2007-01-3458
Improving Automotive Fuel Efficiency with Deturbulator Tape
Copyright © 2007 SAE International
ABSTRACT
A new method for reducing aerodynamic drag of trucks
and vans has been developed. It uses Deturbulator tape
to transform separated turbulent wakes into stagnant
virtually solid streamlining extensions attached to the
vehicle. Constrained mode flow-induced surface
oscillations of the 100-Pm thick, passive, flexible-surface
Deturbulator tape attenuates turbulent mixing by driving
the turbulence to a pre-selected high frequency in the
dissipation range. Wind tunnel tests indicated 80% drag
reduction. Road tests on a minivan and pickup truck
showed 15-20% increased highway fuel economy due
to reduced drag. 6% reduction in overall fuel
consumption was obtained for an operational Class-8
tractor-semitrailer.
INTRODUCTION
Cars and trucks use about 2/3 of the oil imported by the
U.S. They are also the largest users of petroleum
products worldwide and the largest non-stationary
source of greenhouse gases across the world. Simple
and effective means of motor vehicle fuel economy
increase are therefore extremely important for the
continued viability of our planet.
As per the U.S. Federal Government’s website
www.fueleconomy.gov (posted by DOE and EPA), only
12.6% of the energy available in the gasoline fuel is
typically available at the drive wheels of a vehicle.
Aerodynamic losses reduce the 12.6% energy available
at the drive wheels by 21% (or 2.6% of the energy in the
gasoline) at speeds around 70 km/h (45-mph; i.e., FTP75
EPA-City driving mode), while inertia followed by braking
consumes 46% (www.fueleconomy.gov). 33% is lost due
to rolling resistance. Aerodynamic drag accounts for
about 50% of the total energy delivered to the wheels of
a vehicle traveling at a constant speed of about 88 km/h
(55 mph) on a level road. This increases to about 75% at
typical highway speeds of 110 km/h (70 mph) and is
65% even for loaded class-8 tractor trailer trucks. This is
because the drag force FD is proportional to CD.V2,
where the coefficient of drag CD remains approximately
constant as the velocity of the air relative to the vehicle
(V) increases. For vehicles, such as long distance
tractor-trailer trucks which spend most time traveling at
Sumon K. Sinha and Sumontro L. Sinha
Sinhatech
constant speed on highways, even a modest reduction
in CD can have a measurable impact on fuel
consumption. This is also true for many light trucks and
sport-utility-vehicles.
As per the current mandate of the U.S. Federal
government, 8.1% increase in miles per gallon for SUVs
and light trucks is called for the 2008-2011 model years.
The U.S. DOE has also undertaken a multi-year study
involving the major truck manufacturers in the U.S. to
reduce the aerodynamic drag of large tractor trailers and
semi-trailers by 20% in order to improve fuel efficiency
by about 10% through practical techniques and devices
which can be implemented immediately (Clarke, 2006).
These recognize the fact that aggressive streamlining of
trucks, trailers and SUVs is not possible to preserve the
utility of these vehicles. Manufacturers typically
streamline vehicle shapes as far as possible. Spoilers
and wind deflectors are then added to make the vehicle
appear more streamlined than its basic geometry
suggests. Additional reductions in aerodynamic drag
require methods for reducing CD which do not impose
further alterations to a vehicle’s shape or form.
Form or pressure drag resulting from large separated
wakes is the primary contributor towards a vehicle’s CD.
Hence, most add-on aerodynamic drag reduction
methods use strakes and active/passive vortex
generation to reduce the size of the wake. These
methods enhance mixing in the shear layer separating
the wake from the freestream. Drag is reduced as the
mean momentum deficit in the wake is lowered.
However, the power lost through increased turbulence
arising from vigorous mixing across the shear layer
ultimately limits the reduction in drag.
The present work focused on developing a simple to
apply method that does not have this shortcoming. The
method relies on reducing mixing across the shear layer
by using a patent pending microstructured flexible-
surface composite tape known as the “Deturbulator” or
FCSD (Sinha, 2003, Sinha and Sinha, 2006). Turbulent
eddy viscosity is responsible for transferring motion
