnesectionofthestudyusedCFDtoillustratetheflowfieldbehinda53footvansemitrailer,withandwithoutboattails.The
authorsconcludedthatevenatwofootlongboattailsignificantlyalteredthedownstreamflowfieldcomparedtoatrailerwithouta
boattail.TheeffectoftheboattailsonthedownstreamflowfieldcanbeseeninFigure23.However,theCFDwasnotusedto
modelhowsnoworicewouldbeshedfromatrailerwithaboattail.Furtherstudywouldberequiredtodetermineifthedifferencein
flowfields,seeninFigure23,wouldaffecttheabilityofdriverstoseeclearlywhenfollowingheavytrucksduringasnowstorm.

Figure23Flowfieldbehindthreetrailerswithnoboattail,2ftboattailand4ftboattail

NRCCSTTperformedanextensiveliteraturesearchforotherinternationalstudiesandcouldonlyfindsubjectmatterregardingice
andsnowsheddingfromaeronauticalequipmentanddevicessuchasaircraft,helicoptersandrotors.

9.5OperationalConcerns
Operationalconcernsarepresentedthroughoutthissection.

9.6Conclusions
Verylittleinformationcouldbefoundregardingtestormodelingresultsofhowiceandsnowcanaccumulateonaerodynamic
devices.

Boattailscansignificantlyaffecttheflowfielddirectlybehindavansemitraileranditisalsoexpectedthatsnowcouldaccumulate
ontopofthebottomboattailpanel.However,verylittlerelevantworkcouldbelocatedtoquantifyhowthischangeinflowfield
wouldaffectvehiclesfollowingbehindatrailerequippedwithaboattailorthewayinwhichsnowandiceaccumulatesandsheds
fromtruckaerodynamicdevices.

9.7AreasRecommendedforFurtherWork
NRCrecommendsperformingasimilarstudytotheNRCIAR[6]studyinwhichmanyaerodynamicdevicesweresequentially
addedtoatractorandtrailercombination.However,forthisstudy,theemphasiswouldbeoniceandsnowaccumulationand
shedding,ratherthanaerodynamicdrag.Ideally,ascalemodelvehiclewouldbeplacedinawindtunnelatsubzerotemperatures
andsnowandicewouldbeblownagainstthemodelvehicle.However,theproblemofadequatephysicalscalingwillhavetobe
undertakenbeforesuchaconceptcanbedeveloped.Ifsuchatechniqueisadequate,theamountofsnowaccumulationand
sheddingcouldbemeasuredagainstabaselinevehiclethatwasplacedbesidethetestvehicle.Downstreameffectsonascale
modelpassengercarfollowingthetrailercouldalsobemonitoredtodetermineifthesnowandicewouldbemorelikelyto
accumulateonatrailingvehicleandalsotodetermineiftheforwardvisionofdriversintrailingvehiclesisaffectedinanyway.

Ultimately,tracktestingorroadtestingonactualhighwaytractortrailerscouldbeperformedtodetermineifdevicessuchasboat
tailswerelikelytoaccumulateamountsofsnowthatcouldeventuallybecomeejectedontotheroadsurfaceorothervehiclesinthe
surroundingarea.

10SCALEMODELTESTING

10.1Introduction
Variousmethodsareavailabletotestdragreductiondevicesfortractortrailers:road/tracktesting,windtunneltestingandCFD
simulation.Fullscaletestingofaproductionvehicleandaccessorieswouldappeartheidealscenario.TheSAEhasdefinedtest
proceduresforfuelconsumptionbasedonroadtesting(SAEJ1321[72])androllingresistanceandaerodynamicdragbasedon
coastdowntesting(SAEJ1263[73],J2263[74]).However,thevariabilityinatmosphericconditionscannotprovideaconsistentand
comparablemethodtoprovidequantitativeperformanceandreliablecomparabilitybetweendifferentconfigurations.Windtunnel
testinghasbecomeamediumforsuchcomparisons.TheNRCIARhasbeenactiveinthefieldofsurfacevehiclewindtunnel
simulationformorethanthreedecades,andhascontributedtowardstheSAErecommendedpracticeforwindtunneltestingof
heavyvehicles(SAEJ1252,[3]).TheNRCIARhasthecapabilitiestotestmodelscaleaswellasfullscaletruckwithintwoofits
mainfacilities:the2mx3mWindTunnelandthe9mx9mWindTunnel.Manyofthestandarddragreductiondevicesfoundinthe
transportationindustrywerefirststudiedinresearchconductedattheNRCIARwindtunnelsdatingbacktothe1970s[5].

Ingeneral,theaerodynamicperformanceofatractortrailercombinationisaffectedbymanyenvironmentalfactors.Thosemost
pertinenttoevaluatingtheaerodynamicperformanceandefficiencyofsuchvehiclesare:

Vehiclegeometry
Vehiclespeed
Airproperties(barometricpressure,temperature,density,humidity)
Windspeed,whichcanvarywithheight
Winddirection,whichcanvarywithheightand
Windturbulenceintensity,lengthscales,spectra,whichcanallvarywithheight.

Section11describesthetypicalmethodsusedforevaluatingtheaerodynamicperformance.ThisChapteremphasizesscalemodel
windtunneltestingfortheevaluationofdragreductiontechnologiesfortractortrailers.

10.2Windtunneltesting

10.2.1Modelscalefactor
Scalemodeltestingprovidessmallerwindloadsonthevehiclethanwouldbeexperiencedbyarealtruck,buttheaerodynamicdrag
canbescaledtofullsizeconditionsthroughthedragcoefficient,definedas:

CD=DQA[2]
whereDisthedragforce,Aisthemodelreferencearea(typicallyfrontalarea),andQisthedynamicpressureoftheoncoming
wind(Q=1/2V2).Thisaerodynamicscalingallowsmodelscaleresultstobedirectlyappliedtofullscaleconditions[6].

Awindtunnelprovidesconsistentconditionsfromwhichdetailedanalysesandquantificationofdragreductiondevicescanbe
performed.Althoughconsistentconditionscanbemaintained,windtunnelsimulationhassomedrawbacks,primarilythose
associatedwiththescaleofthemodelsandthesizeofthemodelsrelativetothewindtunnelcrosssection.Therearevarious
factorstoconsiderwhendevelopingawindtunneltestprogram,andNRCIARhasconsiderableexperiencewithwindtunneltests
ofgroundvehicles.Importantconsiderationsare:

a.Blockageandwallinterference:Theconfinementoftheflowaroundthebodycombinedwiththeinteractionoftheflowwiththe
tunnelboundary(closedwallsoropenjet)modifiestheflowfieldthatwouldbeencounteredontheopenroad.Techniquesare
availabletocorrectthewindtunneldatafortheseeffects.However,wheneverpossible,modelscalingisdonetohavea
blockagearearatioof5%orlesstominimizetheuncertaintyintheresults.However,blockagecorrectionsforarearatiosupto
10%arewelldocumentedandperformwell.

b.Reynoldsnumber:Althoughsmallmodelsarepreferabletominimizeblockageandboundaryinterferenceeffects,aswellasto
accommodatesmallerwindtunnels,thiscanleadtoinaccurateflowscaling.Theaerodynamicloadsonasurfacevehiclecan
bestronglydependentonviscouseffects(frictiononthemodelsurfaceandturbulenceintheshearlayers,wakeandflow
separationregionsoverthevehicle)andatruesimulationofonroadconditionswouldrequirematchingofanaerodynamic
parametercalledtheReynoldsnumberinordertoaccuratelysimulatetheseeffects.TheReynoldsnumberisdefinedas
Re=LV[3]
whereisthedensityofair,Lisalengthscalerepresentativeofthebody,Visthewindspeed,andistheviscosityoftheair.
Theairpropertiesofroadconditions(et)caneasilybematchedinawindtunnel,ascanthewindspeed.However,the
lengthscaleoftencannotbematched.TomatchtheReynoldsnumber,thecombinedparametersinEquation3mustmatchto
obtainatruerepresentationoftheaerodynamicperformanceofthevehicle.Typicalwindtunnelsoperateunderatmospheric
conditionsandthereforetheairpropertiescannotbevariedenoughtooffsetthelengthscaledisparity.Thisleavesthewind
speed.Forexample,ahalfscalemodel(Lmodel=0.5Lfullscale)requiresadoublingoftheroadequivalentwindspeedtomatch
theReynoldsnumber(Vwindtunnel=2Vfullscale).Insomecasesthiscanbeaccomplished,butmanywindtunnelscannotreach
thespeedsrequiredwhensmallerscalemodels(1/10scale,forexample)areused.Forsuchascale,evenifthewindtunnel
canreachsuchspeeds,aircompressibilityeffects,characterizedbytheMachnumber(ratioofwindspeedtospeedofsound),
willbecomeaproblem.Forpracticalpurposes,theMachnumbershouldremainbelowavalueofapproximately0.25to
minimizesuchcomplications(300km/hrunderstandardatmosphericconditions).

Basedontheargumentsina)andb)above,tosimulatetheaerodynamicperformanceofaroadvehicleunderrepresentative
conditions,foratypicalhighwayspeedof100km/hr,oneshoulduseascalenosmallerthan1/3.This,combinedwithadesireto
keeptheblockageofatractortrailermodelnogreaterthan5%resultsintheneedforawindtunnelwithacrosssectionalareaof
approximately70m2(8mx8mcrosssection)andawindspeedof300km/hr,acombinationofwhichisdifficulttofind.TheNRC
IAR9mx9mWindTunnelcanaccommodatethisidealscaleandcanapproachthedesiredspeed.

Undersomeconditions,Reynoldsnumbermatchingcanberelaxedandreliablesimulationforthepurposeofcomparativeanalysis
isstillpossible.TheReynoldsnumbersensitivityiscausedprimarilybytheflowaroundroundedcornersofthevehicle[77],anda
thoroughunderstandingoftheimplicationsofsuchchangesisrequiredbeforerelaxingthiscondition.Oldermodeltractorsthathave
flatsurfacesandsharpcornersaregenerallylesssensitivetoReynoldsnumbereffectsthanarethenewaerotrucks.

a.Relativemotionbetweenthevehicleandtheground:Anotherimportantconsiderationforsimulatingthecorrectaerodynamic
performanceofroadvehiclesinawindtunnelistherelativemotionofavehiclewithrespecttothewindandtheroad,andthe
effectofrotatingwheels[78].Ontheroad,avehiclemovesrelativetoitssurroundings(groundandair)whereasinawind
tunnelthegroundisstationaryinrelationtothemodel.Theaerodynamicperformanceofthelowerpartofavehicle(bumper,
underbody,wheels,trailerbogie,etc.)maybestronglyinfluencedbythisrelativemotionbetweenthevehicleandtheground,
aswellastheassociatedwheelrotation.Differentwindtunnelsusevarioustechniquestomitigatethisrelativemotion
problem,ifitisconsideredatall.Somewindtunnelsusesuctionoftheboundarylayerimmediatelyupwindofthemodelto
createathinboundarylayerthathasnegligibleinfluenceintheflowsurroundingthemodel(NRCIAR2mx3mand
9mx9mWindTunnels).Othersuserollingroadsystemconsistingofoneorseveralbeltsthatmovethegroundplaneatthe
samespeedasthewind,relativetothevehicle,androtatethewheelsthroughrollersystemsormotors(e.g.NRCIAR9mx9
mWindTunnel,PininfarinaWindTunnel,VolvoWindTunnel).TheNRC9mx9mWindTunnelusesthecombinationofboth
techniques.

