Aero Package Analysis

Nolan R. Sadler and Tommy M. McKinley

College of Engineering and Computing, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 45056

Aero Package Analysis

1
Aero Package Analysis
 Nolan R. Sadler and Tommy M. McKinley
College of Engineering and Computing, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 45056

The study focuses on analyzing the effects of adding an aero package to a semi truck for
Long Haul Trucking. A three dimensional model of the aero package was created and several CFD
simulations were performed to test the efficiency of each part and the package as a whole. Resulting
net drag values, airflow snapshots, and pressure snapshots were used to compare results. Also
depending on these values was a calculated annual saving that the aero package would theoretically
provide and an estimated payback period for purchasing the package.

Contents
I. Model Setup……………………………………………………………………………………………...1
II. Baseline Simulation……………………………………………………………………………………...1
III. Simulation with Side Skirts……………………………………………………………………………..4
IV. Simulation with Trailer Tail………………………………………………………………………….....5
V. Full Aero Package Simulation…………………………………………………………………………..6
VI. Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………………………….....8
VII. References………………………………………………………………………………………………...8

I. Model Setup
The several initial conditions were set for the model and were used consistently throughout the testing
process. For instance, the air volume of used was 256 x 1575 x 331 inches. For boundary conditions, the end of the
air volume perpendicular to the front of the truck was set to a velocity of sixty-five miles per hour. In addition, the
bottom of the air volume was set to slip/symmetry, while every other remaining face was set to zero gauge pressure
in pascals. Finally, the material selected for the truck was carbon graphite and a manual mesh setting of 0.35 meters
was put on the whole system.

II. Baseline Simulation

Upon running a fluid dynamic simulation of a truck without aero package upgrades it was found there was
approximately 4085.39 N of drag force being applied. This was found when the simulation converged in steady state
conditions. This means that when viewing the residuals monitor, all residuals showed a relatively smooth reduction
below 1e-3 on the y-axis, residuals leveled off with increased iterations, and the programs stopped upon showing
convergence at a specific value[3].

Figure 1: Velocity Magnitude Plane of Basic Truck

Major areas of drag force can be observed through severals means. When looking at velocity changes
across a plane the image provided indicates the airflow created when putting the truck in a moving fluid. Figure 1 is
important because a type of parasite drag called form drag is the direct result of a turbulence caused by the abrupt
separation of airflow from the surface of a structure[1]. The resulting form drag can be most seen clearly in Figure 1
when looking at the sections of the truck where abrupt and sharp edges are present on the truck and velocity

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Aero Package Analysis
dramatically decreases or changes direction. In particular, the space behind the truck cab, the sides of the truck
trailer, and most notably the area behind the trailer where velocity vectors can be clearly seen in turbulence are
major areas of drag production.

Figure 2. Pressure Plane of Basic Truck

Figure 3. Pressure Plane of Basic Truck-Auxiliary

However, when looking at the pressure plane of the basic truck a different type of drag is revealed. This type of drag
is induced drag which is the result of high and low pressure zones meeting[2]. This is because fluids naturally tend
to move from high to low pressure zones. Furthermore, air in transitional areas begins to spin and form vortices
which create drag forces. Therefore, drag production areas are clearly indicated in Figure 2 and Figure 3 by the start
contrast in pressures shown mainly on the front of the truck, the front of the trailer, and to a small degree behind the
trailer.
When solving for the estimated cost per year of operating the baseline truck provided a value of
$1,786,581.01 dollars per year. This was found by using the formula below in equation 1.

150,000 𝐷𝐷. 100 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 1609.3 𝐷

(𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷) 𝐷 𝐷 𝐷
1 𝐷𝐷. 1 𝐷𝐷. 1 𝐷𝐷.
𝐷
= 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷
𝐷𝐷.
130,600 𝐷𝐷𝐷 1055.1 𝐷 𝐷
𝐷 = 1.38𝐷108
1 𝐷𝐷𝐷 1 𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷

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Aero Package Analysis
 𝐷 1 𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 ( )𝐷 = 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷( )
𝐷𝐷. 1.38𝐷108 𝐷 𝐷𝐷.
𝐷𝐷𝐷 $ $
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷( ) 𝐷 $2.50( ) = 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷( )
𝐷𝐷. 𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷.

(1)

III. Simulation with Side Skirts

After running the CFD simulation of a truck with added side skirts it was found that the overall y-direction
drag was reduced from 4085.39 N to 3766.04 N. This was again found when the simulation converged in steady
state conditions. This means that when viewing the residuals monitor, all residuals showed a relatively smooth
reduction below 1e-3 on the y-axis, residuals leveled off with increased iterations, and the programs stopped upon
showing convergence at a specific value[3].