efficiently from the freestream flow to the large-scale
vortices in a separated wake. Attenuating mixing
suppresses this mechanism, transforming the wake to a
virtual solid extension of the vehicle body. If this
transformed wake resembles a tapering boat tail (Fig 1)
the air sees the vehicle as a streamlined shape.
Consequently the drag should reduce.
FLOW WITHOUT TREATMENT
FLOW WITH TREATMENT
Deturbulator
Fig 1. Drag Reduction from Deturbulating Wake
The method portrayed here can be seen as an extension
of using spoilers and wind deflectors since they all rely
on virtual shaping. The Deturbulator offers additional
control on turbulent mixing, thereby extending the
degree of morphing possible. Additionally, the
Deturbulator has already demonstrated its efficacy in
improving the lift to drag ratio of sailplane wings by
about 20% (Sinha and Ravande, 2006a,b) and this has
recently been verified through independent flight test
evaluations by Johnson (2007).
The Deturbulator and its working principles are
described next. This is followed by preliminary wind-
tunnel tests and on-road tests on vehicles demonstrating
the efficacy and possibilities of this technique.
Boundary Layer
Flow
Fundamental Flexural
Vibration Mode of Membrane
Shown (Amplitude  0.1 Pm)
Wing or other
aerodynamic body
S
Low Strips as needed to
fix flexural damping
Fig 2. Schematic of the SINHA Flexible Composite Surface
THE SINHA DETURBULATOR
The SINHA-FCSD is a thin (under 100 Pm) passive (i.e.,
non-powered) device (Fig 2), consisting of a flexible
membrane (typically 30-300 mm wide) stretched across
an array of strips on a substrate, running in the spanwise
direction. The back of the substrate is bonded to the
surfaces of the wing or stabilizer or a road vehicle. The
membrane of the FCSD undergoes extremely small
(under 0.1-Pm amplitude) flow-induced flexural
oscillations, which can neutralize turbulent fluctuations in
the near-wall boundary layer airflow at all but a narrow
frequency band (Sinha and Ravande, 2006b). The
resulting customized turbulent aerodynamic boundary
layer, which remains marginally separated, displays
superior resistance to separation as compared to a
Turbulent Eddies
laminar boundary layer while exhibiting lower skin-
friction induced losses compared to either “naturally
occurring” or artificially tripped turbulent boundary
layers. This results in a reduction in wing profile drag.
For reducing form drag in the separated wake, the
FCSD is typically attached to a portion of the surface of
Vehicle or Bluff
Body Stagnant Wake
For Virtual
the vehicle where attached flow exists locally (Fig 1).
Streamlining The flow-FCSD interaction helps reduce turbulent mixing
in the separated shear layers. This slows down the air in
the wake by taking away the energy production
mechanism driving the large eddies. Since these eddies
serve as a conduit for dissipating flow kinetic energy
through turbulence, slowing those conserves energy in
the airflow around the vehicle.
Fig 3. Schematic of the SINHA Active Flexible Wall
The current passive FCSD concept evolved by
simplifying an earlier electrically powered Active Flexible
Wall (AFW) boundary layer control concept (Fig 3)
patented by Sumon K. Sinha in 1999. The AFW can
sense flow separation (sensor mode) and use the
sensed signal frequency to electrically drive flexural
oscillations (actuator mode) to control flow separation. It
High Strips or Ridges has undergone extensive low-speed (M < 0.15) wind
tunnel testing at the University of Mississippi (Sinha,
Flexible Membrane a 6Pm thick 2001a,b) primarily for controlling flow separation and
dynamic stall (Mangla and Sinha, 2004). Unlike earlier
compliant and driven flexible wall devices which were
typically tested on flat-plate zero pressure gradient flow,
50-100Pm
the AFW and FCSD have been found to work only in
Substrate Base glued to boundary flows exposed to a streamwise varying
aerodynamic surface
pressure gradient.
10-50Pm thick Air-Gap
(Membrane Substrate)
To understand the flow-membrane interaction
mechanism the 2-D streamwise u-momentum equation
of the flow at the mean equilibrium position (y = 0) of the
surface membrane of the FCSD (or AFW) is considered
first:
v(wu/wy)y=0= (1/U)(wp/wx) + (P/U)(w2u/wy2)y=0
(1)
The streamwise x-component of velocity “u” of the
vibrating membrane (or the velocity of the fluid at the