b.Terrestrialwinds:Ingeneral,atmosphericwindsareturbulenttheyvarywithheight,andareofsignificantstrengththatlarge
crosswindsarecommonlyencounteredbyroadvehiclesevenathighwayspeeds.Acrosswindgeneratesaneffectiveangle
betweentheabsolutetruckmotionandthewindvector(yawangle).Undersuchcrosswindconditions,theaerodynamic
characteristicsofagroundvehicle,especiallytractortrailercombinations,behavedifferentlythanwhentheambientwindsare
eitherstaticorwhentheyareinlinewiththevehiclemotion[78].Thegeneralmethodtodealwiththeneteffectofvaryingwind
conditionsistodefineawindaverageddragcoefficient.Thisapproachisbasedoncombiningthegroundspeedofthevehicle
withameanterrestrialwindspeedthatisequallyprobabletobeblowingfromanydirection.Adistributionofeffectiveyaw
anglescanbecombinedwiththevehicledragpolar(variationofdragcoefficientwithyawangle)todefineaneffectivedrag
coefficienttobeencounteredbythevehicleontheroad.Toobtainthewindaverageddragcoefficientinawindtunnel
simulation,dragmeasurementsaremadeoverarangeofyawangles(byrotatingthevehiclerelativetothewinddirection).
Forhighwayspeeds,yawanglesuptoabout10degreesarerequiredtoobtainawindaverageddragcoefficient.Atlower
speeds,representingcityandshortcommutedrivingconditions,yawanglesupto15degreesaregenerallyrequired[3].Any
asymmetryinatruckconfigurationthenrequiresmeasurementsrepresentingcrosswindsfrombothdirections(+/yawrange)
toobtainacorrectwindaverageddragcoefficient.Formoderatecrosswindstheyawanglecanexceed10,andunderthese
conditionsthedragofatractortrailercanexceed50%ofitszeroyawdragload.Therefore,thewindaverageddragcoefficient
isthemostcriticalaerodynamicperformanceindicatorforlongheavyvehiclessuchastrucksorbusesbecauseitrepresents
anaverageofthetypicalwindconditionsunderwhichthesevehicleswilloperate.

c.Windturbulence:Althoughthewindaverageddragapproachaccountsforvariationsinthemeanatmosphericwinds,
turbulenceassociatedwiththesewindsandfromthewakesofothervehiclesontheroadisusuallynotsimulatedinwind
tunneltestprograms.Ithaslongbeenrecognizedthatturbulencecannotonlyaffectthemagnitudeofthedragexperiencedby
atractortrailercombination,butcanalsoaffectthecharacteristicsofthedragmechanismsandhowtheyvarywithwind
direction[79],[80].Thisappliesalsototheeffectsofdragreductiondevices.Adragreductiondevicemayshownegligible
sensitivitytoturbulencewhenwindsarealignedwiththetruckmotion,butcanshowdifferentlevelsofdragreductionincross
flowsdependingontheturbulenceenvironment.Thecharacteristicsoftheturbulenceenvironmentareimportantfor
adequatelyassessingtheperformanceofdragreductiondevicesforroadconditions.Section11.3.2describestechniquesto
simulatetheminawindtunnel.

d.Windprofiletwist:Ingeneral,windspeedincreaseswithdistancefromtheground.Thisgeneratesavariationwithheightof
thewindspeedexperiencedbyaroadvehicle,aswellasavariationinthewinddirectionwithheightwhencrosswindsare
present.Theeffectofsuchwindconditionsontheaerodynamicperformanceofatractortrailerisnotknown,butitisexpected
tobesignificant.Section11.3.3describestechniquesforsimulatingthisshearandtwistofthewindprofileinthewindtunnel.

10.3CurrentState
Inrecentyears,manydragreductiondevicesfortractortrailercombinationshavebeendemonstratedthroughfullscalewindtunnel
testing,bymatchingroadconditionReynoldsnumbers,ofwhichNRCIARhasperformedsomeofthework[6],[7].These
investigationshavebeenintendedprimarilytoexaminetherelativeperformanceofthedevicestoastandardroadconfigurationfor
suchtrucks.

ThisstudybyLeuschenandCooper[6],[7]wasdoneunderclosetorealconditions(seeFigure24).However,someimprovements
tothesimulationcouldbeincludedforfuturework.Thetrailerlengthsusedforthestudy(28ftand40ft)wereshorterthanthe
standard53fttrailersinuseformostlonghaultransport.Also,thetestswereconductedinsmoothflowconditionsandthereforethe
effectsofatmosphericturbulenceandvehiclewaketurbulencewerenotaccountedfor.Thisisalimitationofanyfullscalewind
tunneltestsoftractortrailers.Appropriateturbulenceconditionsforroadvehiclesaredifficulttoachieveinwindtunnelsforfullscale
evaluations(seeSection11.3.2)partlyduetothesizeoftheequipmentnecessarytogeneratetheturbulence.Despitethese
limitations,theresultsofLeuschenandCoopershowedthepromiseofsuchdevicesfordragreductionoftractortrailer
combinations.Fromthisstudy,incrementalchangesinthedragcoefficientarelikelyrealisticforlowturbulenceconditions,butnot
necessarilytheabsolutelevels.

Morerecently,aUSDepartmentofEnergy(DOE)investigationofafullscaletractortrailercombination,usinga53fttrailer,inthe
NationalFullScaleAerodynamicsComplex(NFAC)AmesResearchCenterevaluatedanumberofdragreductiondevices[8](see
Figure25).Resultshavenotyetbeenpublished,butpressreleasesclaima12%reductioninfuelconsumptioncouldresultfromthe
technologytested.SomeresultsfromthestudyhavecorroboratedNRCCSTTtestingresultsindicatinga24to32inchboattailfor
thetrailerisoptimalfordragreductionandoperationalconstraints[23],[32].

Figure24FullscaletractortrailertestingintheNRC9mx9mWindTunnel

Figure25FullscaletractortrailertestingintheNFAC24mx36mWindTunnel

10.4ModelScaleEvaluationofDragReductionTechnologies
Thelargestdetrimenttowindtunneltestingoffullscaleheavyvehiclesisthesizeofthevehiclesandthetimerequiredtoprepare
themfortesting.Thetwosetsoffullscaletestsdescribedabove[6],[7],[8]requiredthetractorsandtrailertobeliftedbycraneinto
thewindtunnels.Safelyriggingandliftingsuchvehiclesisdifficultandlabourintensive,resultinginexpensivesetupcosts.Model
changesarealsotimeconsumingwhendealingwithfullscaleparts.Modelscaletestingeliminatessomeofthesechallenges.
CombinedwiththeabilitytotestscalemodelsatorneardesignReynoldsnumberswithgroundeffectsimulation,modelscale
testingwillprovidethebestcombinationforsystematicallyevaluatingtheeffectsofdragreductiontechnologiesforsimulatedroad
conditions.Ascalemodelcanbedesignedtobeversatileforinstallationandmodelchanges.

10.4.1TractorTrailerScaleModelTesting
TheNRC9mx9mWindTunnelprovidestheabilitytotestquartertohalfscaletractortrailermodelsatrepresentativeReynolds
numbers,withgroundeffectsimulationand,withsomeadditionaleffort,representativeturbulenceconditions.Recently,acorrelation
studybetweenahalfscaletractortrailermodelanditsfullscaleequivalentwasperformedintheNRC9mx9mWindTunnel.After
correctingforblockageandwallinterferenceeffects,theresultsofthestudyshowedgoodcorrelationbetweenthetwomodelsand
identifiedtheimportanceofpropergroundsimulationforsomechangesinmodelconfiguration.Theresultsindicatedtheimportance
ofgroundeffectsimulationforassessingtheeffectsofdragreductiontechnologieslocatedingroundproximity.Thestudywasa
collaborationbetweenNRCIARandatruckmanufacturerandhasnotyetbeenpublished.Disseminationoftheresultsintothe
publicliteraturewilloccurwithinthenextyear.ThisstudyprovidesconfidencethatscalemodeltestingatrepresentativeReynolds
numberswillbeefficientandprovideadequateguidanceforthedesignandevaluationofdragreductiontechnologies.Theinclusion
ofrepresentativeturbulenceandwindprofileconditions(seeSection11.3)wouldprovideareliableandsystematicapproachtothe
evaluationoftractortraileraerodynamicperformance.

FrontsurfacemodificationswillbethemostsusceptibletoReynoldsnumbereffectsandthereforefullscaleReynoldsnumber
conditionsaretheidealsituationforexaminingsuchmodifications.Testingofahalfscalemodelinthe9mx9mWindTunnelcan
achievefullscaleReynoldsnumberconditionswiththegroundeffectsimulationsystem.Forthisscale,thewheelsofthemodel
straddletheedgesofthe1mwidegroundplanebelt.Althoughthissituationisbetterthanafixedgroundplane,itisnotidealfor
examiningunderbodyandrotatingwheeleffects.Also,athalfscalethetrailerextendsbeyondthelengthoftheNRCgroundplane
belt,whichisonly5.3mlong.Atquarterscale,afulllengthmodel(withequivalent53fttrailer)willsitwithintheconfinesofthe
groundplanebelt(beltequivalentto21.2m/70ftscale)andwillthereforeallowfullyrepresentativeunderbodysimulation.Sucha
modelcouldalsoallowthemovingbelttodrivethewheelsandprovideanimprovedsimulationofthewheelroadinteractions
(furtherdiscussedinSection11.3.1).TheReynoldsnumberforthissituationwouldbehalfofthefullscaleconditions,but
underbodyflowsarelikelytobelesssusceptibletoReynoldsnumbereffectsduetotheturbulentwakelikecharacteristicsofmuch
ofthisflow.Asnotedabove,itisprimarilyfrontsurfacesthatrequirethefullscaleReynoldsnumbersassociatedwithahalfscale
model.Althoughthelargerangeofsecondgenerationdragreductiondevicesaffectthegapandtrailerflows,itispossiblethat
insufficientReynoldsnumbersimulationoftheforebodymayhaveaneffectonthedownstreamflows.

Theargumentsaboveleadtotheconclusionthatthereisnooptimummodelscalefortestingtractortrailersinthe9mx9mWind
Tunnelwithgroundeffectsimulation.Quarterscalemodelsarethemostappropriatefortestingdragreductiondevicesonafull
lengthtrailermodel,whileproperlysimulatingtheunderbodyflowsandground.HalfscalemodelswillprovideadequateReynolds
numbersimulation,importantforthetractorforebodyflowsbutwillnotprovidefullunderbodygroundeffectsimulation.Beforean
appropriatemodelscaleischosenforsuchstudies,itwillbeimportanttounderstandtheimplicationsofthistradeoff.Section10.6
providesrecommendationsforsuchatradeoffstudy.

TheNRCIARcanalsoprovideadditionaltestingtechniquestoevaluatetheeffectsofdragreductiondevicesontractortrailer
combinations.Section11describesadditionaltechnologiesthattheNRCIARcanprovideforscalemodeltesting,includingaero
acousticmeasurementcapabilitiesandsnowingestionevaluation.Aeroacousticandsnowingestiontechnologiesarealso
availableforfullscaletesting,andnoveltechnologiesforimprovingroadtestmeasurementsandmethodologiesareconsidered.

Sections9and10describedragreductiontechnologiesfortractortrailersandbusesthatcanbeevaluatedusingscalemodelwind
tunneltestingwithgroundeffectandturbulencesimulation.

