Aerodynamic Testing of Drag Reduction Technologies for Heavy-Duty Vehicles: Progress Toward the Development of a Flow Treatment System (Year 2)

Through the ecoTECHNOLOGY for Vehicles (eTV) Program, Transport Canada has commissioned a project to investigate the aerodynamic improvements possible with current and emerging drag reduction technologies for heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs), with the intent of guiding future implementation of such technologies for Canada’s transportation industry. The project will consist of wind-tunnel testing of a scale-model HDV with various drag reduction technologies.

Progress towards the development of a Flow Treatment System (FTS) for generating winds experienced by HDVs on the road is presented (Phase 1 - Stream A). This includes the results and analysis of:

  1. the on-road tests to measure the winds experienced by road vehicles;
  2. the small-scale wind tunnel tests to evaluate concepts for simulating the measured winds;
  3. the small-scale wind tunnel tests to investigate the sensitivity of HDV drag to turbulence;
  4. the intermediate-scale demonstration of the selected concept; and,
  5. the selection of an appropriate blockage correction method for HDVs in turbulent flow.

The full report can be found at: http://nparc.cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/view/object/?id=ab507ed0-8973-4705-ae56-d6be89ca7bf0