Date of Award

Summer 2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Program/Concentration

Aerospace Engineering

Committee Director

Drew Landman

Committee Member

Robert L. Ash

Committee Member

Colin P. Britcher

Call Number for Print

Special Collections; LD4331.E56 G65 2012

Abstract

Drag reduction on a scale wind tunnel model of a tractor and partial trailer was used as a case study to investigate the use of Designed Experiments. Specifically, the drag reduction benefits of replacing a tractor sunvisor with an airfoil shaped sunvisor were investigated. The airfoil-shaped sunvisor was theorized to generate thrust in the direction of travel thus reducing the net drag force. The drag force was measured using a load cell integrated into the tractor-trailer model. The experimental factors were the angle of attack, the horizontal position relative to the surface of the tractor body, the yaw angle and the wind tunnel velocity. The airfoil sunvisor orientation was optimized using an experimental design known as a Nested Face Centered Design. The optimal sunvisor airfoil was then compared to a generic sunvisor using a simple two-sample t-test. The experimental method proved to be an efficient, robust and defensible method for device optimization and comparison. The overall test results proved that the airfoil sunvisor hail no drag reduction benefit when compared to the generic sunvisor.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/a54c-vj59

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