points of contact with the membrane) has been assumed
to be negligible, while the wall-normal y-component of
velocity “v” of the fluid next to the membrane is clearly
non-zero due to the flexural motion of the membrane.
Key to flow-membrane interaction is the realization that
the wall-normal gradient of the streamwise velocity at
the wall, (wu/wy)y=0, can be extremely large at certain x- precisely matched to the phases of turbulent sweeps
locations. At such locations, even a small oscillation and bursts. This is not required here. Since the
velocity (v << U) of the flexible membrane can make the separated shear layer is directly influenced by the
v(wu/wy)y=0 “control” term on the left hand side of attached boundary layer preceding it, rapid turbulent
equation (1) predominant, enabling the transfer of breakdown of the shear layer is also halted, Hence, the
turbulent kinetic energy from the freestream to the large turbulent shear stresses needed to transfer motion
membrane. For a non-porous, rigid wall, this control term to eddies in the separated zone are attenuated. This
is identically zero. Additionally, if the boundary layer improves pressure recovery in the near wake and has
velocity profile at the aforementioned locations is such been validated through reductions in measured drag and
that prior to interaction w2u/wy 2y=0 | 0, while ~(wu/wy)y=0 ~ velocity fluctuations both for the Deturbulator (e.g., Fig
! 0, (i.e., u(y) is approximately linear near the wall) an 10) and for the AFW (Sinha, 2001).
order of magnitude balance of the terms in equation (1)
yields:
v(wu/wy)y=0 | (1/U)( wp/wx)
(1-a)
Such a condition can be satisfied in boundary layers
over curved surfaces, in the vicinity of x-locations where
the streamwise pressure gradient wp/wx changes from
favorable (wp/wx < 0) to adverse (wp/wx > 0). The FCSD
also re-energizes oscillations at the control frequency:
f = U/s (1-b)
1 2
Fig 4b. Oil Flow Visualization on Top Surface of a
Freestream Flow
sailplane wing at the 53-inch Span Station (1)
untreated; (2) with Deturbulator shown. (Sinha
Boundary Layer 200 )
Large Small Vortices Small
Vortex created from vortices
Rolling small-
Small
Vortices quickly Fig 4 shows a photograph of a 80-µm thick Deturbulator
wavelength
deflection
Drain Large
Vortex
dissipated
by viscosity
tape mounted on the surface of a 1-m chord sailplane
wing with the surface airflow visualized using oil (Sinha
2007). The oil flow patterns clearly show a modification
of the laminar separation bubble. In this application,
Flexible Skin of Ridges on
Deturbulator Deturbulator
skin-friction drag is lowered (Sinha and Ravande,
2006a,b) by keeping the boundary layer marginally
RED: Large
ANALOGY: Perturbation of large vortex creates separated across the chord (Fig 4b(2)). Apart from
Wavelength deflection
small vortices similar to a tire rolling over rumble
BLUE: Small
Wavelength Deflection
strips on a highway to warn approaching stop. maintaining the correct clearances between the
membrane and ridges on the substrate, locating the
Deturbulator is also critical. In general, the condition of
wp/wx = 0 needs to be relaxed somewhat to account for
Fig 4a. Sketch showing eddy breakdown by Deturbulator boundary layer blockage due to the (~100 µm) thickness
of the Deturbulator tape.
This corresponds to the membrane segments oscillating
in phase with a wave-like disturbance having a
wavelength s and traveling with the freestream. Larger
eddies which energize turbulent fluctuations, impart
longer wavelength traveling waves. These waves are
perturbed by the ridges and subsequently broken down
Cord to
into smaller eddies corresponding to frequency f of measure
equation (1-b). The aforementioned process results in drag force
sustaining fluctuations corresponding to f. Since f is
closer to the dissipation range, the stepwise breakdown
of large-scale eddies through vortex stretching and
bending is eliminated. This attenuates turbulent mixing
without having to damp turbulent fluctuations within the
body or substrate of the flexible wall. This is the most
Fig 5. Cadillac Escalade model in Sinhatech
important difference between the Deturbulator and Wind-Tunnel
the much investigated “compliant wall”. Because
internal damping within the flexible structure is not
needed, the effect (i.e., Deturbulation) can be sustained
over a wide range of flow velocities. In a traditional
