Numerical investigation of the effect of inter-vehicle distance on fuel consumption between two light commercial vehicle in convoy

Abstract

Energy production and consumption in the world are one of the most important problems of today. Energy consumption in vehicles is also one of the main focuses of the automotive industry. Energy consumption can be reduced by convoy driving, which is inevitably caused by the increase in the number of vehicles. In this study, the drag and lift coefficients of the light commercial vehicle model are numerically determined for two vehicles at different inter-vehicle distances and isolated vehicle. The numerical simulations are conducted in a wind tunnel designed with the exact dimensions of a isolated light commercial vehicle, with a 2.6% blockage ratio, and a wind speed of 90 km/h, using the realizable k-ε turbulence model. As a result, as the inter-vehicle distance increased, the average drag and lift coefficients of the two vehicles increased. In the absence of inter-vehicle distance in convoy driving, the fuel consumption of the lead vehicle decreased by 26%, while the rear vehicle increased by 4% compared to isolated vehicle.

Keywords

• Computational fluid dynamics
• convoy
• drag coefficient
• lift coefficient
• specific fuel consumption

KONVOY İKİ HAFİF TİCARİ TAŞITIN ARASINDAKİ MESAFENİN YAKIT TÜKETİMİNE ETKİSİNİN SAYISAL İNCELENMESİ

Abstract

Dünyada enerji eldesi ve tüketimi günümüzün en önemli sorunlarından biridir. Taşıtlarda enerji tüketimi de otomotiv endüstrisinin başlıca odaklandığı konulardandır. Taşıt sayısının artışının ister istemez sebep olduğu konvoy sürüşle enerji tüketimi azaltılabilir. Bu çalışmada, tek hafif ticari taşıt ve farklı taşıtlar arası mesafelerde konvoy iki taşıt için sürükleme ve kaldırma katsayıları sayısal olarak belirlenmiştir. Bu sayısal çalışma bire bir taşıt boyutlarında ve %2,6 blokaj oranında tasarlanan rüzgar tünelinde 90 km/sa hava giriş hızında Realizable k-ε türbülans modeli kullanılarak hesaplamalı akışkanlar dinamiği metodolojisi ile gerçekleştirilmiştir. Sonuç olarak taşıtlar arası mesafe arttıkça iki taşıtın ortalama sürükleme ve kaldırma katsayıları arttı. Konvoy sürüşte taşıtlar arasında mesafe olmaması durumunda tek taşıta göre öndeki taşıtın yakıt tüketimi %26 düşerken arkadaki taşıtın %4 artmıştır.

Keywords

• Hesaplamalı akışkanlar dinamiği
• konvoy
• sürüklenme katsayısı
• kaldırma katsayısı
• özgül yakıt tüketimi

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