10.4.2IntercityBusScaleModelTesting
TheidealfacilityforaerodynamicdevelopmentofintercitybusesistheNRC9mx9mWindTunnel.Itstestsectionisequippedwith
aGroundEffectSimulationSystem(GESS)comprisedofa5.65metrelong,1.1metrewidemovingbeltprecededbytwolarge
poroussuctionplatesensuringathinboundarylayeratthemovingbeltleadingedge.Inorderforthebelttocompletelycoverthe
footprintofthebusmodel,theidealmodelscalewouldbeapproximatelyonethird.Figure26representsaschematicillustrationofa
scale,largesizeintercitybusofdimensionstypicalforNorthAmerica.Asshown,thismodelscaleallowsthereproductionof
favourableflowconditions,sincethemovingbeltextendswellbeyondthebusboundariesfromallfoursides.Withanachievable
windspeedof200km/h,thewindtunnelsimulationwouldreachofthefullscaleReynoldsnumbercorrespondingtohighway
speed.Forthisreason,andconsideringthepreviouslydiscussedsensitivitytofreestreamturbulenceandReynoldsnumber,such
experimentswouldrequirecarefulreproductionofthefreestreamconditionstypicallyexperiencedbysuchvehiclesontheroad.
NRCALhastheexperienceandexpertisetogenerateartificiallyfreestreamturbulenceconditionsobservedintheatmospheric
surfacelayer,asdescribedinsection11.3.2.Inaddition,previousexperienceonthecontrolofboundarylayertransitionforbluff
bodyshapeswouldhelpensurethatcriticalflowpatternsarefaithfullyreproducedatmodelscale.Fieldaerodynamic
measurements,suchasthoseconductedbyTanguay[105],carriedoutaboardarealbuswouldprovideinvaluableexperimental
datawithwhichtovalidatethewindtunnelsimulationforabaselineconfiguration.Thescalemodelissufficientlylargetoenable
theaccuratereproductionofgeometricaldetailsthatareofaerodynamicsignificanceforabus.Windtunnelexperimentswouldbe
madeefficientbytheuseoftheAerodynamicTestingInfrastructure(ATI),describedinSectionBus.4,coupledtoclientprovided
modules(centrebody,tailandforebodysections),enablingthetestingofelementswithdifferentgeometries.Themodelsizewould
alsoenablethemanufacturingofamodularenginecoolingsystembymeansofstereolithography,whichwouldallowthetestingof
variouscoolingstrategiesaimedatminimizingcoolingdrag.Consideringtheimportanceofwheelrotation,onboardmotorswould
driveallwheelssothattheirtangentialspeedmatchesthemovingbeltspeed.Themodelwouldbeheldbystreamlinedoutriggers
straddlingthebeltandattachedtotheexternalbalance.Asmallgapwouldremainbetweenthewheelsandthenonmetricmoving
belt.Anexperimentalconfigurationofthistypewouldenableacomprehensiveoptimizationcoveringallfouraerodynamicaspects
identifiedinSection8,namely:external,appendage,underbodyandcoolingaerodynamics.

Figure26SchematicofascaleintercitybusmodelonthemovingbeltoftheNRC9mx9mWindTunnel

10.4.3NonAerodynamicTechnologiesforWindTunnelEvaluation
Thedevelopmentoftechnologiesforreducingfuelconsumptionandemissionsofheavyvehiclesincludesmorethanjustdrag
reductiontechnologies[2],andwindtunneltestingcanbeusedtoassesstheaerodynamiceffects,whetherpositiveordetrimental,
ofsuchtechnologies.

Lowrollingresistancetiresarecommonlyavailableforroadvehicles,andonesuchtechnologyfortractortrailercombinationsisthe
useofsinglewide,alsocalledsupersingle,tiresinsteadofdualstandardtires.Someevidenceshowsthatthesesinglewidetires
alsoprovideanaerodynamicimprovementbuttheinfluencecombinedwithotherdragreductiontechnologieshasnotbeen
systematicallyevaluated.

Asengine/drivetrain/auxiliarydevicetechnologyisimproved,changestothesizeandlocationofcomponentsintheenginebaycan
affectthethroughflowofcoolingairandthemannerinwhichitexhaustsfromthecompartment.Snow&Ice,andsplash&spray
couldaltertheaerodynamicsthroughshapemodificationandblockageofcoolingpassages.Amodelscalewindtunnelevaluation
oftypicalenginecompartmentslayoutsmayprovidesomeoptimizedconfigurationsthatimprovetheoverallaerodynamic
performanceofthevehicle.ThefirsttractortrailertestsintheNRC9mx9mWindTunnelwereperformedtoexaminethecooling
dragofanactivecoolingsystem.Coolingsystemoptimizationcanbeanaddedbenefittobeinvestigatedwithbothfullscaleand
modelscalewindtunneltests.Suchtechnologyisbeingintroducedforpassengercarsandtheextensiontotrucksisworth
investigating.Reynoldsnumbereffectsareimportantwhenconsideringcoolingsystemaerodynamicperformance.

10.5AreasRecommendedforFurtherWork
Aerodynamicdragisadissipative,nonrecoverablelossofenergyandisoneofthemostimportantfactorsforreducingfuel
consumptionandemissionsofheavyvehicles.Significantdragreductioncanbeobtainedwithcurrentandemergingtechnologies,
buttheuptakeisgenerallyslowduetotherequirementsfromoperatorsforatimelyreturnontheirinvestment.Typicalevaluation
strategiesbydevicedevelopersandmanufacturerscanbeskewedandnotveryrepresentativeofrealworldconditions,whichis
oneofthereasonsoperatorscanbehesitanttowardsnewtechnologies.Theindustrythereforeneedsguidanceinselecting
appropriatetechnologiesthatwillprovideanetbenefittothereductionoffuelconsumptionandemissionsinCanada.Similartothe
EPASmartwayprogramintheUS[30],certificationoftechnologiesisagoodapproachtoprovidingtheindustrywithsuchguidance.

Basedontheinformationdescribedinthisreport,theNRCrecommendsasystematicevaluationofthedragreductionpotentialfor
standardandproposeddragreductiontechnologiesfortractortrailercombinations.ThisplanwouldprovideTransportCanadawith
recommendationsforthemosteffectivecombinationsofdragreductiontechnologiesforreducingthefuelconsumptioninthe
transportindustry.Combinedwithconsiderationofoperationalrequirements,recommendationsforbestusetechnologiescanthen
beprovidedtothetransportationindustry.Theplan,summarizedbelow,willbesimilartothetestprogramperformedatNRCin
collaborationwithNRCan,theCanadianTruckingAlliance,andtheUSDepartmentofEnergy[23],[24],forwhichreliableestimates
offuelsavingscanbemade.Thisnewplan,basedonscalemodelwindtunneltestingratherthanfullscaletesting,encompasses
additionaldragreductiontechnologiesandwillprovidemuchimprovedsimulationoftheenvironmentinwhichheavyvehicles
operateinCanada.Thebenefitofscalemodeltestingoverfullscaletestingistheabilitytoprovideamorerepresentative
environment(relativevehicle/ground/windmotionsandterrestrialwinds)aswellastheabilitytotestequivalentfulllengthvehicles
andlongcombinationvehicles.Theseissuesprovidemuchimprovedaccuracyoverpastwindtunnelcampaigns.Anotherstrong
benefitofwindtunneltestingistheprecisionwithwhichcomparisonsbetweentechnologiesandconfigurationscanbecompared,by
meansofasystematicallycontrolledtestenvironment.

Collaborationwithoperators,OEMsanddevicemanufacturerscanprovideathoroughevaluationofsuchtechnologies.TheNRC
alreadyhaspartnersinthetransportationindustrythatwouldbeopentocollaborationthroughtheprovisionofspecificationsof
tractortraileranddevicegeometryformodelmanufacturing.

Anoverviewofaproposedplanfortheaerodynamicevaluationofdragreductiontechnologiesisasfollows:

Usingaerodynamicmeasurementsfromwindtunnelandtracktestprogramsundertakenwithvariouscollaboratorsand
partners(withpermission),thepotentialimpactofperformingtestsatlowerthanfullscaleReynoldsnumberswillbeassessed.
Anoptimizedmodelscale(betweenand)fortractortrailerscombinationswillbeselectedtobestprovideaccurateresults
fromanevaluationofdragreductiontechnologies.

DesigntheinfrastructuretotestscalemodelsofNorthAmericantractorsandstandardtrailers(40ftand53ftequivalentdry
van,flatbed,tanker,longcombinationvehicles).Thesemodelswouldbedesignedtoaccommodateamultitudeofbody
shapesanddragreductiondevices/conceptstobeevaluated.Themodelswouldbedesignedtobeusedwiththeground
effectsimulationsystemoftheNRC9mx9mWindTunnel.Thissystemprovidesacorrectandimportantsimulationofthe
relativemotionbetweenthevehicle,theterrestrialwinds,andtheground.

Design,developmentandfabricationofaturbulencegenerationsystemtoproviderepresentativeconditionsthatare
encounteredbytractortrailersunderrealroadconditions.Turbulencehasbeendemonstratedtobeanimportantfactor,
generallyneglected,whenevaluatingthedragreductionpotentialofnewtechnologies.Section11.3describesthe
requirementsforthisdevelopmentproject.

WindtunneltestprogramintheNRC9mx9mWindTunneltoevaluatetheaerodynamic,andpossiblytheaeroacoustic(see
Section11.4)performanceofdragreductiondevicesandvehiclecombinationsusingthescalemodelheavyvehicles.This
programwouldconsistofevaluatingtheperformanceofthedragreductiontechnologiesundersmoothandturbulentflow
conditions,withandwithoutgroundsimulation,toprovideacorrelationwithotherwindtunneltestprogramsthathavealready
demonstratedsomeofthetechnologiesunderconditionswithsmoothflowandminimalornogroundeffectsimulation.

DisseminationofresultsandrecommendationsforoptimumdragreductioncombinationsintheCanadiancontext,through
reportsandthroughpresentationstotheheavytruckindustriesatappropriateconferencesandmeetings.Theseresultswillbe
morerepresentativeinregardstofuelreductionpotentialthanthoseofthestandardrecommendedmethodstoevaluate
heavyvehicleaerodynamicperformancenowrequiredbytheUSEPA.

11TESTTECHNIQUES

11.1CurrentStandardTechniques
Theautomotiveindustryusesacombinationofroadmeasurements,windtunnelexperimentsandcomputationaltechniquesto
developandevaluatetheaerodynamicperformanceoftheirvehicles.Aftermarketsuppliersofdragreductiondevicesgenerallydo
nothavethesamelevelofresourcestoevaluatetheirdevicesandcanthushavemoredifficultyindevelopingandverifyingthe
effectivenessoftheirproducts.Inthefollowing,thecurrentstandardtechniquesforevaluatingtheaerodynamicperformanceof
tractortrailers,andtheirassociateddragreductiondevices,aredescribed.Subsequentsectionsdescribeimprovementstothese
techniquesthattheNRChasconsideredforevaluatingtheaerodynamicperformanceandbehaviourofgroundvehicles.

11.1.1RoadTesting
Roadtestsarecommontoallvehiclemanufacturersandareoftenusedasafinalverificationoftheperformanceofacomplete
tractortrailersystem.SAEproceduresdescribetherecommendedapproachforperformingsuchmeasurements(SAEJ1321[72]).
Theseproceduresprovidefueleconomymeasurementsforconstantspeedconditionsandcanthereforeonlyinfertheeffectsof
dragreductiondevicesontheoverallsystemperformancefortheconditionsencounteredduringthetests.

Benefits:

Actualinuseperformanceandefficiencyofthefullsystemcanbededuced.

Deficiencies:

Onlyaccountsforenvironmentalconditionsencounteredduringthetestprocedure.
Difficulttoevaluatesystematicallyperformanceofmanydifferenttractortrailerconfigurationsduetochangesinenvironmental
conditionsandtimerequirementsfortesting.
Difficulttomeasuretheeffectsofsmallchanges,andthereforedifficulttouseforthedevelopmentofadragreductiondevices.
Difficulttoobtaintheeffectsofawindaverageddrag.
Experimentalerrorcanbeashighasthecalculatedsavingsofthedragreductiondevice(e.g.2%savingswitha3%
experimentalerror).

