COMPUTERISED ANALYSIS OF THE AIR RESISTANCE FOR A FORWARD MOVING VEHICLE.

The movement of a vehicle is determined by the use of the energy transmitted to the wheels, from the engine through the chain: gearbox - differential. Traction force, resistance forces and inertial forces determine the character of the vehicle's movement. In this paper, I approached the study of air resistance to the forward movement of a vehicle using the calculation technique. In this sense, we used the SOLIDWORKS® application with the help of which, using the model of a truck, we studied its aerodynamic behaviour in a virtual tunnel. We considered that a frontal air flow with a speed of 25 m/s (90 km/h) acts on the vehicle. The variation of the air speed in the direction of travel of the vehicle was determined. The obtained results were presented in the form of flow trajectories and in the form of sections corresponding to the reference planes. We also determined the variation of vorticity, as a quantity specific to fluid mechanics in order to highlight the intensity of circulation or the speed of air rotation, from the rear area of the vehicle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]