There is no product available aimed at reducing the drag of intermodal containers during road transit. Due to their bluff body nature, increasing the base pressure is an effective method of reducing drag. Therefore this project focussed on developing a rear attachment device to increase the base pressure on an intermodal container.
Computational and experimental studies were undertaken in order to optimise the geometry and configuration of the proposed device. Correlation between these two methods was also assessed. A range of aerofoil profiles were tested at a number of angles and alternate configurations. Agreement was found between the computational and experimental results, giving optimum drag reductions of 7.18% and 7.16% respectively.
Based on the results achieved, a full-scale design has been proposed incorporating attachment and deployment mechanisms. An economic model was then used to assess the monetary saving and estimated return on investment for the optimum drag reduction achieved. This was found to provide a saving of approximately £5.03 for a single journey from the Port of Southampton to Liverpool Docks, demonstrating a commercially viable solution to the problem identified.
Computational and experimental studies were undertaken in order to optimise the geometry and configuration of the proposed device. Correlation between these two methods was also assessed. A range of aerofoil profiles were tested at a number of angles and alternate configurations. Agreement was found between the computational and experimental results, giving optimum drag reductions of 7.18% and 7.16% respectively.
Based on the results achieved, a full-scale design has been proposed incorporating attachment and deployment mechanisms. An economic model was then used to assess the monetary saving and estimated return on investment for the optimum drag reduction achieved. This was found to provide a saving of approximately £5.03 for a single journey from the Port of Southampton to Liverpool Docks, demonstrating a commercially viable solution to the problem identified.