11.1.2CoastDownTesting
Coastdowntestingprovidesamoreprecisemeasurethanroadtestingoftheaerodynamicperformanceofdifferenttractortrailer
configurations.SAEproceduresarealsoavailableforsuchtesting(SAEJ1263[73]andJ2263[74]).Theprocedureforsuchtestsis
toallowavehicletocoastfromahighspeedtoalowspeedwiththedrivetraindisengaged.Thisprovidesameasureoftheroad
loadwhichiscomprisedprimarilyofaerodynamicresistanceandrollingresistance.Thecoastdownbehaviour,evaluatedby
measuringthechangeinvehiclespeedwithtime,allowstheroadloadtobecharacterized.Thedragandrollingresistancecanbe
deducedfromthesemeasurementsbyconsideringthedynamicsofamovingbodyandthemannerinwhichthesetwoloadsare
knowntobehavewithspeed.Fromthespeedtimesignatureofthecoastdowntest,thedragcoefficientandtherollingresistance
canbeextractedfromthemeasurementsusingregressiontechniques.Forthesetests,accuratevehiclespeed,windspeed,and
winddirectionmeasurementsarerequiredhoweversomeprocedureslimitthewindconditionsunderwhichthetestcanbe
performedtoeliminatetheirinfluenceontheresults.Thetractortrailertiresmustbethesameforalltheconfigurationstestedwitha
constantinflatedpressureandtheidenticalstretchofroadwaymustbeused.Thisprocedureislengthy,requiringaminimum
numberofmeasurementruns(8or10dependingontheprocedureused)inalternatingdirectionsforeachconfigurationtobetested
inordertoobtainstatisticallysignificantresults.

NewEnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA)regulationsintheUnitedStateswillsoonrequiretruckmanufacturerstoreportthe
aerodynamicperformanceoftheirvehicles,whichwillbeperiodicallyauditedthroughcoastdowntesting[84].Theselectionofthe
costdowntechniquewasbasedonconsultationwithtruckOEMs,eachofwhichhastheirpreferredevaluationmethod(typically
windtunneltestingorcomputationalfluiddynamics),butnoneofwhichusecoastdownasaprimarymethod.Assuch,theOEMs
agreedthatthecoastdownmethodprovidesalevelplayingfieldforthemall.TheOEMswillneedtoproperlycorrelatetheir
preferredaerodynamicevaluationtechniquesagainsttheEPAcoastdownprocedurestoensuretheirreportingisincompliancewith
theregulations.TheEPAcoastdownprocedurelimitsthewindconditionsunderwhichthetestscanberunsuchthattheyintroduce
anearnegligibleeffectontheresults.Averagecrosswindswithinacoastdownruncannotexceed5mph(8km/hr).

Coastdowntechniqueswill,ingeneral,includetheeffectsofterrestrialwindsamajordifficultyisthemeasurementaccuracyofthe
freestreamwindspeedanddirection,whichcanleadtoimportanterrorsinthecalculationoftheaerodynamicdragcoefficient.
Tanguay[81]documentsthedifficultiesinusingstandardwindmeasurementtechniques,basedonananalysisofconstantspeed
tracktestmeasurementsperformedwithtwotractortrailerconfigurations.Twoapproachesaretakenforsuchmeasurements.Road
sideanemometerscanbeusedtomeasurethewindswithoutinterferenceofthevehicleitself.However,ifwindconditionsarenot
constantornotspatiallyuniform,thesemeasurementsareonlyvalidwhenthevehicleisincloseproximitytotheanemometers.The
secondapproachinvolvesmountingananemometeronthevehicletomeasurewindspeedanddirection(SeeFigure27).This
techniquesuffersfromthelocalinterferenceofthevehicleonthewind(biasof10%onspeedanddirectionispossible),aswellas
beingintrusivetotheflowencounteredbythevehicle.Averylongboom,longerthanthatshowninFigure24,isrequiredtoplace
themeasurementdevicesufficientlyfarfromthebodytoobtainanonintrusivemeasurementandtomeasureaccuratelythe
undisturbedwindflow.Suchalongboomwouldalsointroduceanaddeddragincrement.

Benefits:

Actualinuseperformancecanbededuced
Canaccountforrealroadandwindconditions.
Withaccuratemeasurementofthevehiclespeed,windspeedandwinddirection,agoodrepresentationoftheaerodynamic
performanceofthevehiclecanbecalculatedwhichcanprovideabetterpredictionofdragreductionthatcanbeachievedon
theroad.

Deficiencies:

Difficulttosystematicallytestdifferentconfigurationsduetothelargenumberofmeasurementrunsrequiredtoobtaina
reliableaveragedresult.
Thewindconditionscannotbecontrolledandthereforetheprocedurecanonlyprovidemeasurementsforthespecificwind
conditionsencounteredduringthetest.
Actualwindspeedanddirectionencounteredbythevehiclearedifficulttomeasure.
Regulatoryprocedureslimitthewindconditionsfortesting,andthereforeresultsdonotrepresentactualinuseconditions
(windaverageddrag).
Figure27Windspeedanemometermountedaheadofhighwaytractor

11.1.3WindTunnelTesting
Chapter10describedwindtunneltestingindetail,andthereforeonlyacursoryoverviewisprovidedhere.Often,smallscale(order
of1:10scale)windtunneltestingisusedintheearlydevelopmentprocessfortractortrailerdesign.NewEPAregulationsrequirea
minimumof1/8scale.Thesetestsprovidereliablemeanstooptimizesomeoftheaerodynamicfeaturesofatractorand/ortrailer
andcanbeusuallydoneatareducedcost.Suchtestsarealsogenerallyperformedwithfixedfloorandlowturbulenceconditions.
Largermodelscales,includingfullscale,areoftenusedlaterinthedesignprocesstooptimizeandevaluatetheaerodynamic
behaviour.TheselargerscalesprovidebetterReynoldsnumbermatchingbetweentestsandfullscale.Themajorbenefitofwind
tunneltestingisthefactthattheenvironmentcontrolled,providingrepeatableconditionsthatfacilitateprecisecomparisonof
differentconfigurations.

Benefits:

Controlledwindconditions.
Allowssystematicevaluationofdesignorcomponentchanges,withprecisemeasureofrelativedifferencesbetweendifferent
configurations.
Morecosteffectivethanroad/costdowntestsforevaluatingmultipleconfigurations.
Windaverageddragmeasurementsarenotexpensivetoobtain.

Deficiencies

MostwindtunnelfacilitiescannotmatchfullscaleReynoldsnumbersatlowMachnumberwhileminimizingblockageandwall
interferenceeffects.
Theturbulenceandtheverticalvariationofspeedanddirectionoftheatmosphericwindsarecurrentlynotsimulatedinwind
tunnels.
Dependingonthewindtunnelfacility,someaspectsoftherelativevehicle/road/windmotionsarenotfullysimulated.

11.1.4ComputationalFluidDynamics
Anotherapproachoftenusedtoexaminetheaerodynamicperformanceofgroundvehiclesiscomputationalfluiddynamics(CFD).
Thisapproachnumericallysimulatestheflowfieldsurroundingavehicletoexaminetheaerodynamicperformance.CFDhas
improvedagreatdealinthelastcoupleofdecades,butitstillhasalongwaytogobeforeitcancompetewiththeefficiencyand
accuracyofwindtunneltesting.

ThelargestsourceofuncertaintywithCFDisthemodelingofturbulenceintheshearlayersthatdeveloparoundthevehicle.The
standardapproachtoCFDsimulationforaerodynamicdesignanddevelopmentistoperformsteadyflowsimulationsthatuse
mathematicalmodelstorepresenttheeffectofturbulenceonthemeanflowfieldsurroundingthevehicle[82].Thestandardand
mostefficientmodelshavebeendevelopedbasedonsimpleflowconditions(boundarylayeroveraflatsurface,wakeinan
idealizedenvironment,etc.).Thesemodelscanworkwellforstreamlinedobjects,butsufferfromlargeuncertaintieswhenappliedto
problemssuchasthegapflowbetweenatractorandtrailer,andtheinteractionsoftherotatingwheelwakeswiththeunderbody
flows.

TheReynoldsnumbereffectsalsohauntCFDpractitionersbecauseturbulencemodelsaregenerallybasedonhighReynolds
numberflowswheretheturbulencetendstobehaveinaReynoldsnumberinsensitivemanner.Theseconditionsalsonegatethe
characteristicsoflaminarandtransitionalshearlayersthatcanbeprevalentonthefrontfaceofmanyroadvehicles.Onheavy
vehicles,theflowsaroundthefrontfacesofthetractoraregenerallylowReynoldsnumberflowswithmuchdifferentturbulence
characteristics,orpossiblytheabsenceofturbulencewhichcanoccuroveralargepartofthefrontfaceofcoaches.
Techniquestosimulatethelargescaleunsteadymotionsoftheflowaroundavehicle(LargeEddySimulation,LES,andDetached
EddySimulation,DES)areavailablebutthesesignificantlyincreasesolutiontimesandarethereforemuchlessefficientfordesign
anddevelopmentpurposes.Evenwithadvancedtechnologies,CFDmustbevalidatedagainstexperimenttobesureitisproviding
accurateandrepresentativeresults.Dragreductiondevicesaregenerallyusedinregionsoftheflowwhereshear,flow
unsteadinessandturbulenceeffectsareimportant,andthereforetheuncertaintyofCFDforsuchflowsnegatesitasasolemethod
toexaminedragreductiondevices.Theshipbuildingcommunity,whichencounterssimilaraerodynamicproblemsastruckbuilders,
hasstandardizedontimeaccurateloadsfordesignpurposes.Computingresourcesforsuchsimulationsarerequired.

Benefits:

Goodforearlydesigncycleevaluations.
Resultsprovidethefullflowfieldsurroundingthevehicle.
Canexaminegrosseffectsofgeometrychangesonflowfield.
Vehiclesizeandgeometrycaneasilybechangedorsubstituted

Deficiencies

Meshgenerationcanbeverylengthyifgooddetailofthevehiclegeometryisrequired.
Simplifiedmodelingofturbulencecreatesuncertaintyinresults.
Moreaccuracyrequiresgreatercomputationtime.
Difficulttoquicklyevaluatedesignchanges.
Expensiveperdatapointduetothelargenumberofwindconditionsrequiredforwindaverageddragevaluations

11.2CoastdownTestingImprovements
AsnotedaboveinSection11.1.2,themajordeficiencyassociatedwithcoastdowntestingtechniquesisthedifficultywithwhichthe
windspeedanddirectionaremeasured[81].Withcurrenttechnology,thesemeasurementscanbeimprovedbyprovidingeither
greaterresolutionofroadsidewindmeasurements,oroptimizationofthemountinglocationforvehiclereferencedmeasurements.
Theformermethodcanbeaccomplishedwiththeuseofalargenumberofaccurateroadsideanemometers.Thespacingcanbe
optimizedtoprovideaccurateinterpolationofthewindconditionsbetweenmeasurementstations.Thelattermethodcanbe
accomplishedoneoftwoways.Ifthevehiclemountedanemometerislocatedinaregionfreeofinfluencebythevehicle(farfrom
themodel),itcanbeusedasadirectmeasure,howeverthiswouldrequireanimpracticallylongboommountedtothefrontofthe
vehicleforebody.Suchastructurewouldinevitablyintroduceadragincrement.Conversely,acloseproximitydevicecanbe
calibrated,perhapsinawindtunnel,todeterminetheinfluenceofthespecificvehicleontheambientwindconditions[74].

TheNRChasaproprietaryconceptforanewvehiclemountedmeasurementtechnique.Althoughthetechnologycannotbe
describedhere,itconsistsofafastresponse,nonintrusivewindspeedanddirectionmeasurementsystemthatcanmeasurethe
windconditionswellaheadofthevehicleinaregionnotaffectedbyitspresence.Thistechnologymayalsoprovideameasureof
theturbulencecharacteristicsofthewindtobettercharacterizethevehicleperformance.Inaddition,asystemofthisnaturecan
provideimprovedperformancecharacterizationfortheconstantspeedroadtesttechniquesdescribedinSection13.1.1.

