Aerodynamics - Aerodynamic Study of IXTAbox And Mounted Cargo Boxes.

 

 

Aerodynamic Study of Vehicle Mounted Cargo Boxes

Even at first glance it is obvious that a rooftop box would generate more wind drag than an IXTAbox placed behind the vehicle. However, how much more? What are the impacts of different sizes and positions of an IXTAbox relative to the towing hook and vehicle? What things can be done to further reduce wind drag while driving? 

These questions were thoroughly investigated by Marcus Sandberg in his Master Thesis at the Chalmers University of Technology during the fall and winter of 2021-22 and provided ground-breaking and fact-based evidence of the benefits of using IXTAbox over common rooftop boxes.

In this work, Sandberg used powerful computational simulation tools to compare how two differently sized rooftop boxes compare in performance to multiple IXTAbox models while driving at 90 km/h. In the case of the roofbox, a large model and a more streamlined one were tested, while six sized IXTAboxes 150, 170 and 190 cm wide that respectively are 40 and 60cm were part of the study. 

To simulate the performance of each box, Computational Fluid Design (CFD) tools were used, which are also employed by auto, boat and aeroplane designers. These simulations ran on Chalmers' powerful computers and each calculation took between 12-24 hours to compute.