compliant wall, the frequencies would need to be
 Measured Coeffcient of Drag on Model Car
(Re = 0.4 million)
0.6
0.5
De-turbulator Rear Top
Coefficient of Drag(CD)
0.4 Tape Top Front De-turbulator Top Rear
Tape Top Front
Clean Car
0.3
0.2
0.1
0 Road Tests:
1 2 3 4
Test Number
Fig 6. Measured Drag on Wind Tunnel Model of Fig 5
with different Deturbulator configurations
RESULTS
Preliminary Wind Tunnel Drag Measurements:
Initial tests were conducted in the Sinhatech low-speed
wind tunnel (www.sinhatech.com) on a 1/24th scale
Cadillac Escalade (Fig 5). The Eiffel-type Sinhatech
wind tunnel has a 12-inches (305-mm) high, 9-inches
(229-mm) wide, 14-inches (356-mm) long test section
and a 4-ft (1.22-m) high 3-ft (0.91-m) wide exponential
profiled bell mouth entrance and a variable speed
suction fan. At the nominal 30-m/s test airspeed,
turbulence (u-rms/u-mean) in the test section is about
0.8% without screens. The model was placed on free
rolling wheels on the test section floor and held against
the flow with a cord. The measured tension in the cord
provided a direct measure of the drag force and showed
the possibility of 80% drag reduction with a FCSD (Fig
6). The best configuration consisted of a 3-mm wide
FCSD on the rear spoiler of the model.
It is interesting to note that at these low Reynolds
numbers based on length of the vehicle, a plain duct
tape on the top front reduced drag by about 40%. The
tape encourages the flow to separate, reducing skin
friction (Sinha 2005) by avoiding “surface roughness
like” features (e.g., edges of the sunroof). However, the
separated zone eventually becomes turbulent and
increases flow losses. Adding the Deturbulator on the
rear spoiler reduces these losses by controlling
turbulence. Drag is minimized by avoiding blockage of
the boundary layer on the top front of the vehicle by
removing the plain duct tape.
Fig 7. 2000-Honda Odyssey minivan with
Deturbulator tape strips
5 6
Even though the small-scale wind tunnel tests were
successful it was unclear whether the Deturbulator
would work on a full scale vehicle. A 2000-Honda
Odyssey minivan, which has a shape similar to the
Cadillac Escalade was treated with Deturbulator tape as
shown in Fig 7. Prior to applying the tape, surface oil
flow visualization was performed to determine regions of
separated flow. Locating the Deturbulator close to these
regions was based on the optimum locations of the
FCSD on the wind-tunnel model.
The Odyssey normally yielded about 23.5 miles per
gallon (9.98 km/liter) for combined city-highway driving
around Oxford, Mississippi, during the winter months
with 89-octane gasoline and 26 miles per gallon (11.05
km/liter) on the highway at speeds between 55-75 mph
(88-120 km/h). Under the same driving conditions the
FCSD treated Odyssey yielded about 26 miles per
gallon (11.05 km/liter) in combined city/highway driving
and 31 mpg on the highway (Fig 8). These values were
obtained by averaging data from several trips and were
found to have a 93% statistical significance level. The
gas tank was topped before and after each trip. The trip
distance and type (i.e., highway or city) were also noted
since reducing aerodynamic drag is not expected to
improve the city mileage. The measurements revealed
that city mileage remained essentially unchanged at 18
miles per gallon (7.65 km/liter) even after the FCSD was
applied.
In order to visually confirm that aerodynamic drag was
indeed being reduced by the Deturbulator, the test
Honda Odyssey was coasted down against an identical
vehicle on a stretch of level 4-lane highway. The gross
weights of both vehicles with occupants and fuel were
brought within ±5 lbs (mass within ±2.2 kg) and identical
tire pressures were applied. The vehicles were brought
up to 70 mph (110 km/h) in parallel lanes and shifted to
neutral simultaneously. The vehicle with lower
aerodynamic drag was expected to advance during the
coast down period. Without the Deturbulator both
vehicles remained within a car-length while slowing
down to 40 mph (64 km/h). With the Deturbulator the
treated vehicle advanced to about two car lengths,
verifying aerodynamic drag reduction. Even though this
method did not yield accurate quantitative
measurements of fuel economy improvement, it was
found capable of detecting the effect of small changes in Average Gas Mileages for 1997 Dodge Dakota

