Assessment of a Two Equation Eddy-Viscosity Turbulence Model in Crosswind Simulation of a Heavy Ground Vehicle

The present study assesses the use of a two-equation eddy-viscosity turbulence model, which is a shear-stress transport (SST) k-omega turbulence model, in two-way coupled aerodynamics and vehicle dynamics simulation of a heavy ground vehicle subjected to crosswind. The obtained results are compared with the corresponding results of the improved delayed detached-eddy simulation (IDDES) conducted at similar conditions from the previous literature. The aim is to evaluate the effects of different turbulence models used in aerodynamics simulations to resolve the vehicle dynamics results in two-way coupled simulations. The results present that the absolute relative percent differences between the lateral displacement, yaw angle and roll angle results of the SST k-omega and the IDDES simulations are less than 1%, 3%, and 10%, respectively. As for the aerodynamics results, the absolute relative percent differences between the lateral force, yaw moment, and roll moment of the SST k-omega and the IDDES simulations are less than 7.3%, 8.5%, and 10.0%, respectively. The results also show that the magnitudes of the lateral force, roll moment, and yaw moment are mostly increased due to the crosswind excitations among all other force and moment components. The yaw moment presents the fastest response to the crosswind excitations.