Figure 4. Velocity Magnitude Plane of a Truck with Side Skirts

When analysing data collected from the simulations it is clear that drag on the truck with side skirts was
still prevalent for many of the same reason the baseline displayed. For instance, form drag was clearly seen in Figure
4 behind the cab of the truck and behind the semi trailer as evident of turbulent velocity vectors and decreased wind
speeds. To this point, the lower overall drag can be attributed to the fact that the side skirts made the truck more
streamline in the airlow and therefore cut down of form drag, the abrupt separation of airflow for a structure.

Figure 5. Pressure Plane of a Truck with Side Skirts

When looking a induced drag the results provided were very similar to those of the baseline. As seen in Figure 5
there are significant high pressure zones centered around the front of the truck. This is because the truck is pushing
air out of its way as the air flows around it. In addition, as seen previously there was a slight low pressure zone
behind the trailer of the truck. This is important in both cases because as the air moves from high to low pressure
zones air begins to spin and induced drag is formed. The most significant change was the alleviation of a small high
pressure zone in front of the back wheels of the truck trailer. This can be seen in when comparing Figure 2 to Figure

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Aero Package Analysis
5. This was most likely changed by the fact the side skirts prevented additional cross winds from coming in contact
with this location underneath the trailer and in turn reduced induced drag.
When calculating the cost of operating a truck with side skirts in comparison to the cost of operating the
baseline an annual savings was found. Moreover, by evaluating equation 2 below it was found that the average
savings amounted to $139,654.88 dollars.

150,000 𝐷𝐷. 100 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 1609.3 𝐷

(𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷) 𝐷 𝐷 𝐷
1 𝐷𝐷. 1 𝐷𝐷. 1 𝐷𝐷.
𝐷
= 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷
𝐷𝐷.
130,600 𝐷𝐷𝐷 1055.1 𝐷 𝐷
𝐷 = 1.38𝐷108
1 𝐷𝐷𝐷 1 𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷
𝐷 1 𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 ( )𝐷 8
= 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷( )
𝐷𝐷. 1.38𝐷10 𝐷 𝐷𝐷.
𝐷𝐷𝐷 $ $
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷( ) 𝐷 $2.50( ) = 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷ℎ 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷( )
𝐷𝐷. 𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷.

𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷

− 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷ℎ 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 = 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷

(2)

IV. Simulation with Trailer Tail

After running a CFD simulation on a truck with a trailer tail the resulting y-direction drag force was
approximately 3391.48 N compared to the 4085.39 N baseline. This was found when the simulation converged in
steady state conditions. This means that when viewing the residuals monitor all residuals showed a relatively smooth
reduction below 1e-3 on the y-axis, residuals leveled off with increased iterations, and the programs stopped upon
showing convergence at a specific value[3].

Figure 6. Velocity Magnitude Plane of a Truck with Trailer Tail

Similar to prior results form drag was present in the simulation behind the cab of the truck, underneath the
truck trailer, and most notably behind the trailer. This is seen in Figure 6 where the velocity magnitude and direction
is significantly impacted in these regions and indicates increased turbulence. However, drag was greatly reduced in
the region behind the trailer in comparison to the baseline because the trailer system streamlined the trailer. This is
important because form drag is caused when airflow is abruptly separated from a structure. Moreover, the trailer tail
package helped significantly decrease overall drag of the system by is streamlining the lamair low of air coming off
the back of the trailer and dramatically reducing turbulence. This is seen in particular when comparing velocity
flows of Figure 1 and Figure 6.

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Aero Package Analysis
Figure 7. Pressure Plane of a Truck with Trailer Tail

In regards to induced drag, common areas of drag production remained the same. This was seen in Figure 7 as high
pressure regions are clearly visible in the front of the truck and back trailer wheels, while low pressure zones
persisted on both the side and top of the truck cab. The only major change to results from the introduction of a trailer
tail was the creation of a significant low pressure zone within the region of the trailer tail. Due to the fact that this is
a low pressure zone and there is a tendency of air to move from high to low pressure areas the region did produce
some induced drag. The amount of drag produced by the trailer tail however is negligible in comparison to the
amount of drag reduce by cutting down on form drag as depicted in Figure 6.
When calculating the cost of operating a truck with a trailer tail in comparison to the cost of operating the
baseline an annual savings was found. This was done by evaluating equation 3 below. In turn, savings per year were
found to be approximately $303,453.63 dollars.

