Experiment Overview

To meet the project objectives, several experiments were carried out with the model and the constructed devices. Each experiment involved placing the model in the wind tunnel under standard configuration as well as several others. One test, The Effect of Trailer Height on Aerodynamic Drag, evaluated the effect of trailer height on drag by comparing the measured drag values found for several different trailer heights. A second test, The Effect of Cab-Trailer Spacing on Aerodynamic Drag, determined the influence of the size of the cab-trailer gap by comparing the measured drag values for the model with varying gap sizes. The final test, The Effect of Various Tractor-Trailer Configurations on Aerodynamic Drag, compared the drag forces on the model when it was equipped with one or two new aerodynamic accessories to its performance under standard configuration and without the trailer attached.

Experiment Pages:

The hypotheses for the experiments can be read at the Hypothesis page.

The procedure for each experiment can be read at the Procedure page.

The results of the experiments are shown and discussed on the Results page.