A Drag-Reduction Prediction Model for Truck Platoons 2024-01-2548

Truck platooning is an emerging technology that exploits the drag reduction experienced by bluff bodies moving together in close longitudinal proximity. The drag-reduction phenomenon is produced via two mechanisms: wake-effect drag reduction from leading vehicles, whereby a following vehicle operates in a region of lower apparent wind speed, thus reducing its drag; and base-drag reduction from following vehicles, whereby the high-pressure field forward of a closely-following vehicle will increase the base pressure of a leading vehicle, thus reducing its drag.

This paper presents a physics-guided empirical model for calculating the drag-reduction benefits from truck platooning. The model provides a general framework from which the drag reduction of any vehicle in a heterogeneous truck platoon can be calculated, based on its isolated-vehicle drag-coefficient performance and limited geometric considerations. The model is adapted from others that predict the influence of inter-vehicle distance for vehicle platoons, but extends the concept to account for cross winds and for lateral offsets between sequential vehicles, thus permitting its use for a range of modelling and simulation applications. Good agreement with experimental data sets from wind-tunnel and track tests is demonstrated in the paper.