Cost Analysis Results

Weight(kg)(Material1)
Material Cost(1) $
Weight(kg)(Material 2)
Material Cost(2) $
Annual Fuel Consumption(Gallons)
Annual Fuel Cost($)
Delta Fuel Consumption in %(material 1)
Delta Fuel Consumption in %(material 2)
Fuel Savings(material 1)
Fuel Savings(material 2)
Payback Period(Materials 1 Cost)(Years)
Payback Period(Materials 2 Cost)(Years)
Practical? Yes/No

Front Fairing - Arc

radius 175
92.082
491.717
74.696
214.377
1310
4860.1
-2.923
-3.026
142.075
147.045
3.461
1.458
Yes

Back Plate - (0.3m)(30

degrees angle)
27.197
50.859
39.362
23.617
1310
4860.1
-0.986
-0.914
47.909
44.431
1.062
0.532
Yes

Conclusion
The purpose of this project was to design, evaluate, and
optimize 3 different drag reduction devices for a school bus. Out
of the three hypotheses, two were met; the spoiler did not
decrease FD.
The frontal fairing and back plates both would be economically
viable to produce if the manufacturing, transportation, and other
extra costs could be kept low by mass production, but the
frontal fairing design would have many flaws in the real world.
The transparent material would cover the windshield; if the
windshield was damaged it would be inconvenient to fix. Also,
the fairing would have to be safety tested and get approval, a
difficult process. The fairings most fatal flaw is when it gets
dirty or when the weather is bad. It would be very unsafe if rain
fell on the fairing as there are no wipers on the fairing. Although
the fairing is very effective at reducing FD, it would not be
practical.
The back plates on the other hand present a promising
opportunity. The fuel savings would pay off for the material cost
of the steel version in only half a year. Due to the relative ease
of manufacturing, installing, and transporting steel plates, these
could be very inexpensive. The design meets all of the criteria
mentioned: it does not pose any safety threat or obstruction to
the emergency exit, it is cheap, it is effective, and it adds less
than a foot to the buss length.
There are drawbacks to this analysis. Depending on the type of
school bus and the routes it travels, a drag reduction device
could never be practical. In urban areas where school busses
stop very frequently and rarely drive at high speeds, stopping
and re-accelerating consumes most of the buss fuel.
The U.S. depends on school buses to transport half the nations
school-age children. Even with a modest 1-2% reduction in fuel
consumption, the potential money saved and potential fossil
fuels prevented from being burned would be great if most
current school buses were outfitted with the back plates device.
Already being implemented by trucking companies, having back
plates on current school buses would be a small step in the right
direction towards slowing down the pollution of our planet.

Possible Improvements:

Abstract, Safety Sheet,

References

To reduce simulation error and achieve more accurate results, a

more detailed model of the bus could be created that has more
features of a real school bus like the side mirrors and the minor
details. The mesh could also be made to have more elements
and more refinement could be added to the region around the
bus to get a more detailed understanding of the airflow.
Autodesk Simulation CFD also has the ability to add moving
parts; the wheels could be made to rotate but this comes at the
cost of using more computing power. All these improvements
would require a faster computer to run the simulations on.