Airshaper, a cloud software company based in Antwerp (Belgium), specializing in complex aerodynamic simulations, has called on Artec 3D, manufacturer of 3D scanners, to improve the fuel efficiency of semi-trailer trucks.
A truck carries 400 to 570 liters of fuel and consumes between 30 and 60 liters per 100 km. In France, over 350,000 semi-trailers are registered. In the United States, there are more than three million.
Load, driving style and engine size all influence the fuel efficiency of these vehicles. So does aerodynamic drag, an aspect that truck manufacturers often overlook in their quest for functionality.
Generated by all vehicles as they travel through the air, this force only increases as they travel at highway speeds. This forces them to use more power (and fuel) to accelerate. An ordinary truck uses 50 % of its forward energy to push the air back at high speed. Yet it is estimated that a 20 % reduction in aerodynamic resistance could save up to 10 % of fuel per trip.
Improving vehicle aerodynamics often involves CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) to determine the most dragging parts. But creating a watertight model for the first simulation takes several weeks.
Aerodynamic drag revealed and optimized by 3D scanning
To streamline the process, Airshaper opted for 3D scanning technologies. The company turned to Artec 3D and its Artec Ray II scanner, an ultra-fast long-range LiDAR 3D scanner, and Artec Leo, the first wireless 3D scanner powered by artificial intelligence. Scans from the two scanners were merged using Artec Studio's intelligent fusion algorithm,
The truck was found to use 76,000 watts to overcome aerodynamic drag at highway speeds!
Artec 3D specialists digitized an entire long-haul vehicle in less than two days. The implementation of this technology enabled users to directly identify design improvements by simply downloading and analyzing highly detailed 3D scans.
3D scanners were used to capture the truck in pieces and break it down for a "piece-by-piece force analysis".
And thanks to the detailed 3D images, the Airshaper platform was able to identify the main contributors to aerodynamic drag: the rear-view mirrors and the roof. To help the vehicle penetrate the air more easily, it was suggested that the rear-view mirrors be repositioned, the roof openings limited and the spoilers better aligned to deflect the air.
" We had an impressive amount of detail to play with, which was directly taken into account in the simulation.explains Airshaper's Wouter Remmerie. Despite a certain loss of detail when going from reality to scan, and from scan to mesh, we managed to capture all the little details fantastically. In the model, the mirrors and grille were clearly defined, and you could even see the tire threads.. "
Next step: electric vehicle range
The Airshaper platform is already being used to optimize aerodynamics and avoid costly design modifications or the addition of spare parts by giants such as Tesla and Morgan. Wouter Remmerie now expects it to find other applications for electric vehicles (EVs), which still expend a lot of energy moving through the air. Improving their aerodynamics by just 10 % would save 5 % of energy, enough to reduce the impact of their size and the weight of their integrated batteries on their consumption. Data backed up by analyses of electric vehicles such as the Tesla Semi.
" We had a mature market with trucks, but with EVs, it has become very open again. It is therefore increasingly important to master the design, reverse engineering and improvement of new vehicles using 3D scanning. "concludes Wouter Remmerie.