Recent volvo trucks have comprehensively upgraded their vehicles, which not only improve fuel economy, but also provide drivers with a smoother and more enjoyable driving experience. Today we're going to look at the changes in the volvo FH's aerodynamic design, which will optimise air separation and reduce pressure resistance, helping to save even more fuel on long journeys.
According to Volvo Trucks' tests, air resistance affects fuel consumption when the truck is 50-60 km/h, and this effect increases exponentially as the vehicle gets faster and faster, so overcoming air resistance is an important way for vehicles to save fuel.
That's why Volvo Trucks has been continuously optimising its aerodynamic design over time, providing continuous support for the vehicle's progress in fuel saving. Engineers conduct various simulations and wind tunnel tests to find opportunities by obtaining more data. One of the goals of the test is to delay air separation, as wakes form when air separates from the surface of the truck. The earlier the separation, the greater the wake formed behind the vehicle, and the larger the wake, the greater the pressure resistance. As the main force in air resistance, the greater the pressure resistance, the higher the fuel consumption will inevitably increase.
Vehicle side airflow diagram
Volvo Trucks aerodynamics expert Anders Tenstam said that when air travels from the stagnation point in front of the truck (high pressure zone) to the side of the vehicle (low pressure zone), the speed of air flow increases greatly. The data shows that if the truck is traveling at a speed of 90 km / h, the air flow at the corner can reach up to 200 km / h. In this case, the front angle is a very important area, and even very small objects or gaps can have a huge impact on the overall airflow.
In the latest simulations and tests, Volvo Trucks engineers found that optimizing some of the parts could further improve aerodynamic performance. The most obvious of these is the optimization of the mirror swing arm, increasing the spacing between the two mirrors and adopting a mirror swing arm cover with a hollow, hollow part plus a new curved design to help air flow through, thereby reducing air separation.
Mattias Hejdesten, a volvo truck aerodynamic engineering expert, believes that those dividing lines and gaps are equally important, and they also have a lot of adverse effects on airflow. Since these dividing lines and gaps are located at the front of the vehicle, air can penetrate into the front panel through these places in the high-pressure zone, where it is then sucked out after reaching the low-pressure zone on the side of the cab through the gap. This sucked-out air interacts with the side airflow, triggering part of the air separation in advance, increasing the wake to form greater pressure resistance.
To effectively prevent this air from seeping into the front panel, Volvo Trucks has installed new seals for the front panel in this improvement. These seals reduce air leakage from the front panel and cause less air separation due to the suction of air from the side of the cab, helping the external airflow to adhere to the side of the vehicle for a longer period of time to reduce the wake.
Because the design of the truck cab not only considers the basic performance of the vehicle performance, working conditions and other basic performance, but also is subject to laws and regulations. So a lot of the key to aerodynamic design is in these small details, according to Volvo Trucks aerodynamic expert Anders Tenstam, that is, every millimeter of usable space needs to be constantly fought for.
The addition of these new seals provides additional opportunities for further improvements while improving the overall aerodynamics of the vehicle, and Volvo can continuously optimize these new components. In this improvement, the door adds a downward extension to fill in some of the gaps in the recessed area of the boarding pedal, providing a flat surface for external airflow attachment, thereby reducing air separation and reducing wake.
Wider wheels and fenders are also used to help airflow adhesion through flatter and neater side sides of the truck. The flare design of the new fender reduces the clearance with the wheels, making it difficult for air coming from the front panel to be sucked out by the side airflow, reducing the chance of side air separation.
Every small detail of the improvement provides aerodynamic optimization for the vehicle, and they are complementary to each other. These improvements will all support vehicle energy efficiency and fuel consumption reduction, and when combined, they will have a 1+1>2 effect. After reading what you want to say, or want to know which brand models, welcome to leave a message to tell me.