An Experimental Study on the Aerodynamic Characteristics of a Streamline-designed High-speed Bus

In this study, a wind tunnel test was conducted to measure the aerodynamic characteristics of a streamline-designed high-speed bus with the change of wind direction and speed and the result is compared with the aerodynamic performance of a commercialized high-speed bus model (Model-0) manufactured by Zyle Daewoo Bus Corp. Aerodynamic performance of the existing rear-spoiler was tested to prove its aerodynamic effect on the test model bus. From the study, it was found that 24.6 % of the total drag of the original bus model (Model-0) was reduced on the streamline-designed model bus(model-1) without the rear-spoiler but only 14.3 % of the total drag was reduced with the spoiler on the streamlined model bus. It means that the rear spoiler does not work properly with the streamlined model bus (model-1) and should be noted that an optimum design of a rear-spoiler of a vehicle is important to reduce the induced pressure drag and increase the driving stability of a vehicle against yaw motion. The experimental outcome was also compared to the previous numerical research result to evaluate the reliability of the numerical algorithm of the aerodynamic performance analysis of a vehicle. The error rate (%) of the numerical result to the experimental output is about 5.4 % and it is due to the simplified body configuration of the numerical model bus. The drag increases at the higher yaw angle because the transparent frontal area of the model vehicle increases and the downward force increases with the yaw angle as well. It has a positive effect to the driving stability of the vehicle but the moderated downward force should be kept for the fuel economy of a vehicle.

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