IVECO and NablaFlow, an innovative startup founded in 2018 with the mission of making flow simulations more accessible and effective, collaborated to evaluate NablaFlow’s aerodynamic simulation capabilities for heavy-duty vehicle applications. The initiative aligns with IVECO brand’s ambition to develop increasingly low-CO₂ vehicles, leveraging advanced and smart simulation technologies to enhance aerodynamics and overall vehicle efficiency.
At the core of the collaboration was a hands-on evaluation of AeroCloud, NablaFlow’s platform for aerodynamic simulation, with the objective of assessing its applicability to heavy-duty vehicle development. Through a structured testing phase, Iveco Group engineers explored how to effectively leverage the tool within their design processes, identifying the most relevant use cases for industrial vehicle aerodynamics.
The platform proved capable of delivering fast, repeatable, and highly accurate analyses, supported by advanced visualization features that enable a clear understanding of airflow behaviour around the vehicle. This allowed the team to pinpoint critical aerodynamic areas early in the design phase and refine development choices accordingly, contributing to improved performance and reduced emissions. In addition, the simplified workflow accessible to design engineers facilitated a more widespread use of simulation across teams, maximising the overall impact of the solution.
NablaFlow represents a strong example of innovation in flow simulation. Originating from years of research at the University of Stavanger, the company aims to simplify how simulations are performed and expand their accessibility beyond highly specialised users. As the need to reduce CO₂ emissions becomes increasingly urgent, intuitive and efficient tools are essential to support more agile and sustainable design processes. Today, NablaFlow operates across multiple sectors, including urban wind energy, professional sports, industrial design, and wind engineering.
“Collaborating with Nablaflow team to test Aerocloud platform showed how effectively the solution can be used by different teams, enabling them to run simulations independently and get reliable results fast. Bringing it into early design stages helped cut iteration cycles, reduce risks, and speed up development.” said Alessio Sarcoli, Innovation & Advanced Engineering - Vehicle Concept, Iveco Group.
Luca Oggiano, Co-Founder and CEO of NablaFlow, added:
“For us, this collaboration has been a strong validation demonstrating that AeroCloud can integrate into a complex engineering environment and be effectively used across teams. Significantly reducing simulation times highlights the tangible value of our solution”
The project delivered solid results in integrating advanced simulation tools into the product development process. Simulation turnaround time was reduced by a factor of three, enabling faster and more agile decision-making while enhancing collaboration across teams. These results confirm the effectiveness of the approach and support its potential for broader adoption within Iveco Group’s engineering processes.
