Análise do desempenho aerodinâmico em veículos de carga rodoviário através da modelagem numérica computacional

Abstract

The demand for more efficient and environmental friendly products have been increasing every year. It has become essential to have this in mind, in the process of developing new products, otherwise companies do not stay competitive. Trucks are an important part of this challenge, given the large number of vehicles and the quantity of greenhouse gases that they produce. One way of improving the efficiency of trucks and reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases is through enhancements in aerodynamics performance. The current paper focus in searching ways to advance in this aspect, verifying how small changes at the Brazilian law could help improve the aerodynamic of trucks. The study was developed comparing the drag coefficient (Cd) of three trucks (brazilian, european and american) with the help of the commercial software Ansys Fluent ® 19, student version. All the analysis were made in a bidimensional space, steady state, incompressible flow, velocity of 25 m/s, and using the k- realizable as the turbulence model. The numeric model was validated based on studies that simulated the model in software’s and realized experiments in wind tunnel. The numeric solution demonstrated that an elevation of the limit of weight on the front axle would result in an economy of 1,33% of diesel, while an increase at the total length of the truck would result in an economy of at least 1,02% of diesel.