Movable Tractor Side Skirt for Aerodynamic Drag and Fouling Trade-off
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Solution Overview
Problem
Tractor vehicles with side skirts face challenges in minimizing air resistance and fuel consumption while avoiding fouling with semitrailers during marshalling, ferry ramps, and refuelling, and ensuring safe access and protection from damage.
Innovation Solution
A movable elongate element that adjusts the height of the side skirt based on speed, road conditions, and detected distances between the side skirt and semitrailer, allowing for reduced air resistance during normal operation while maintaining a larger gap when necessary, and automatically moving to an inactive position during marshalling or uneven terrain to prevent damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If the side skirt is extended upwards to reduce the gap with the semitrailer, then air resistance and fuel consumption are reduced, but the risk of fouling the semitrailer during marshalling and ferry ramps increases
Solution Approach 1:
The side skirt is made movable rather than fixed, allowing it to adjust its position dynamically. During normal operation at speed, the side skirt extends upwards to reduce the gap and minimize air resistance. During marshalling, ferry ramps, or when the semitrailer is in close proximity, the side skirt retracts to avoid fouling. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction between reducing fuel consumption and preventing fouling.
2Loss of energy
If the side skirt is extended upwards to reduce the gap, then air resistance is reduced, but the risk of tripping personnel climbing the boarding step increases
Solution Approach 1:
The side skirt's movable design allows it to extend upwards during vehicle operation to reduce air resistance, but automatically retract when the vehicle is stationary or moving slowly, thereby maintaining safe access for personnel climbing the boarding step. This dynamic behavior eliminates the tripping hazard while preserving aerodynamic benefits during motion.
3Device complexity
If the side skirt is made fixed, then the structure is simple, but the ability to adapt to different operating conditions (speed, terrain, marshalling) is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The side skirt is designed with movable components that allow it to adapt to different operating conditions. The structure includes movement means (such as actuators or mechanical linkages) that enable the side skirt to adjust its position based on vehicle speed, road conditions, and marshalling requirements. This dynamic capability provides versatility without excessive complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates sensing devices that detect vehicle speed, road conditions, and the position of the semitrailer. This feedback information is used to automatically control the side skirt's position, optimizing performance for each operating condition. The feedback mechanism enables the side skirt to adapt dynamically without requiring complex manual control systems.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~5
Figure 6
AI summary
A tractor vehicle is provided with a side skirt (6) which is configured, when the tractor vehicle is in a working state, to partly delineate laterally a space (4) under a semitrailer (2). The tractor vehicle (1) is provided with an elongate element (11) adapted to extending in the tractor vehicle's longitudinal direction along the side skirt and to being movable relative to the side skirt. The element is movable between at least one active position in which, in the tractor vehicle's working state, the element partly bridges the distance between an upper edge (13) of the side skirt and a lower edge (14) of said semitrailer, thereby serving as an upward continuation of the side skirt, and an at least partly inactive position in which its upper boundary (15) is at a greater distance from said lower edge of the semitrailer than in the active position. A unit is provided to control the movement.