Researchers more than double lorry's fuel efficiency with aerodynamics
Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have designed a trailer lorry that offers fuel efficiency improvements of 124% compared with typical heavy lorries. An aerodynamic redesign made up 74% of the improvement, with weight reduction, greater engine efficiency and lower tyre rolling resistance accounting for the rest. The vehicle achieved 13 mpg in contrast to the 5.8 mpg of a typical lorry. These improvements equate to 21 billion gallons of diesel fuel saved and 210 million tons less of carbon dioxide emissions a year when extrapolated across the global fleet.
Seventy-four percent out of the 124% improvement comes from aerodynamic enhancements, while the rest comes from engine efficiency, tire rolling resistance, light weighting and other advancements. On a track test, the new SuperTruck I vehicle achieved 13 mpg (18.1 l/100 km), compared to a typical truck on the road that gets around 5.8 mpg (40.5 l/100 km).

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers, as part of a Navistar SuperTruck I team, helped design a new type of tractor trailer truck that improves fuel economy by 124%, compared to heavy vehicles on the road today.

Fuel efficiency improves by 74% due to aerodynamic enhancements, equating to 21 billion gallons of diesel fuel saved, 210 million tons of reduced carbon dioxide emissions and $52 billion saved at an average diesel price of $2.51 per gallon annually.

For heavy vehicles, most of the engine’s usable energy goes into overcoming drag and rolling resistance at highway speeds. To combat this problem, the team used computer modeling to demonstrate new aerodynamic body shapes to significantly reduce drag.

Aerodynamic drag is caused from pressure differences around the vehicle—the gap between the tractor and the trailer, the underbody (between the trailer axle and wheels) and the trailer body (base).

The LLNL Generic Speed Form shape has demonstrated a breakthrough in aerodynamic performance of heavy vehicles. —Kambiz Salari, a fluid dynamics researcher who heads the project

As reported at the DOE Merit Review in 2016, the LLNL Generic Speed Form 2 shows a strong enhanced sailing effect; the GSF2 aerodynamic performance is radically different from a typical heavy vehicle on the road. GSF2 can generate forward force at yaw due to the sailing effect, and demonstrates radical drag reduction.

The LLNL project is part of the Department of Energy (DOE) Heavy Vehicle Aerodynamic Drag Consortium R&D, which has led to the advances in fuel economy.

Salari and LLNL’s Jason Ortega, as part of Navistar’s SuperTruck I team, have helped improve the aerodynamic design of the SuperTruck. The truck also has other fuel efficiency improvements, such as a more efficient engine, better rolling resistance, fewer tires and other equipment.

The team has performed wind tunnel tests at the Air Force National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) at the NASA Ames Research Center and on-the-road testing using full-scale road conditions. The vehicles could be on the highway as soon as five years.

Partners for the SuperTruck I effort include Navistar, Wabash National, Bosch, Argonne National Laboratory, Michelin, Mekra Lang, Delco Remy, PPG Industries, Eaton and Sabic Global.

Future plans include: continuing tractor-trailer integration design for radical improvement in aerodynamic drag and fuel economy; continued use of experiments to design a more advanced integrated tractor-trailer; performing scaled experiments to design and validate the performance of aerodynamic add-on devices for integrated tractor-trailers and tankers; investigating fuel economy benefits of truck platooning (similar to a convoy) in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory; and continued coordination of industry participation to design the next generation of highly aerodynamic heavy vehicles.

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