Two-Way Coupled Aerodynamics and Vehicle Dynamics Crosswind Simulation of a Heavy Ground Vehicle in Winter Road Conditions

The present study investigates the dynamic characteristics of a heavy ground vehicle that is subjected to crosswind on winter roads by two-way coupled simulations of aerodynamics and vehicle dynamics. Three different road friction coefficients, ? = 1.0, 0.3 and 0.15, were investigated, representing dry, snowy, and icy road conditions, respectively. Results show that the lateral displacements of the vehicle on the icy road are 13%, 20% and 26% more than the corresponding lateral displacements of the vehicle on the dry road at maximum crosswind velocities of w cw,max = 3.5 m/s, 4.5 m/s and 5.5 m/s, respectively. Additionally, at w cw,max? 4.5 m/s and a crosswind length of three times the vehicle length, corresponding to the reduced frequency of k = 2.1, the crosswind might cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle, causing it to cross the road’s lateral margins in all road conditions which could result in an accident. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.