Numerical investigation of the effects of different side mirror models on aerodynamic structure in a heavy commercial vehicle

In this research, aerodynamic analysis of a simplified heavy commercial vehicle model was performed with four different mirror models at 10, 15, 20 and 25 m/s speeds. Aerodynamic drag coefficients (CD) were determined in the Ansys Fluent program. In the analyses, independence studies from the mesh were made and the number of elements where tolerance was at an acceptable level and different mirror designs were examined. Areas that create aerodynamic drag on the camera mirror (model 1) have been determined and aerodynamic improvement has been achieved with passive flow control methods. The aerodynamic drag coefficient decreased by 4.24% in model 2 compared to the conventional mirrored model and by 0.96% compared to model 1. In model 3, it decreased by 6.24% compared to the conventional mirrored model and by 1.13% compared to model 1.