Robust control of drag and lateral dynamic response for road vehicles exposed to cross-wind gusts

A robust closed-loop active flow control strategy for road vehicles under unsteady cross-wind conditions is presented. It is designed based on black-box models identified from experimental data for a 3D bluff body equipped with Coanda actuators along the rear edges. The controller adjusts the blowing rates of the actuators individually, achieving a drag reduction of about 15%\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$15\%$$\end{document} while simultaneously improving cross-wind sensitivity. Hereby, the lateral vehicle dynamics and driver behavior are taken into account and replicated in the wind tunnel via a novel model support system. The effectiveness of the control strategy is demonstrated via cross-wind gust experiments.