11.3WindTunnelImprovements
AsnotedinChapter10regardingscalemodelwindtunneltesting,somedeficienciesandchallengesexistwhenattemptingto
simulateroadconditionsinawindtunnel.Inanattempttoimprovethesimulationofgroundvehicleaerodynamics,theNRCIAR
hasidentifiedseveraltechnologiesthatcanberefinedordevelopedforprovidingenhancementstotheenvironmentexperiencedby
suchvehiclesinawindtunnel.ThefollowingdescribesfourtechnologiesthatareeitherinuseinNRCIARwindtunnelsorthatcan
bedevelopedforitswindtunnels.

11.3.1GroundSimulation
TheNRC9mx9mWindTunnelhasaGroundEffectSimulationSystem(GESS)withwhichtherelativemotionbetweenthe
vehicle,thewind,andthegroundcanbesimulatedforsomeidealizedwindconditions.Thesystemiscomposedof:

Aturntableonwhichthevehicleismountedthatprovideschangesintherelativewinddirectionexperiencedbythevehicle
Aboundarylayersuctionsystem,installedinthefloorupwindofthemodelandturntable,tothinthefloorboundarylayerand
therebybetterrepresenttheneargroundflowpropertiesofthewind
Amovinggroundplane,consistingofabeltunderneaththevehiclemodel,thatmovesthegroundsurfaceatthesamespeed
asthewindand
Controlofthegroundplaneandwheelspeeds,ifrollingwheelsaresimulated,basedonthemostappropriatewindspeed
experiencedbythemodel(thatbeingtheblockagecorrectedwindspeedwhichaccountsfortheeffectoftheflowbeing
confinedbythewindtunnelwalls).
TheinitialdesignoftheGESSwasforfullscalecarsforwhichthe1mwidebeltissituatedbetweenthewheels,andthewheelsare
rotatedbyfourindividualrollermechanisms.Thesystemwasmodifiedforusewithhalfscaletractortrailermodels,forwhichthe
wheelsdonotcompletelystraddlethebelt,andmotorswithinthemodelwereusedtodrivethewheels.Figure28showsahalfscale
model(withproprietarycabdesignblockedout)inwhichthe1mwidelimitofthebeltinrelationtothemodelwidthisvisible,asis
theextensionofthemodelbeyondthedownwindendoftheturntableandGESS.

Forsmallerscaletractortrailertesting(onethirdscaleorsmaller),theGESSsimulationoftherelativeflowoverandbelowthe
vehiclemodelmaybeimprovedbymountingtheentiremodeloverthebelt.Itmaybepossibletohavethewheelsdrivendirectlyby
thebelt.Thismaybetterreproducetheaerodynamicinteractioneffectsbetweenthewheelsandtheroad,butthiseffectisnotyet
known.Suchatechniquewouldrequireanassessmentoftheloadstransferredfromthewheelstothebelt,eitherthrough
characterizationundernowindconditionswiththewheelsandbeltmoving,orbymountingmulticomponentloadcellstothewheels
todirectlymeasuretheloadstransferredtothebelt.TheNRCIARhasexperiencewithsmallloadcellsorbalancesthatcanbe
usedforsuchpurposes.FormountingmodelsdirectlyoverthebeltoftheGESS,amountingsystemtosupportthemodeland
ensurethattheloadsaretransferredcorrectlytotheunderfloorbalanceisrequired.Thiswillrequirefirstanevaluationofthe
benefitsofsuchanapproach,comparedtothewheelmotorconcept.

Figure28HalfscaletractortrailermodelwithGESSinNRC9mx9mWindTunnel(shadedduetoproprietarytractor
design)

Currently,controlofthefloorbeltandmodelwheelspeedswiththeGESSisdonetomatchthewindspeedexperiencedbythe
vehiclemodel.Undercrosswindconditions,simulatedbyrotatingtheturntableandchangingtherelativedirectionofthewindtothe
model,thegroundspeedcouldbeadjustedtorepresentthewindspeedcomponentthatisinlinewiththeeffectivevehiclemotion,
atleastforatypicalterrestrialwindspeed.Thecontrolsystemofthe9mx9mWindTunnelhasthecapabilitiestoperformthe
necessarycalculationstoadjustthebeltandwheelspeedsaccordingly.Thisisapossiblefutureupgradetothesimulationwhen
usingtheGESS.

ToimprovetheGESSinthemannerdescribedabovethefollowingtaskswouldberequired:

1.Determinethebenefitsofabeltdrivenwheelsystemoveramotordrivenwheelsystem.Ifbeneficial,designamodelmounting
systemformodelssmallerthanhalfscaleandevaluateitspotentialaerodynamicinterferencewiththeflowoverand
underneathmodelscaletractortrailers.Thismayalsorequirethedesignofawheelbalancesystemtomeasuretheloads
transferredbetweenthewheelsandthebelt.

2.UpdatetheGESScontrolsystemtoaccountforthechangeingroundreferencedwindspeedasthemodelisyawed.

11.3.2Turbulence
Theinfluenceofatmosphericturbulenceontheaerodynamicbehaviouroftractortrailersandthenewgenerationofdragreduction
devicesisnotwellunderstood.Cooper[83]demonstratedinthe1980stheinfluenceofturbulenceonsomebasictruck
configurationsandshowedthattheeffectofturbulence,relativetosmoothflow,canchangedependingonthewindangleandthe
typeofgeometrychangebeingevaluated.

Thebiggestchallengeinsimulatingatmosphericturbulenceinawindtunnelistoreplicateappropriatespectraforthewind
fluctuations[84],[85].Somestudieshavemeasuredorestimatedtheturbulencespectraencounteredbycarsoveraregion
approximately1mfromgroundlevel[86].Fortractortrailers,itwillbeimportanttoexaminethewindcharacteristicsoveragreater
heightperhapsupto4m.Thelengthscalesassociatedwithatmosphericturbulencearegenerallymuchlargerthanthosethatcan
bereproducedinawindtunnelsimulationusingstandardtechniques(grids,screens,meshes),andthesizeofthelargestlength
scaledefinesthestrengthofwindgustsexperiencedbythevehicle.Thesmallerlengthscalesthatcaneasilybegeneratedina
windtunnel,whichareturbulenteddysizesmuchsmallerthanthesizeofthetruck,containonlyasmallpartoftheturbulence
energyencounteredbyavehicleontheroad.
Activeturbulencegenerationtechnologyislikelyrequiredtosimulateappropriatewindspectrafortractortrailertesting.AtNRC,
Cooperdemonstratedsuchatechniqueusinganoscillatinggridwithhingedplatesthatweredrivenbyeitherwhitenoiseorsinusoid
ofvariousfrequencies[87].Thistechniquewaseffectiveinincreasingtheeffectivelengthscalesoftheturbulence.Cooper[84]
notesthatthePininfarinaautomotivewindtunnelusesasimilartechnique,inthiscase,withtaperedhingedvanesthatalsoprovide
achangeinmeanwindspeedwithheight.

Thescalesofturbulencefortheirconceptarerepresentativeofthoseexperiencesinthewakeofanothervehicle.Additional
challengesinthesimulationofthewindturbulencearethedifficultytoreplicatelonglengthscalesinawindtunnelasaresultof
limitedspacingandpossibleunrealisticspatialcorrelation,andthetargetspectrumforall3windcomponentsmaynotbepossibleto
achieve.

TheNRCIARhasastrongbackgroundinwindengineeringforstructures,suchasbuildingsandbridges,thathasforseveral
decadesrequiredthesimulationofappropriateturbulencespectratoadequatelycharacterizethewindloadsandaeroelastic
phenomenaassociatedwithsuchstructures.Inrecentyears,theNRCIARhasappliedthisknowledgetootherareas.
Measurementsinaspeedskatingovalwereusedtotailorwindtunnelturbulencetothatexperiencedbyspeedskaters[88].The
NRCIARhasalsoappliedturbulencegenerationinthe9mx9mWindTunnelwithspiresorturbulencegridsthatextendfromthe
floortomorethanhalfthewindtunnelheight[89](seeFigure29).ItisbelievedthattheaerodynamicsexpertisewithinNRCIAR
wouldallowthedevelopmentofaturbulencegenerationsystemforgroundvehiclesimulationinbothits2mx3mWindTunneland
its9mx9mWindTunnel.

Figure29PartialheightturbulencegridinNRC9mx9mWindTunnel

Thefollowingtaskswouldberequiredtodevelopturbulencesimulationforautomotivepurposes:

1.Measurementofthewindturbulenceconditionsexperiencedbytractortrailers:Similartothetechniqueusedby
WordleyandSaunders[86]tomeasuretheturbulenceexperiencedbycarsinAustralia,anarrayoffastresponsemulti
componentpressureprobescanbeusedtomeasurethewindspectrumanditsverticaland/orhorizontaldistributionas
experiencedbytractortrailersinaCanadianenvironment.TheNRChasthisequipment.Theresultswouldbea
representativewindspectrum.

2.Evaluationoftheperformancesensitivityofatractortrailertoturbulence:Itisnotknownhowsensitivetheaerodynamic
behaviorofatractortrailerwillbetovariationsinthetargetwindspectranotedabove.Measurementsofastandardmodelin
variousturbulenceenvironments,allofwhichareavailablealreadyintheNRCwindtunnels,willprovideatolerancelevelto
whichtheturbulencesimulationcanbedesigned.

3.DevelopmentofsimulationtechniquesfortheNRC2mx3mWindTunnel:Thetechnologytogeneratethetargetwind
spectrumasmeasuredfromthefieldstudynotedabove,whichwilllikelyrequireactivemethods,wouldbestbedevelopedin
oneofthesmallerNRCWindTunnels(1.0mx0.8mWindTunnel,or2mx3mWindTunnel).Finaldemonstrationwithan
automotivemodel,todemonstratethedifferenceswithandwithoutturbulence,wouldbestbedoneinthe2mx3mWind
Tunnelthathasanaccuratebalanceformeasuringthewindloads.

4.Extensionofsimulationtechniquestothe9mx9mWindTunnel:Withasuitabletechnologyandconceptdemonstrated
inthe2mx3mWindTunnel,thesystemcanbescaledupforthe9mx9mWindTunneltoallowturbulencesimulationfor
scalemodelswithpropergroundsimulation,aswellasforfullsizedvehicles.

11.3.3ShearedandTwistedFlowProfile
Asaresultofthevariationinatmosphericwindspeedwithheight,combinedwitheffectivewindspeedassociatedwiththevehicle
motion,aroadvehiclewillexperienceavariationofwindspeed,winddirection,andturbulencewithheightinthepresenceofa
terrestrialwind.Forsomeatmosphericwindconditions,atractortrailercanexperienceatwistfromgroundtorooflevelinexcessof
5degreesandachangeinwindspeedinexcessof5%,evenattypicalhighwayspeeds[90].Theeffectofsuchwindconditionson
theaerodynamicperformanceofatractortrailerisnotknown,butitisexpectedtobesignificant.
Shearedandtwistedwindprofileshavebeensimulatedinotherwindtunnelsforthepurposeofsimulatingthewindsexperiencesby
sailingyachts[91],[92].Inthosewindtunnels,anarrayoftwistedverticalvaneswasplacedupwindof,orwithin,thetestsectionto
varythehorizontalwindangleapproachingtheyachtmodels.Itwouldnotbedifficulttoadaptthoseconceptsfortractortrailerwind
tunneltesting.

AspartoftheturbulencesimulationapproachdescribedinSection11.3.2,flowtwistcapabilitiescanbeincluded.Demonstrationof
theeffectofwindprofiletwistonatractortrailermodelcanbedonethroughthedevelopmentalstudiesinthe2mx3mWind
Tunnel(coincidentwithtask3inSection11.3.2),withtheresultsdeterminingtheimportancewithwhichsuchtestingshouldbe
performedatlargerscalesinthe9mx9mWindTunnel(coincidentwithtask4inSection11.3.2).