150,000 𝐷𝐷. 100 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 1609.3 𝐷

(𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷) 𝐷 𝐷 𝐷
1 𝐷𝐷. 1 𝐷𝐷. 1 𝐷𝐷.
𝐷
= 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷
𝐷𝐷.
130,600 𝐷𝐷𝐷 1055.1 𝐷 𝐷
𝐷 = 1.38𝐷108
1 𝐷𝐷𝐷 1 𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷
𝐷 1 𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 ( )𝐷 8
= 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷( )
𝐷𝐷. 1.38𝐷10 𝐷 𝐷𝐷.
𝐷𝐷𝐷 $ $
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷( ) 𝐷 $2.50( ) = 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷ℎ 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷( )
𝐷𝐷. 𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷.

𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷

− 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷ℎ 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 = 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷

(3)
V. Full Aero Package Simulation
Upon completing a CFD simulation of the full aero package, the total y-direction drag force was found to
be the lowest at 3200.58 N compared to the 4085.39 N baseline. This was found when the simulation converged in
steady state conditions. This means that when viewing the residuals monitor, all residuals showed a relatively
smooth reduction below 1e-3 on the y-axis, residuals leveled off with increased iterations, and the programs stopped
upon showing convergence at a specific value[3].

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Aero Package Analysis
Figure 8. Velocity Plane of a Truck with Full Aero Package

When looking the resulting airflow depicted in Figure 8 drag can bee seen being produced in many of the
same regions as the baseline. For instance, form drag is seen being produced behind the cab of the truck and trailer
as show by turbulent velocity vectors and decreased velocity magnitudes. While both the side skirt and trailer tail
significantly reduce form drag by streamlining the laminar flow of the truck some drag is still produced.

Figure 9. Pressure Plane of a Truck with Full Aero Package

Induced drag forces overall stayed largely the same as the baseline when comparing Figure 1 to Figure 9. This is
because induced drag was mainly produced at the front of the truck due to the large degree of high pressure zones
contrasting with low pressure zones on the sides of the truck cab. Some induced drag was also created by the low
pressure zone located near the trailer tail.
When calculating the cost of operating a truck with a trailer tail in comparison to the cost of operating the
baseline an annual savings was found. This was done by evaluating equation 4 below. In turn, savings per year were
found to be approximately $386,936.07 dollars. This is significant because together the two products yield a greater
amount of savings, but there was a slightly diminished return on investment.

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Aero Package Analysis
 150,000 𝐷𝐷. 100 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 1609.3 𝐷
(𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷) 𝐷 𝐷 𝐷
1 𝐷𝐷. 1 𝐷𝐷. 1 𝐷𝐷.
𝐷
= 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷
𝐷𝐷.
130,600 𝐷𝐷𝐷 1055.1 𝐷 𝐷
𝐷 = 1.38𝐷108
1 𝐷𝐷𝐷 1 𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷
𝐷 1 𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 ( )𝐷 8
= 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷( )
𝐷𝐷. 1.38𝐷10 𝐷 𝐷𝐷.
𝐷𝐷𝐷 $ $
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷( ) 𝐷 $2.50( ) = 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷ℎ 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷( )
𝐷𝐷. 𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷.

𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷

− 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷ℎ 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷
= 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷

(4)

VI. Conclusions
Overall, the drag reduced by the installation of a full aero package was mainly the result of specifically
reducing form drag. This is because the aero package helped streamline the laminar flow of the object by reducing
the abrupt separation of airflow from the surface of the truck. This was seen in particular in regions such as the sides
of the trailer and behind the trailer. Moreover, the effects of the aero package of reducing induced drag were
considered negligible in comparison when computing total y-direction drag due to the fact the nearly all induced
drag occurs near the front of the truck.
When calculating payback periods for purchasing either the side skirts and trailer tail seperate or to entire
system as a whole equation equation 5 was utilized.

𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷 𝐷ℎ𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷 100 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷

𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷
(5)
It was found that purchasing the skirt alone would require a 1.58 year payback period in order to break even, while
the trailer tail alone would only require 0.923 years. In addition, if Long Haul Trucking LLC bought the entire aero
package it would take approximately 1.29 years to payback.
Upon reviewing yearly saving it is from this data that it is recommended that Long Haul Trucking LLC
invest in the full aero package. This is because if a typical long haul truck has an average service life of five to six
years then the company would be saving the most money after the payback period by buying the full package.

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Aero Package Analysis
 VII. References
[1]Glider Flying Handbook, Washington, D.C.: FAA, 2003.
Chapter 03: Aerodynamics of Flight

[2]“Induced Drag Coefficient”, NASA Available: https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-

12/airplane/induced.html

[3]“Symscape,” Steady-State or Unsteady CFD Simulation? | Symscape Available:

https://www.symscape.com/steady-state-or-unsteady-cfd-simulation.

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Aero Package Analysis