Aerodynamic Effects on Two-Lane Rural Highway Safety

Hammad, Ahmad A A; Xing, Tao

i

Aerodynamic Effects on Two-Lane Rural Highway Safety

2018-08-14
By Hammad, Ahmad A A ; Xing, Tao

File Language:

English

Details

Creators:

Hammad, Ahmad A A ; Xing, Tao
Corporate Creators:

Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans) (UTC) ; University of Idaho
Corporate Contributors:

United States. Department of Transportation. University Transportation Centers (UTC) Program ; United States. Department of Transportation. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
Subject/TRT Terms:

Aerodynamic Force Crosswinds Fluid Dynamics Highway Safety Rural Highways Two Lane Highways Validation Wind Tunnels
Resource Type:

Tech Report
Geographical Coverage:

United States
Corporate Publisher:

Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans) (UTC)
Abstract:

Two-lane rural highways experience a higher rate of traffic accidents than do other types of highways. One factor affecting this rate is the impact of aerodynamics on a vehicle’s stability and safety during crossing and overtaking maneuvers, especially under adverse environmental conditions such as crosswinds. This study investigated this phenomenon by using three-dimensional, unsteady computation fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, with validation from wind tunnel experiments. The forces and moments acting on the vehicles were analyzed, and experiments showed that the forces acting on a vehicle may increase by up to 9 times, with the maximum increase associated with a size discrepancy between the vehicles. The presence of crosswinds increased the variations in fluctuations of forces and moments. To evaluate existing highway policies, additional parametric studies are needed to fully investigate the impacts of different crosswind speeds and directions, as well as different lateral distances between vehicles during crossing and overtaking maneuvers.
Format:

PDF
Funding:

DTRT13-G-UTC40
Collection(s):

University Transportation Centers
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha256:a5ea16b42cffff60e17bd50d09464e1e8b9137e52261155ec38feadf9b49cbd9
Download URL:

https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/63359/dot_63359_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 4.58 MB ]

File Language:

English

ON THIS PAGE

Details

ROSA P serves as an archival repository of USDOT-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other information authored or co-authored by USDOT or funded partners. As a repository, ROSA P retains documents in their original published format to ensure public access to scientific information.