Aerodynamic Improvements of Buses Inspired by Beluga Whales

Abstract

The innovative bus designs, inspired by the whales, have been developed. The designs are confined to the frontal area of the buses. The new designs are named as the Beluga buses. Several variants of the models all mimicking Beluga whales are proposed. Both numerical analysis and experimental have been conducted to determine the drag coefficients of various models. The ANSYS CFD program was used for numerical simulations. WT tests were conducted to experimentally determine the drag coefficients. Both methods indicate that the beluga-inspired buses offer significant reductions in drag, which can lead to lower fuel consumption. The new beluga design is expected to reduce fuel consumption by 12.64%. Comparing the experimental and numerical results, a 6.4% discrepancy in the drag coefficients is observed at low Reynolds numbers, which became negligible at higher Reynolds numbers. The new geometry is expected to offer an economical solution for reducing fuel consumption.