Due to increased traffic and new technologies developed to improve road safety, a new vehicle driving technique is being studied. The vehicles’ platooning driving method has as objective to minimize the aerodynamic drag and therefore the fuel consumption. The aim of this study is to evaluate the distance between platoon traveling vehicles and to propose an optimal travel distance. The CFD evaluation is performed for two categories of vehicles at a given velocity and distance between them for two cases: in the first simulation scenario, a tractor-trailer is represented, followed by a SUV positioned at a given distance from the rear of the vehicle combination; in the second simulation, two tractor-trailers at the same boundary condition as for the first case are simulated. The vehicles models are made by using a CAD modelling environment, respecting the overall dimensions of an existing vehicle. The numerical evaluation of a distance between vehicle models is performed using the CFD method based on the Navier-Stokes equations averaging. The last part of the paper presents the interpretation of CDF simulation results, establishing the recommended travel distance between vehicles and conclusions of this study.
On public roads, the guardrails represent the most used passive protection devices in the case of road accidents. Their role is to absorb the car impact energy. This paper presents and analyses tests of a W-beam guardrail type placed on the roadside using the finite element method. The introduction of the paper presents the state of the art, the requirements and the standards used for guardrails testing and crash test methods. In the second part of the paper is achieved the CAD model of the parapet and the impactor used to create the crash test. In the third part of this study, the boundary conditions of the guardrail structure and impactor are created for two cases of speed (80 and 110 km/h) at 20 degrees angles of impact, according to the SR EN 1317 standard. The fourth part proposes a new guardrail model changed by adding a new shock-absorber element and the distance between the poles is increased after visualization and interpretation of the obtained results of the guardrail structure. The new guardrail structure is tested at the same boundary condition as the base structure. The conclusions are highlighted in the last part of the study.
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