11.3.4BlockageandInterferenceCorrections
Asdescribedinthelastchapter,blockageandwallinterferencecorrectionsareimportantforcomparingwindtunnelmeasurements
towhatisexperiencedontheroad.Throughayetunpublishedstudycomparingvariousblockagecorrectionstofullandhalfscale
modelsofthesametractortrailercombination,theNRChasidentifiedcorrectionmethods,that,whencombinedwithstandardwall
interferencetechniques,collapsesdatasetstonearlythesamedragcoefficientversusyawanglecurve[93].Despitethegood
resultsforthevehicleloads,themethodshaveshowntoprovidesomediscrepancyforcorrectingsurfacepressurecoefficients,
basedonacomparisonoffullscalewindtunnelandtrackmeasurementsforthesametractortrailercombination[81].Althoughthe
discrepancyisnotassumedtobefullyrelatedtotheblockagecorrectiontechnique,duetodifferencesinwindconditionsbetween
thewindtunnelandthecoastdowntests,thereissomeevidencethatarefinementtoblockagecorrectiontechniquescouldbe
madeforsurfacepressures.Themethodsexaminedintheyetunpublishedstudyarebasedonalimitednumberofmeasurements
andmodelgeometry,withempiricallydeterminedcoefficientsbasedoncorrelationforothertypesofbodies.Optimizationofa
blockagecorrectionmethodmaybepossibleforatypicalheavydutytruckconfiguration.

Anothertechniquethatisoftenusedwithaircrafttestingwhenlargeblockagelevelsarepresentisamethodbasedonathree
dimensionalpotentialflowsolutionthatprovides,withonecalculation,theneteffectofblockageonthewindspeedandwall
interferenceontheflowangularity.TheMokryTwoVariableInterferenceMethod[94]makesuseofwallpressuremeasurements
withinthewindtunnel,anddeterminesaneffectivepotentialflowconfigurationthatwillprovidethesamewallpressuresignature.
Theresultisapotentialflowfieldthatbestreproducesthewindspeedupandflowangularitychangesexperiencedbythewind
tunnelmodel.Thisfieldsolutioncanprovideaspecificcorrectionforeachsurfacepressuremeasurementbasedoneachpressure
taplocationwithinthewindtunnel.Thistechniquehasbeenshowntocorrectadequatelythemeasurementsforastreamlinedbody
buthasnotyetbeenvalidatedforabluffbody.

SomepreliminarymeasurementsusingtheMokrymethodhavealreadybeenperformedintheNRC9mx9mWindTunnel.The
largestsourceofuncertaintyinthismethodwasadriftinthepressuremeasurementsasaresultoflowmagnitudepressure
signaturesforsomeofthemeasurements.Theuncertaintyinthepressuremeasurementsprovidesalargeuncertaintyinthe
correctionparameters.Itisconceivablethatthetwomethodsdescribedabove(MaskellIIIandMokry)couldbecombinedsuchthat
therepeatableandconsistentMaskellIIImethodcanprovideareferencetowhichtheMokrymethodcanbecalibrated.This
combinationcouldadjustforthepressuredriftuncertaintyoftheMokrymethod,providingacombinedmethodforaccurately
correctingboththeaerodynamicperformanceandthepressuremeasurements.Trackmeasurements,suchasthoseexaminedby
Tanguay[81],canbeanadditionalsourceofvalidationdatafordevelopingthesetechniques.

11.4AeroAcoustics
IntheNRC9mx9mWindTunnel,anaddedbenefittotestingtheaerodynamicperformanceoftractortrailersistheabilityto
evaluatetheaeroacousticperformanceofthevehiclesoranyofitscomponents.Aspartofaprogramtodevelopaeroacoustic
measurementcapabilitiesforaircraftlandinggearsystemsinsmallerNRCwindtunnels,ithasbeendemonstratedthatwecanalso
usetheacousticmeasurementsystemwithautomotivemodelsincludingafullscaletractortrailerinthe9mx9mWindTunnel.
Suchmeasurementscanassessthechangeinnoiselevelsandassociatedfrequenciesfromthevarioustruckcomponents,
includingnewdragreductiontechnologies.

Typicalacousticevaluationsforautomotivepurposesmakeuseofmeasurementsmadeinsidethecabintomeasurethenoise
experiencedbythedriverandpassengers.TheNRCAeroAcousticSystemmakesuseofphasemicrophonearraytechnology(with
64microphones)tomeasurethefrequency,magnitude,andspatialdistributionofnoisesourceswithinthewindtunnel.Figure30
showsthearraymountedtothewalloftheNRC9mx9mWindTunnelandapreliminarysampleofmeasurementsfortheApillar
andmirrorregionofaclass8tractor.ThesamplemeasurementsclearlyshowstrongnoisesourcesfromtheApillar,thesunvisor,
andthetop&bottomofthemirror.Backgroundnoisecancellationtechnologycanalsobeimplementedwiththesystemtoremove
thenoiseassociatewiththewindtunnelwallsandstructure.
Figure30NRCaeroacousticarraymountedtosidewallof9mx9mWindTunnel(left)andsubsetofpreliminary
acousticmeasurementsforatractor(right).

11.5SnowIngestion
AnimportantatmosphericphenomenontypicalofCanadianwintersisthesnowstorm.Dependingonthecharacteristicsofthesnow
(quantity,flakesize,clumping,stickiness,etc.),ingestionofsnowintotheairfilterscanreducetheperformanceandefficiencyofan
engine.TheNRCIARhasdevelopedanddemonstratedaprototypeSnowStormSimulator(S3)forthe9mx9mWindTunnel.The
system,whichusessyntheticsnowflakes,wasdevelopedfortestingcars,butcanbeadaptedandfullycommissionedfortractor
trailertesting.TheS3,showninoperationinFigure31,canprovideaquantitativemeasureofthesnowingestedbytheairintakes
andcanbeusedtomodifytheintakedesigntominimizeperformanceandefficiencydegradation.

Figure31Snowstormsimulationin9mx9mWindTunnel

TheprototypetechnologyfortheS3requiressomeadditionaltasksbeforeacommissionedsystemcanbeimplementedintheNRC
IAR9mx9mWindTunnel:

1.Thecharacterizationofsyntheticsnowflakeaerodynamicshasbeeninitiatedtoselectthemostappropriatesnowflakesforthe
commissionedS3.Thesensitivityofsnowingestiontosyntheticsnowflakecharacteristicsarelikelylow,sothismaybea
quickprocess.
2.Finalizethedesignforasnowcapturedevicetopreventthesyntheticsnowflakesfromcirculatingthroughthewindtunnel
circuit.
3.Modifythedesignofthesnowdistributionsystemtofullyenvelopefullscaletractortrailermodels.

12OVERALLCONCLUSIONS

General
Forheavyvehiclessuchastractortrailercombinationsandbuses,pressuredragisthedominantcomponentduetothelarge
surfacesperpendiculartothemainflowdirectionandduetothelargewakeresultingfromthebluntnessofthebackendofsuch
vehicles.

IncoldCanadianclimates,theaerodynamicdraginwintercanbenearly20%greaterthanatstandardconditions,duetothe
ambientairdensity.Forhighwaytractortrailersandintercitybuses,thisresultsinabouta10%increaseinfuelconsumptionfrom
dragwhencomparedtothereferencetemperature,furtheremphasizingtheimportanceofaerodynamicdragreductionstrategiesfor
theCanadianclimate.

LongCombinationVehicles
TheresultsofonestudyindicatedthatanLCVsdragcoefficientwhilepullingtwotrailerscanbeaslittleas0.05higherthana
conventionalvehiclepullingonetrailerat0degwindyawangle.Thisnumberincreasesto0.13higheratayawangleof5degrees.
Therefore,addingasecondtrailertoformanLCV,andthusdoublingthefreightcapacity,resultsinaverymodestincreaseindrag
coefficientofapproximately10%atzeroyawanglesand22%atfivedegreeyawangleswhencomparedtothesingletrailervehicle.
Orputinotherterms,thedragcoefficientonanLCVisonlymarginallymorethanhalfofthesumofthedragonthetwovehiclesit
replaceswhenwindanglesareatzerodegrees.

Asvehiclelengthincreases,thepercentagecontributiontooveralldragfromfrictiondragrisesslightlysincethereissomuchmore
planarsurfacealignedwiththewind,yetthebluntfrontfaceofthevehicleremainsunchanged.Astudyconcludedthatthe
percentagecontributionofpressuredragonthebaselinevehiclewas93.3%whereasthecontributionofpressuredragontheLCV
was91.7%.Thesignificanceofthisisthatasvehiclelengthincreases,strategiestoreducefrictiondragbecomemoreeffectivein
reducingfuelconsumption.However,itisclearlystillmorebeneficialtoreducepressuredrag,regardlessofvehicleconfiguration.
Theauthorsofonestudyconcludedthatsomevehiclecombinationscanshowanincreaseof40%infrictiondragwithonlya
correspondingincreaseof8%inpressuredrag.However,thisisstill40%ofaverysmallnumber,and8%ofaverylargenumber
butthefactremainsthatincreasingvehiclelengthincreasestherelevanceoffrictionaldragreductionstrategiesandhasmuchless
effectonpressuredrag.

Thesizeofthegapbetweentheleadandtrailingtrailerplaysasignificantroleintheamountofdragexperiencedbythe
combinationvehicle,particularlyathigheryawangles.

ItisestimatedthatoneLCVwouldburnapproximately23,200fewerlitresoffuelwhencomparedtotwoconventionalvehicles,
assuminganannualdistanceof100,000kmathighwaycruisingspeeds.

CameraMirrors
CMVSScompliantmirrorsareresponsibleforapproximately2%oftheoveralldragonaconventionaltractorandtrailer.Astudy
concludedthatifatractorstwosidemirrorswereremoved,thetractorwouldburn938fewerlitresoffuelannuallybasedoncurrent
fleetwideaveragefuelconsumptionvalues.Somemanufacturersarecurrentlydesigningprototypevehiclesthatuserearfacing
camerasandincabvideoscreensthatreplacethesideviewmirrors.However,thesesystemscannotbeusedindependently
withoutmirrors,underthecurrentCMVSSregulations.

AcursoryreviewofinservicetractorsinOntarioconfirmedthatdriversarecurrentlyaccustomedtousingmirrorsthatarenearly
threetimeslargerthanwhatisrequiredunderCMVSSregulations.Therefore,itisnotlikelythatreducingtheminimumamountof
glassrequiredunderCMVSSwouldresultinanydragsavingssincemostdriverswouldbereluctanttoreducetheirfieldofvision
fromwhattheyarecurrentlyusing.

Sideviewmirrorsareconsideredfailsafedevices.Replacingsideviewmirrorswithrearviewcameraswillmostcertainlyreduce
themeantimebetweenfailure(MTBF)ofthetractorsandcouldfailwhenadrivermustquicklyassessthetrafficsituationintheleft
handlane.However,furtherworkwouldberequiredtocomparetheMTBFofconventionalmirrorsversustheMTBFofacamera
system.

Somedriversmayrequiremoretimetoadjusttotheconceptoflookingtotherightintoavideoscreen,ratherthanlookingleftand
rightintomirrors,particularlywhenrequiredtodosointheeventofanemergencylanechange.

Platooning
Severalresearchstudieshavedemonstratedthatplatoonscanbeeffectiveatreducingthedragonallofthevehiclesintheplatoon,
eventheleadvehicles.However,thelargestreductionindragoccursforthevehiclesbetweenthefirstandlastvehicle.Itis
estimatedthatvehiclesinaplatooncouldexperiencebetweena9%and25%reductioninfuelconsumption,dependingonspacing,
vehiclespeed,vehiclepositionandvehiclemass.

Itisclearthatplatooningrequiressignificantchangestotheroadinfrastructureandwouldalsorequireasignificantchangeindriving
behaviourfordriversinothervehicleswhoaresurroundingtheplatoonbutnotactuallyintheplatoon.