treatment. % increase
clean
30 experimental

Miles/Gallon or % mpg
25

20
2000 Honda Odyssey Average Highway

increase
Gas Mileage 15

10
32 experimental
31 5 clean
Control
Miles Per Gallon

30
0
29 % increase
28 Experiment 55
27
65
Miles per Ho
26 ur
25

Experiment
24
23
Fig 9. Measured Fuel Economy of Untreated (clean)
Control

and Deturbulator Treated (experimental) 1997

Dodge Dakota Pickup Truck

2000 Honda Odyssey Overall (Highway

plus City) Gas Mileage Fig 9 shows the miles per gallon before and after
applying the Deturbulator at 55 and 65 miles per hour
26
(88 and 104 km/h). For these tests a single 50-mm wide
Control
25.5 Deturbulator tape was applied on top of the cab guided
Miles per Gallon

25
Experiment by surface oil-flow visualization. The fuel economy
24.5
24 improved 15% at 55 miles per hour and 16% at 65 miles
23.5 Experiment per hour (Fig 9). The data have statistical significance
23
22.5
levels of 99.9% and 96.9% respectively. Actual driving at
22 Control a variety of speeds indicated an increase from 19.9 to
Overall Average
21.8 miles per gallon (8.5 to 9.3 km/liter), or 9.5%
increase due to the Deturbulator. This is comparable to
the 10.6% increase in average city/highway fuel
economy of the Honda Odyssey minivan.
Fig 8. Measured Fuel Economy of the Honda
Odyssey for Highway (top) and Combined
(bottom) driving for Untreated (Control) and
Wind Tunnel Measurements on Tractor Trailer Trucks:
Deturbulator Treated (Experiment) conditions.

Since long distance tractor-trailer semi trucks spend

Tests on a Light Truck
Light (pickup) trucks are less streamlined compared to
vans. To determine the effect of treating such vehicles
with Deturbulator tape, the subsequent tests were
conducted on a 1997 Dodge Dakota pickup truck. This
particular truck was equipped with a fuel economy meter
that provided instantaneous and average miles per
gallon for each trip. The truck was repeatedly run over a
level section of highway at a constant speed while the
instantaneous miles per gallon were recorded at regular
intervals. The average of these instantaneous readings
over several runs back and forth (to average effects of
road slope and wind) provided the best estimate of miles
per gallon at the selected speed. Since the fuel economy
meter was not calibrated, an undetermined bias existed.
However, a comparison of miles per gallon at the same
speed before and after treatment is not affected by the
bias.
more time driving at constant high speeds on the
highway, they can benefit most from the Deturbulator.
However, the flow over such trucks is more intricate and
multiple separated zones exist. Hence the effect of the
Deturbulator on the Tractor as well as the Tractor-Trailer
combination needed to be understood.
Initial tests were carried out on a 1/48 scale streamlined
Freightliner Columbia truck with a box trailer. Based on
the optimum locations of the FCSD on the model SUV,
Deturbulator tape was applied on the top rear end of the
tractor cab. A calibrated single-wire hot-wire probe was
used to determine the mean velocities (u-mean) as well
as the rms fluctuations (u-rms) behind the vehicle. The
results (Fig 10) indicate a reduction in both u-mean and
u-rms due to Deturbulator treatment behind the cab.
This also proves that the Deturbulator makes the
separated wake more stagnant. Prior to this the only
anecdotal evidence of wake stagnation was a significant
reduction in splattering of road grime on the rear window
of the Deturbulator treated minivan.
 MEAN VELOCITIES 1/3-Height BEHIND CAB MODEL
Measured Drag of Truck Model: Effect of FCSD (Deturbulator
1.6 Treatment)

1.4 0.5

Coefficient of Drag (Cd)

0.4 CLEAN
1.2
FCSD-1
0.3
1
FCSD-2
0.2
FCSD-3
Y/h-cab

0.8 0.1 FCSD-4

0
0.6
treatment type
Mean Vel Untreated
0.4
Mean Vel 2 mm s Deturb

0.2

0 Fig 11. Measured Drag on Tractor-Trailer Semi Truck

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Model in Sinhatech Wind Tunnel for different
U-mean/U-infinity
Deturbulator Treatments

RMS VELOCITY FLUCTUATIONS h/3 BEHIND CAB MODEL

1.6
Mean x-y plane Velocities h/2 Behind Model Tractor-Trailer
1.4 Rms Vel Untreated Truck of height h = 70 mm
rms Vel 2-mm s Deturb
1.2 1.4

Distance From Road Surface (h/h-trailer)

1 1.2
Y/h-cab

0.8 1

0.6 0.8

0.4 0.6
Vmean treated Cab+Trail
0.2 0.4
Vmean UnTreated

0 0.2
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Mean Velocities (u/u-upstream)
Fig 10. Measured Velocities behind Model of Truck
(Tractor) Cab with and without Deturbulator
treatment. Mean Velocities (top) and RMS-
RMS Velocity Fluctuations Behind Tractor-Trailer Model
fluctuating (bottom)
1.4

