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Drag Reduction Obtained by Rounding Vertical Corners on a Box-Shaped Ground Vehicle

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7104927· OSTI ID:7104927
 [1];  [1]
  1. NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA (United States)
A box-shaped ground vehicle was used to simulate the aerodynamic drag of delivery vans, trucks, and motor homes. A coast-down method was used to define the drag of this vehicle in a configuration with all square corners and a modified configuration with the four vertical corners rounded. The tests ranged in velocity from 30 miles per hour to 65 miles per hour, and Reynolds numbers ranged from 4.4 x 106 to 1.0 x 107 based on vehicle length. The modified configuration showed a reduction in aerodynamic drag of about 40 percent as compared to the square-cornered configuration.
Research Organization:
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
OSTI ID:
7104927
Report Number(s):
NASA-TM-X-56023
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English