TractorandTraileraddonDevices
Trailersandtractorsarenotalwaysownedbythesameoperatorsthereforetheremaybereluctanceonthepartoftrailerownersto
payfordevicesthatwillbenefitthetractorowners.

Theresultsofaerodynamictestingonheavydutyfrontbumpershavebeenscatteredwithsomeresultsshowingmodestreductions
andsomeshowingmodestincreasesinfuelconsumption.Similarly,modestaerodynamicimprovementsmaybeachievedwiththe
useofwheelcoversandslottedmudflaps.

Superhydrophobiccoatingscouldbeusedtoreducethelikelihoodthatwaterandicecouldbuilduponatrailer.However,this
technologyremainslargelyuntestedonroadvehicles.
Basebleedinghasbeenshowntoreducedraginlaboratorysettings,however,theneedforelectricaldevices(whichthenbecome
anelectricaldrainonthechargingsystemandthusaparasiticlosstotheengine)toprovideairflowandtheneedtotunetheducting
ofpassivesystemsmakesbasebleedingamuchlesspracticalalternativetodragreduction.

Cabunderbodytreatmentshavebeenshowntodecreasetheaerodynamicdragoftractors,however,testingshouldbeperformed
usingarollingroadtypewindtunneltoquantitytheseeffects.

Ithasbeenshownthatthegapbeginstohaveasignificantimpactonvehicledragonceitisgreaterthanabout0.45m,withthedrag
increasingbyabout2%forevery0.25mofincreasedgapbeyondapproximately0.75m.Researchhassuggestedthatby
completelyaddressingthegapissue,dragsavingsontheorderofabout6%couldbeachievedforatypicaltractortrailer.This
wouldamounttoanapproximate3%improvementinfuelconsumptionat98km/h(60mph).Atleastonemanufactureris
developingatractorfifthwheelthatwouldmovelongitudinallytoeffectivelyreducethetractortrailergapathighspeed.

Severalmanufacturershavecommercialproductsforthegapregionsonthemarkettodaythatclaimfuelsavingsontheorderof
2%.Thepercentagesavingsare,however,highlydependentofthetestprocedurechosen,includinginitialgapsize,andtestspeed.

Numerousacademicstudieshaveinvestigatedthepotentialfuelsavingeffectsoftractortrailergapdevices.Itis,however,
appropriatetofirstinvestigatethetheoreticalmaximumbenefitofcompletelyclosingthegap.Studieshavesuggestedthattheupper
limitofaerodynamicimprovementexpectedwasintherangeofa7%dragreduction.Atatypicalspeedof55mph,thiswould
translatetoanapproximate3.5%fuelsaving.

Recently,Mercedesintroducedaconcepttrailerthatisreportedtoprovidean18%reductionindragforafullEuropeantractor
trailercombination(consistofacabovertractor).

Sideskirtsareusedtopreventairflowfromenteringtheundertrailerregion.Inrecentyears,thesehavebeenwidelyadoptedand
arecommonlyobservedonmanytrailers.Fuelconsumptionreductionsontheorderof37%havebeenreported.

Sideunderbodyboxeshavealsobeenshowntoreducedragbyasmuchas10%to15%andcanbeusedtostoreequipmentthat
wouldnormallybestrappedtotheoutsideofthetractorortheundersideofthetrailer.Sideunderbodyboxescouldalsobeusedin
placeoftraditionalsideguards.However,theyaddweighttothetrailerandcouldalsoaffectthebreakoverangleastrailerspass
overrailroadtracksandotherobstacles.

Windtunnelandroadtestshavedemonstratedthataboattailwithalengthof24to32inchesisoptimalfordragreductionpurposes
andtypicallengthrestrictions.Aswithsideskirts,theinteractionofboattailswithotherdevicesisimportantforoptimization.

Currently,limitedevidenceexistsinpeerreviewedscientificsourcestoindicatethatvortexgeneratorshaveasignificantimpacton
fuelsavingsforheavyvehicles.

Retractabletrailers(i.e.trailerswhoseheightreducesbyawidemargin)arebeingprototypedinCanadabuttestinghasyettobe
performedtoquantifythepotentialfordragreduction.

Aerotractormodelsprovideareductioninaerodynamicdrag,overtheclassicstyle,ontheorderof30%.Thisisaccomplished
primarilythroughroundingofthefrontsurfaces,theuseofroofairdeflectors,andtheuseoffairingsoverthefueltanksbetweenthe
steeringaxleandthedriveaxles.

AerodynamicDevicesforBuses
Theapplicabilityofaerodynamicaddondevicesforuseonlonghaulintercitymotorcoachbuseshasbeenlesswellstudiedthan
thoseofclass8tractortrailers.TheNorthAmericanbusfleetismuchsmallerthanthetractorfleetandconsequently,theannual
fuelconsumptionandGHGemissionsbyintercitybusesaresignificantlylower.

Atypicalhighwaycoachexhibitsanumberofaerodynamicadvantagesoveraclass8tractortrailer:thereisnogapthebody
comeslowertothegroundeffectivelyincorporatingsideskirtsandaflatfrontendeliminatesthemultipleaerodynamic
discontinuitiestypicallycausedbyradiatorhood,hoodwindscreenandwindscreenfairinglocations.Consequently,astocklong
haulhighwaycoachmayhaveaCDaslowas0.384.

Byvirtueofitslowerratioofrollingtoaerodynamicresistance(thedragdensityparameter),theaerodynamiclossesofanintercity
busoutweighthemechanicallossesatasignificantlylowervehiclespeedthanforatractortrailer.Foragivenpercentreductionin
dragcoefficient,thenetpercentreductioninfuelconsumptionislargerforabusthanitisforatractortrailer.

Thedominantcontributiontotheaerodynamicdragofanintercitybusisthepressuredifferentialbetweentheforwardand
rearwardfacingsurfacesofthebody,withaminimalcontributionfromskinfriction.

About60to70percentofthetotalwindaverageddragofabusisattributedtopressureloadsactingonthevehicleforebody,
makingittheprincipalareafordragreductionstrategies.Byfarthemostefficientmethodofreducingforebodydragistominimize
flowseparationbycombiningtheroundingoftheforwardcorners(sidesandtop)withthetaperingoftheforebody.
Underbodyaerodynamicsisbecomingincreasinglyimportant,inthequesttoreducefuelconsumptionofsurfacevehicles.Wind
tunneltestsshowedadragreductionreachingaboutCD0.012,asaresultoftheunderbodypanels.Inaddition,itwasfound
thatstreamliningthewheelswithhubcoversfurtherreducedCDby0.022.Althoughtheundersidesofbusesarealreadyquite
aerodynamicallyclean,researchcouldbeconductedtoinvestigatechannelingtheunderbodyflowtowardsthevehiclerearend.Air
mustbedivertedintotheengineforcoolingpurposesandthiscanbeasignificantfactor.Busundersideswithminimalobstruction
couldprovidetheopportunitytoutilisethekineticenergyoftheflowtoenhancetheefficiencyofenginecooling(partialRAMeffect),
and/ordirectthischannelledflowintothewakeregion.

Finally,anareaofpossibleaerodynamicbenefitisbyreprofilingtheroofline.Ascoachbusesdonothavethesamecargocapacity
constraints,itisbelievedthattherearrooflinecouldbemodifiedwithminimalimpacttopassengercomfort.Operationalissues
shouldnotbeaconcern.

SnowandIceAccumulationandShedding
Verylittleinformationcouldbefoundregardingtestormodelingresultsofhowiceandsnowcanaccumulateonaerodynamic
devices.

Boattailscansignificantlyaffecttheflowfielddirectlybehindavansemitraileranditisalsoexpectedthatsnowcouldaccumulate
ontopofthebottomboattailpanel.However,verylittlerelevantworkcouldbelocatedtoquantifyhowthischangeinflowfield
wouldaffectvehiclesfollowingbehindatrailerequippedwithaboattailorthewayinwhichsnowandiceaccumulatesandsheds
fromtruckaerodynamicdevices.

13RECOMMENDATIONS

LongCombinationVehicles
LargereductionsinpressuredragcanbeachievedbyusingLCVsandthesereductionsarewelldocumentedandunderstoodusing
Europeanvehicleswithfixedyawangles.However,thereareverylittledatapertainingtoNorthAmericanLCVsexperiencing
variablewindyawanglescorrespondingtoanannualwindaverageddrag.Windtunneltestingcouldbeusedtoquantifythedrag
reductionofaNorthAmericantypeLCVtakingwindaverageddragintoconsideration.

TherearestillopportunitiesforincrementaldecreasesonLCVdrag.FurtherstudycouldbeperformedonCanadianLCVstobetter
understandtherelationshipbetweengapsizeanddragtodemonstrateifdevicesthatarecurrentlydesignedtobeinstalledinthe
gapbetweenconventionaltractorsandtrailerscouldalsobeusedbetweenthetwotrailersofanLCV.Andifso,whatconfiguration
wouldbebestsuitedtooptimizedragreductionbetweenthetwotrailersofanLCV.Thisstudycouldbeperformedatbothgapsto
quantifytheincrementaleffectofaddondevices,comparedtothelargereductionsthatareachievedwhenusinganLCVinsteadof
aconventionaltractortrailercombination..Ideally,astudycouldbeconductedwherebyavarietyofgapfillers,sideskirtsandboat
tailsaresequentiallyaddedtotheLCVinordertodetermineiftheeffectsofthesedevicesonLCVsissimilartotheireffecton
conventionalvehicles.

CameraMirrors
Thedragreductionpotentialofremovingthesideviewmirrorsisunderstood,quantifiedandwelldocumentedbylabtesting
thereforetherewouldlikelybelittlebenefittoreproducingthosetests.However,thereseemstobelittledocumentedtestingwith
regardstotheperformanceandreliabilityofrearcamerasanddriveracceptanceoftheiruse.IfthisisanareaTransportCanada
wishestopursue,NRCrecommendsdevelopingastudytodeterminethebenefitsanddrawbacksofsideviewmirrorreplacement
foraspectsotherthanthewellknownaerodynamicbenefits.Thesewouldinclude,reliabilityandmaintainability,theweightofthe
addeddevices,theneedforredundancy,thespeedatwhichthedriverscanviewobjectsintheleftlane,anddriveracceptance,
particularlyforthosedriverswhohavebeenusingmirrorsformanyyears.Ifitwasdeterminedthatsideviewmirrorscouldbe
removedwithoutanynegativesafetysideeffectsitwouldbeworthwhiletoinvestigateapilotprojecttobetterunderstandthe
potentialfuelsavingsaswellasanyunforeseenlogisticalissuesunderactualrevenuedrivingconditions.

Thebenefitsofinfraredcamerascouldalsobestudiedtodetermineiftheycouldbecombinedwithcameramirrorstoenhancethe
visionofthedriversduringinclementweatheroriftheywouldbemoreofadistractionthananaid.

Platooning
Althoughplatooningappearstohaveagreatpotentialtoreduceaerodynamicdragitdoesnotappeartobeapracticalsolutionto
CanadiantruckinginthenearfutureduetothesizeofCanadasroadnetworkandtheimmaturestatusofthetechnology.Thereare
toomanylogisticalandinfrastructurebarriersthatmustbeovercometomakethisaviableconceptforthenearfuture.Evenif
technologycouldallowtwoormoreheavyvehiclestobeelectronicallyconnected,thelogisticsofintegratingthesevehiclesinto
existingtrafficflowswillprovetobeextremelydifficult.FurthertestingandunderstandingoftherecentlyadoptedLCVswouldbea
morepracticalapproachtomultivehicleaerodynamicreductionsuntilplatooninghasbeenperfectedinsmallercountriesinEurope.
ItwouldappearthatmanyoftheresearchstudiesfocusedonvehiclesthatwerelighterthantypicalheavyvehiclesfoundinCanada.
Theresultsofplatooningcanbemorefavourablewhenusinglightervehiclessinceahigherpercentageoffuelconsumptioncanbe
attributedtoaerodynamiceffects.TheeffectsofplatooningwithvehiclesloadedtothemaximumCanadianlegalweightwould
providemoreusefulinformationaboutthepotentialforplatooningonCanadianroads.