1.2
Drag force measurements on the complete tractor-trailer
Height From Floor (h/height-trailer)

model were attempted next similar to measurements on 1

the Cadillac Escalade. However, the rolling friction on 0.8

the 18 smaller diameter tires and wheels was found to
be significant. Hence the actual aerodynamic drag force 0.6

is greater than the measured values. Fig 11 shows the 0.4

V-rms UnTreated
CD values deduced from forces measured on the 1/48 Vrms Treated Cab+Trailer
0.2
scale model at an air speed of 30 m/s. Various FCSD
treatments were attempted on the trailer and tractor. The 0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2
best treatment indicated 25% drag reduction. Fig 12 RMS Velocity (u-rms/u-upstream)

shows hot-wire measurements of u-mean and u-rms

behind the trailer with and without the aforementioned
“best” Deturbulator treatment. Compared to the wake Fig 12. Measured Mean (top) and RMS-Fluctuating
Velocities (bottom) behind Tractor Trailer Model.
behind the cab (Fig 10), the velocity profiles indicate
more complicated interaction of shear layers. This is
because it includes downstream signatures of wakes
from the cab, leading edge of the trailer and the trailing Preliminary operational fuel efficiency measurements
edge of the trailer. were conducted on a Freightliner Columbia tractor
matched with the same Wabash 53-ft box trailer
operating with load on the same route everyday, with the
same driver. Deturbulator strips were then applied to the
sides and top of the cab and on top of the trailer, and
additional data acquired over a month. The following
month, additional Deturbulator tape was applied to the
sides and bottom of the trailer. Fig 13 shows trends in
mileage increase with treatment. A Type IV fuel
economy test is planned after the Deturbulator
configuration is finalized. The actual Deturbulator layout
is somewhat different than on the wind-tunnel model
because flow separation and reattachment points are
Reynolds number dependent. Also, at certain locations
the Deturbulators may be prone to damage frequently
and therefore not practical from an operational
viewpoint. For example, the deturbulators on top of the
cab and trailer on our test truck were found damaged
due to frequent impact with tree branches and the
results of Fig 14 are with these damages. The damaged
Deturbulators have been removed and new data is
currently being acquired without these.
Operational Class-8 Truck Road Test
6.5
6.4
Overall Miles/Gallon
6.3
6.2
6.1
6
5.9
5.8
Untreated Deturb Cab sides top
Trailer top
Fig 13. Preliminary Road Test Data on operational
Class-8 Tractor Semi-Trailer Truck with two
Deturbulator treatments. Cab and trailer Top
Deturbulators damaged from tree branch impact.
Comparison with other methods of drag reduction:
Assuming aerodynamic drag to be 50% of the total drag
on a road vehicle, a drag reduction of 8-40% is needed
for 4-20% improvement in measured fuel economy. Test
results on the minivan, pickup truck and Class-8 tractor-
semi-trailer truck are compared to other methods which
try to reduce the size of the wake (Fig 14). The data of
Fig 13 indicate that class-8 trucks could experience 8%
and 12% reductions in aerodynamic drag, which are
comparable to using strakes and tailcones but lower
than underchasis blowing. If the effect of engine idling is
included, the reductions due to Deturbulator use will be
more. Significantly higher reductions are obtained if the
Deturbulator is applied to a more streamlined shape,
such as a minivan. Hence a synergism exists if the size
of the wake is reduced by partial streamlining and the
Deturbulator makes the wake more stagnant.
Interestingly, Deturbulator enhancement on the minivan
and pickup truck already exceeds the 8.1% increase in
miles per gallon called for 2008-2011 model years in the
new Federal standards for SUVs and light trucks.
Effect of exposure to the external environment:
Is the seemingly delicate construction of the
Deturbulator tape a deterrent to its regular use on the
road? The installations on the Honda Odyssey and
Dodge Dakota, which have used generic tape for sealing
the edges of the Deturbulator tape, have endured
regular high-speed driving conditions under a variety of
weather conditions for about six months. Ultimately the
generic edge sealing tape degraded. A tape designed
for longer exposure to weather can easily solve this
