The aerodynamic team at SCANIA has discovered the need to investigate the effect of the upstream turbulence conditions on the aerodynamics of the trucks. This need comes from the fact that there are differences between the drag coefficients obtained using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and the on-road measurements. This difference can lead to wrong predictions of fuel consumption and emissions, which can cause incorrect evaluation of design changes. In this study the problem of modeling upstream turbulence in CFD simulations is addressed together with its effect on the aerodynamics of the trucks. To achieve this, representative values of turbulence intensity and length scale were found from the work of different researchers, who performed on-road measurements for various conditions. These values were then used in a method by Jakob Mann to generate a synthetic turbulence field. This field was then used to generate time varying velocity components, added to the mean velocity at the inlet of a CFD simulation. After the implementation of the method it was discovered that the conditions at the test section of the virtual wind tunnel were representative of the on-road measurements. The results showed drag increase and wake length decrease, similar to previous studies performed on simple geometries. It also showed that the higher mixing of the flow increases the drag by surface pressure increase of forward facing surfaces and pressure decrease at the base. These conclusions may be extended to other bluff body geometries and it shows the importance of good design around gaps. The comparison between two truck geometries showed that a truck with better aerodynamics in a smooth flow shows less drag increase with introduction of upstream turbulence.

Dans un contexte de développement des énergies renouvelables, les énergies marines suscitent un grand intérêt. Parmi elles, les courants de marée paraissent constituer une ressource intéressante du fait de la densité de l'eau de mer et de la possibilité de prévoir les oscillations de marée à un endroit donné. Pour une turbine à axe vertical et en accord avec le partenaire industriel, les contraintes à l'échelle de la section de pale incluent la bidirectionnalité de l'écoulement, l'état de surface ainsi que la turbulence amont. La première partie du travail présentée ici s'est donc attachée à étudier deux solutions permettant de répondre à la bidirectionnalité de l'écoulement à l'échelle d'une section de pale. Un profil bidirectionnel spécifique a ainsi été comparé à un NACA 0015 en écoulement directe et inversé. La seconde partie s'est attachée à caractériser l'effet de la rugosité de surface et de la turbulence amont sur les propriétés d'un profil unidirectionnel spécifiquement développé pour les turbines à axe horizontal. Les deux sujets ont été abordés sur des profils académiques 2D, au travers d'une approche expérimentale originale et d'étude numériques. Des calculs tout turbulents et avec prise en compte de la transition ont été comparés à des mesures d'effort par balance, couplés à des observations de l'écoulement par PIV. Le foil bidirectionnel ainsi que le foil NACA en écoulement direct et inversé ont montrés des comportements singuliers qui pénalisent leurs performances dans l'optique d'une utilisation en tant que section de pale. A partir d'une valeur seuil, la hauteur de la rugosité de surface a montré engendrer un changement profond de la nature de l'écoulement autour du foil unidirectionnel. Finalement, il a été observé que la turbulence amont modifiait modérément les propriétés de ce type de foils, mais de façon moins significative à l'échelle de la pale. / In a context of development of renewable energies, there is a growing interest in marine energies. Among them, tidal currents are promising due to the density of seawater and the predictability of tidal oscillations at a given location. For horizontal axis tidal turbines and according to the industrial partner, constraints at the blade section scale include bi-directionality of the flow, surface roughness and upstream turbulence. The first part of the present work studied two solutions to achieve bi-directionality of the flow at the blade section scale. A specific bi-directional hydrofoil was compared to a NACA 0015 in forward and reversed flow. The second part focussed on the effect of surface roughness and upstream turbulence on a unidirectional blade section designed for current turbines. Both studies were carried out on academic two-dimensional hydrofoils, using both numerical investigation and a specifically developed experimental approach. Computations using fully turbulent and transition models were compared to balance force measurements coupled with PIV flow observations. The bidirectional foil as well as the NACA foil in forward and reversed flow, showed specific behaviours that could considerably reduce their performances for a use as a tidal turbine rotor. Roughness height was also observed to deeply change the foil properties, beyond a critical height. Finally, upstream turbulence resulted in moderate performance changes, less significant at the machine scale.