GiventhecomplexityofplatooningandtherelativesimplicityofLCVs,itwouldbeusefultoquantifythedifferencesinfuel
consumptionreductionfromvehiclesinaplatoonversusanLCV.ThestudycouldbeginbycomparinganLCVagainstatwovehicle
platoonandthenagainstplatoonswithincreasinglyhighernumbersofvehicles.

TractorandTraileraddonDevices
Itissuggestedthatallthetractorandtraileraddondevicesdescribedinthisreportcouldbeworthycandidatesforfurtherstudywith
theexceptionofthebasebleeddevicesandactiveflowcontroltechnologies.Furthermore,anintegratedstudyofallthedevices
couldbemadetoensurethattheaerodynamicgainsofonedevicedoesnotreducetheaerodynamicperformanceofanotherdevice
installeddownstreamonthevehicle.

Thesuggestedprocesswouldinvolvescaledwindtunneltestsinvolvingthesequentialadditionofeachdeviceuntilthevehiclewas
equippedwithalloftheabovementioneddevices.Followingthatpreliminarystage,fullscaleprototypescouldbedevelopedand
testedinrealworlddrivingsituations,orcontrolledtracktesting.Applicationtodifferenttrailertypes(dryvan,tanker,flatbedwithand
withoutrepresentativecargo)shouldalsobeevaluatedtoidentifythebenefitstotheoveralltransportationindustry.

Inordertobestservethetruckingcommunity,andmeetoverallfuelconsumptionimprovementgoals,itissuggestedthateffortbe
focusedmoreondevelopingtractorbaseddragreductionsolutions.Thatsaid,thereisstillastrongbenefittotrailerbaseddevices
suchassideskirtsandboattailsduetotheirdemonstrateddragreductionpotentials.

Inanyofthesefuturestudies,theapproachshouldfirstbetounderstandtheoperationalconcernsandbarrierstocommercialentry,
priortoundertakinganyaerodynamicexperimentationorsimulation.

AerodynamicDevicesforBuses
Giventhesecrecycharacterizingthebusindustry,itisclearthattheoptimizationprocesstakingintoconsiderationaerodynamic
performanceobjectivesandoperationalconstraintswouldremaintheresponsibilityoftheCanadianbusmanufacturers.Inthis
respect,andoutsidethescopeofthisprogram,theNRCandTransportCanadacouldcontribute,uponclientrequest,tothis
processasanadvisorprovidingaerodynamicexpertiseandguidancetotheindustry.

AnareathatcouldrequirefurtherinvestigationwithinthecontextoftheecoTECHNOLOGYforVehiclesIIprogram,isa
recommendationsdocumenttoCanadianbusmanufacturersandoperatorsthatcanhelpguidetheirdevelopmentandselection
efforts,respectively,towardsreducingthefuelconsumptionandemissionsfromintercitybuses.Suchadocumentcanbebasedon
informationcontainedwithinthisreport.

SnowandIceAccumulationandShedding
NRCCSTTrecommendsperformingasimilarstudytotheNRCIARstudyinwhichmanyaerodynamicdevicesweresequentially
addedtoatractorandtrailercombination.However,forthisstudy,theemphasiswouldbeoniceandsnowaccumulationand
shedding,ratherthanaerodynamicdrag.Ideally,ascalemodelvehiclewouldbeplacedinahighspeedwindtunnelatsubzero
temperaturesandsnowandicewouldbeblownagainstthemodelvehicle.Theamountofsnowaccumulationandsheddingcould
bemeasuredagainstabaselinevehiclethatwasplacedbesidethetestvehicle.Downstreameffectsonascalemodelpassenger
carfollowingthetrailercouldalsobemonitoredtodetermineifthesnowandicewouldbemorelikelytoaccumulateonatrailing
vehicleandalsotodetermineiftheforwardvisionofdriversintrailingvehiclesisaffectedinanyway.

Ultimately,tracktestingorroadtestingonactualhighwaytractortrailerscouldbeperformedtodetermineifdevicessuchasboat
tailswerelikelytoaccumulateamountsofsnowthatcouldeventuallybecomeejectedontotheroadsurfaceorothervehiclesinthe
surroundingarea.

ScaleModelTesting
Aerodynamicdragisadissipative,nonrecoverablelossofenergyandisoneofthemostimportantfactorsforreducingfuel
consumptionandemissionsofheavyvehicles.Significantdragreductioncanbeobtainedwithcurrentandemergingtechnologies,
buttheuptakeisgenerallyslowduetotherequirementsfromoperatorsforatimelyreturnontheirinvestment.Typicalevaluation
strategiesbydevicedevelopersandmanufacturerscanbeskewedandnotveryrepresentativeofrealworldconditions,whichis
oneofthereasonsoperatorscanbehesitanttowardsnewtechnologies.Theindustrythereforeneedsguidanceinselecting
appropriatetechnologiesthatwillprovideanetbenefittothereductionoffuelconsumptionandemissionsinCanada.Similartothe
EPASmartwayprogramintheUS[30],certificationoftechnologiesisagoodapproachtoprovidingtheindustrywithsuchguidance.
Basedontheinformationdescribedinthisreport,theNRCrecommendsasystematicevaluationofthedragreductionpotentialfor
standardandproposeddragreductiontechnologiesfortractortrailercombinations.ThisplanwouldprovideTransportCanadawith
recommendationsforthemosteffectivecombinationsofdragreductiontechnologiesforreducingthefuelconsumptioninthe
transportindustry.Combinedwithconsiderationofoperationalrequirements,recommendationsforthebesttechnologiestousecan
thenbeprovidedtothetransportationindustry.Theplan,summarizedbelow,willbesimilartothetestprogramperformedatNRCin
collaborationwithNRCan,theCanadianTruckingAlliance,andtheUSDepartmentofEnergy[23],[24],forwhichreliableestimates
offuelsavingscanbemade.Thisnewplan,basedonscalemodelwindtunneltestingratherthanfullscaletesting,encompasses
additionaldragreductiontechnologiesandwillprovidemuchimprovedsimulationoftheenvironmentinwhichheavyvehicles
operateinCanada.Thebenefitofscalemodeltestingoverfullscaletestingistheabilitytoprovideamorerepresentative
environment(relativevehicle/ground/windmotionsandterrestrialwinds)aswellastheabilitytotestequivalentfulllengthvehicles
andlongcombinationvehicles.Theseissuesprovidemuchimprovedaccuracyoverpastwindtunnelcampaigns.Anotherstrong
benefitofwindtunneltestingistheprecisionwithwhichcomparisonsbetweentechnologiesandconfigurationscanbecompared,by
meansofasystematicallycontrolledtestenvironment.

Collaborationwithoperators,OEMsanddevicemanufacturerscanprovideathoroughevaluationofsuchtechnologies.TheNRC
alreadyhaspartnersinthetransportationindustrythatwouldbeopentocollaborationthroughtheprovisionofspecificationsof
tractortraileranddevicegeometryformodelmanufacturing.

Anoverviewofaproposedplanfortheaerodynamicevaluationofdragreductiontechnologiesisasfollows:

Usingaerodynamicmeasurementsfromwindtunnelandtracktestprogramsundertakenwithvariouscollaboratorsand
partners(withpermission),thepotentialimpactofperformingtestsatlowerthanfullscaleReynoldsnumberswillbeassessed.
Anoptimizedmodelscale(betweenand)fortractortrailerscombinationsthatwillbestprovideaccurateresultsfroman
evaluationofdragreductiontechnologieswillthenbeselected.

DesigntheinfrastructuretotestscalemodelsofNorthAmericantractorsandstandardtrailers(40ftand53ftequivalentdry
van,flatbed,tanker,longcombinationvehicles).Thesemodelswouldbedesignedtoaccommodateamultitudeofbody
shapesanddragreductiondevices/conceptstobeevaluated.Themodelswouldbedesignedtobeusedwiththeground
effectsimulationsystemoftheNRC9mx9mWindTunnel.Thissystemprovidesacorrectandimportantsimulationofthe
relativemotionbetweenthevehicle,theterrestrialwinds,andtheground.

Design,developmentandfabricationofaturbulencegenerationsystemtoproviderepresentativeconditionsthatare
encounteredbytractortrailersunderrealroadconditions.Turbulencehasbeendemonstratedtobeanimportantfactor,
generallyneglected,whenevaluatingthedragreductionpotentialofnewtechnologies.Section11.3describesthe
requirementsforthisdevelopmentproject.

WindtunneltestprogramintheNRC9mx9mWindTunneltoevaluatetheaerodynamic,andpossiblytheaeroacoustic(see
Section11.4)performanceofdragreductiondevicesandvehiclecombinationsusingthescalemodelheavyvehicles.This
programwouldconsistofevaluatingtheperformanceofthedragreductiontechnologiesundersmoothandturbulentflow
conditions,withandwithoutgroundsimulation,toprovideacorrelationwithotherwindtunneltestprogramsthathavealready
demonstratedsomeofthetechnologiesunderconditionswithsmoothflowandminimalornogroundeffectsimulation.

DisseminationofresultsandrecommendationsforoptimumdragreductioncombinationsintheCanadiancontext,through
reportsandthroughpresentationstotheheavytruckindustriesatappropriateconferencesandmeetings.Theseresultswillbe
morerepresentativeinregardstofuelreductionpotentialthanthoseofthestandardrecommendedmethodstoevaluate
heavyvehicleaerodynamicperformancenowrequiredbytheUSEPA.

LISTOFACRONYMS/ABBREVIATIONS
ADR
C
CD
CISTI
MPH
CMVSS
CO2
CSTT
CTA
DES
DOE
EPA
NHTSA
GESS
GVW
GVWR
IAR
Km/h
LCV
MTO
LES
MPG
MTBF
SARTRE
MTO
NAS
NFAC
NOx
NRC
NRCan
OEM
PART
SAE
SWIR
TVC
CFD
OEM
VRU
AustralianDesignRule
DegreesCelsius
DragCoefficient
CanadianInstituteforScientificandTechnicalInformation
MilesPerHour
CanadianMotorVehicleSafetyStandards
CarbonDioxide
CentreforSurfaceTransportationTechnology
CanadianTruckingAlliance
DetachedEddySimulation
DepartmentofEnergy
EnvironmentalProtectionAgency
NationalHighwayTrafficSafetyAdministration
GroundEffectSimulationSystem
GrossVehicleWeight
GrossVehicleWeightRating
InstituteforAerospaceResearch
KilometersPerHour
LongCombinationVehicles
MinistryofTransportationofOntario
LargeEddySimulation
MilesperGallon
MeanTimebetweenFailure
SafeRoadTrainsfortheEnvironment
MinistryofTransportationofOntario
NationalAcademyofSciences
NationalFullScaleAerodynamicsComplex
OxidesofNitrogen
NationalResearchCouncil
NaturalResourcesCanada
OriginalEquipmentManufacturer
PlatformforAerodynamicRoadTransport
SocietyofAutomotiveEngineers
ShortWaveInfrared
TowedVehicleController
ComputationalFluidDynamics
OriginalEquipmentManufacturer
VulnerableRoadUser

LISTOFSYMBOLS
FD

Cd()
A
Q
L
Dragforce
Densityoftheair
Speedoftheobject,relativetothesurroundingair
Effectiveyawangleofthesurroundingairrelativetothevehiclemotion
Dragcoefficient,whichvarieswithyawangle
Projectedfrontalareaofthevehicle
Dynamicpressureoftheoncomingwind
Lengthscalerepresentativeofthebody

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Datemodified:
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