problem and a life of more than a year is possible and
ongoing tests on the operational Class-8 truck are being
used to validate this.
More importantly, the prototype Deturbulator used for
the work reported here was prone to temporary
degradation due to moisture. This is because the air gap
between the membrane and the ridged substrate needs
to be vented to the local airflow. Otherwise, a reduction
in local static pressure due to the external airflow causes
the membrane to “balloon” (i.e. be pushed out). Once
the membrane loses contact with the ridges it begins to
undergo all possible modes of oscillation imposed by the
flow and its selective frequency filtering behavior is lost.
However, moisture from rain and surface condensation
also wicks through the vents into the air gap. This makes
the membrane more rigid and temporarily destroys its
performance until the moisture evaporates. This has
Deturb Cab sides top
been a cause of great concern for using the Deturbulator
Trailer sides,top, on aircraft wings (www.sinhatech.com) where a more
bottom
consistent performance is required. On a truck or van
the only penalty is a temporary reduction of the fuel
efficiency down to the untreated (base) state. The
average fuel economy still surpasses the untreated
value as validated through road tests. This also
necessitates acquiring long-term data for meaningful
estimates of fuel economy enhancement.
In order to deter moisture from entering the air gap, a
second generation Deturbulator tape has been
developed incorporating a hydrophobic substrate and
membrane and moisture excluding micro-porous vents.
Preliminary tests on the Honda Odyssey have revealed
that it recovers within a few seconds (as opposed to
hours) after being exposed to heavy rain.
CONCLUSIONS
A thin (100µm thick) microstructured flexible surface
Deturbulator tape developed for drag reduction on
streamlined wings has been successfully used to reduce
aerodynamic drag of marginally streamlined road
vehicles.
The Deturbulator transforms the turbulent separated
wake behind a vehicle into a region of stagnant air,
making the vehicle appear streamlined to the flow.
The Deturbulator reduced the drag of a model SUV by
80% and that of a model tractor trailer truck by 25%.
A single strip of Deturbulator tape increased the fuel
economy of a pickup truck by 15-16% at speeds
between 55-65 mph (88-104 km/h).
Deturbulator tape strips on top of a minivan increased its
average highway fuel economy by 19%.
Preliminary in-operation road tests indicate the
possibility of 6% increase in overall fuel economy in a
Deturbulator equipped Class-8 tractor semi-trailer truck.
Based on $3.00/gallon gasoline and $3.00/gallon diesel
fuel, and a 9.5% increase in combined city/highway fuel
economy an average Deturbulator-treated minivan
driving 15,000 miles/year would save $188/year and an
average Deturbulator treated tractor trailer truck driving
120,000 miles per year about $3000/year for a 5%
increase in overall miles per gallon.
Based on the current number of automobiles in the U.S.
if every automobile used the Deturbulator, the nation
would save 14-billion gallons or $33 billion per year in
imported gasoline, and 40 million metric tons of carbon
equivalent greenhouse gas emissions.
% Drag Reduction
Deturb Class-8 truck
Deturb Class-8 truck
Under Chasis BlowTruck Drag
Trailer Strakes Truck Drag
Tailcone Truck Drag
2006 Honda Odyssey
Deturb 2000 Odyssey
Deturb Dodge Dakota
0% 5% 10% 15%
% Drag Reduction
Fig 14. Comparison of Present Deturbulator Drag
Reduction with more traditional methods
(Underchasis Blowing, Strakes on Trailer, tailcone
extension on trailer (source Clarke, 2006, Wood,
2003), streamlining 2006 model Odyssey by Honda
compared to 2000 model). % Reductions are with
respect to corresponding base untreated vehicles.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors acknowledge support from The National
Science Foundation for providing funded for part of this
work through SBIR Grant No. IIP-0638157.
REFERENCES
1. Clarke, R.M., “Truck Manufacturers Program to
Review Aerodynamic Drag” DOE Heavy Vehicle
Systems Optimization Merit Review, April 2006.
2. Johnson, R.H., “A Flight Test Evaluation of the
Sinha Wing Performance Enhancing
Deturbulators,” SOARING and Motorgliding
Magazine, The Journal of the Soaring Society
of America Inc., Vol 71., No.5, May 2007, pp.
35-41.
