Análisis del comportamiento aerodinámico de un vehículo de carretera en condiciones de viento lateral en torno a distintas infraestructuras, y propuesta de mejora de la seguridad del tráfico= Analysis of the aerodynamic performance of a road vehicle in crosswind conditions around different infrastructures, and proposal to improve traffic safety

Abstract

The influence of three different structural configurations characteristic of terrain profiles and viaducts boards on the aerodynamic coefficients of a road vehicle in crosswind conditions is studied in this thesis. Besides, the performance of three models of wind fences installed on an embankment is analyzed with the purpose of improving vehicle stability under such conditions. These studies were carried out using experimental techniques, through wind tunnel testing and numerical, by computer simulation with the computational fluid dynamics code FLUENT. Consequently, statistical models that predict the aerodynamic coefficients of the vehicle analyzed, depending on parameters representing the geometry of the infrastructure were developed. Thus, it is demonstrated that the traffic safety under the action of crosswind can be improved by means of the sizing and configuration of the different infrastructures analyzed.