3. Mangla, N.L., and Sinha, S.K., 2004, “Controlling
Dynamic Stall with an Active Flexible Wall” Amer.
Soc of AIAA Paper AIAA-2004-2325; 2nd AIAA Flow
Control Conf, Portland, June 28-July 1, 2004.
4. Sinha, S.K.; “System for Efficient Control of Flow
Separation using a Driven Flexible Wall,” U.S.
Patent No. 5,961,080, October 5,1999.
5. Sinha, S.K., 2001a “Flow Separation Control with
Microflexural Wall Vibrations,” Journal of Aircraft,
(Vol.38, No.3., May-June-2001) pp. 496-503.
6. Sinha, S.K., 2001b “Exploring Separating Boundary
Layers With a Flexible Wall Transducer Array,” Proc.
ASME FEDSM-01, 2001 ASME Fluids Eng Summer
Meet, New Orleans, LA, May 29-June 1, 2001.
7. Sinha, S.K., “System and Method for Using a
Flexible Composite Surface for Pressure-Drop Free
Heat Transfer Enhancement and Flow Drag
Reduction,” U.S. Patent Applications 10/355,346,
filed Jan 31, 2003.
8. Sinha, S.K., “Optimizing Wing Lift to Drag Ratio
Enhancement with Flexible-Wall Turbulence
th
Control”, AIAA Paper No. 2007-4425, 25 . AIAA
Applied Aerodynamics Conference, June 25-28,
2007, Miami, FL, U.S.A.
9. Sinha, S.K., and Ravande, S.V., “Sailplane
Performance Improvement Using a Flexible
Composite Surface Deturbulator,” AIAA Paper 2006-
0447, 44th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting,
Reno, NV, Jan 9-12, 2006a.
10. Sinha, S.K., and Ravande, S.V., “Drag Reduction of
20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Natural Laminar Flow Airfoils with a Flexible Surface
Deturbulator”, AIAA Paper 2006-3030, 3rd. AIAA
Flow Control Conference, San Francisco, CA, June
5-8, 2006b.
11. Sinha, S.L., “Can Flow Control Devices Significantly
Reduce Drag?” 2005 Intel Science and Engineering
Fair, Project EN 074, Phoenix, Arizons, May 2005.
12. Sinha, S., and Sinha, S.K.,, “Method of Reducing
Drag and Increasing Lift due to Flow of a Fluid over
Solid Objects”, International Patent Application No.:
PCT/US2006/011430, international Publication
Number WO 2006/105174 A2 with an International
Publication Date of 5 October 2006.
13. Wood M. Richard. “Simple and Low Cost
Aerodynamic Reduction Devices for Tractor Trailer
Trucks”, Society of Automotive Engineers, Paper
SAE 2003-01-0377, 2003.
14. www.fueleconomy.gov (U.S. DOE and EPA)
CONTACT
Dr. Sumon K. Sinha (sumon@sinhatech.com or
sumonksinha@aol.com), President and founder of
Sinhatech (www.sinhatech.com) (Ph.D., M.S., B.Tech
Mechanical Engineering) is the inventor of the Sinha-
Deturbulator and pioneered its use for wing lift/drag ratio
increase.
Mr. Sumontro L. Sinha, Research Assistant, Sinhatech,
(sinh008@msms.k12.ms.us or
sumontropsinha@aol.com) pioneered the use of the
Deturbulator for motor vehicles in 2006. He is also a
senior at the Mississippi School of Mathematics and
Sciences, Columbus, MS.
ADDITIONAL SOURCES IS HIGHWAY GAS MILEAGE REALLY INCREASED?
t-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Unequal Variances
Control Experiment Increase
Variable 1 Variable 2
www.sinhatech.com.: Information regarding further HONDA AVERAGE HIGHWAY
Mean Miles/Gallon 26.40 31.37
in mpg
18.83%
developments and availability of the Deturbulator on Variance
Observations
0.399640501
4
14.85522397
3
Sinhatech’s website. Hypothesized Mean Difference
df
0
2
t Stat -2.211781909
P(T<=t) one-tail 0.0787496 92.13% SIGNIFICANT
DEFINITIONS, ACRONYMS, ABBREVIATIONS t Critical one-tail
P(T<=t) two-tail
2.91998558
0.1574992
t Critical two-tail 4.30265273

FCSD: Flexible Composite Surface Deturbulator.

Deturbulator: A device for taking turbulent fluctuations

DODGE TRUCK @55 mph Experimental Control Increase
out of a flow. Opposite to a turbulator which enhances Mean Miles/Gallon 27.92 24.29 14.95%
turbulent mixing in boundary layers. Variance 14.34057971 20.87831
Observations 24 28
Hypothesized Mean Difference 0
APPENDIX df 50
t Stat 3.13295223
P(T<=t) one-tail 0.001446169 99.86% Significant
Statistical t-tests for significance levels of road test data t Critical one-tail 1.675905026
reported here are shown next. P(T<=t) two-tail 0.002892339
t Critical two-tail 2.008559072

DODGE TRUCK @ 65 mph Experimental Control Increase

Mean Miles/Gallon 22.00 19.00 15.79%
Variance 16.66666667 15.81818
Observations 16 12
Hypothesized Mean Difference 0
df 24
t Stat 1.952896355
P(T<=t) one-tail 0.031294122 96.87% Significant
t Critical one-tail 1.710882067
P(T<=t) two-tail 0.062588243
t Critical two-tail 2.063898547