I have noticed there have been some references to wind tunnel testing on bodies.
How would you go about making something to test with or where to buy something?
And yes I know the other option! Go to the track and test!!
I'm curious on actual wind tunnel info about the downforce on the front and rear of the car.
Wind tunnels
Started by
A Reeder
, Apr 05 2013 07:37 PM
7 replies to this topic
#1
A Reeder
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Posted 05 April 2013 - 07:37 PM
Allan Reeder
#2
John Miller
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Posted 05 April 2013 - 08:17 PM
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#3
A Reeder
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Posted 05 April 2013 - 09:06 PM
Thanks, John, I don't know how I missed it but I did!
Allan Reeder
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Steve Boggs
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Posted 06 April 2013 - 02:30 AM
One way to test a body would be to run it down a dragstrip. With a straight that is longer than any current wing car track, it would be easy to tell whether or not changes to the body made a car run faster or not.
Barring that, get a floor blower from McMaster-Carr, build a small tunnel for all that air to funnel into to increase the effect of the air over the body, and have a platform that the car sits on that has a load cell placed under the guide tongue, and another under the rear wheels to record just how much force is applied. You will also need a pitot tube in the tunnel to tell you what the actual airspeed is. Then it would be a much simpler task to test different bodies as well as different height cuts of same and compare them. Moving body mounts around could really pay off also. Scalloping side dams, or lowering them, changing wing profiles, all of this could be put to the test and hard data compiled. I imagine that with all of the established platforms that are already in use, refinement would be all that is left.
The technology is out there to make all of this happen.
Barring that, get a floor blower from McMaster-Carr, build a small tunnel for all that air to funnel into to increase the effect of the air over the body, and have a platform that the car sits on that has a load cell placed under the guide tongue, and another under the rear wheels to record just how much force is applied. You will also need a pitot tube in the tunnel to tell you what the actual airspeed is. Then it would be a much simpler task to test different bodies as well as different height cuts of same and compare them. Moving body mounts around could really pay off also. Scalloping side dams, or lowering them, changing wing profiles, all of this could be put to the test and hard data compiled. I imagine that with all of the established platforms that are already in use, refinement would be all that is left.
The technology is out there to make all of this happen.
Knowledge doesn't mean Understanding, and the Truth is the Truth, no matter what you think of it...........
#5
Foamy
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Posted 08 April 2013 - 08:49 PM
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Phil Irvin
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Posted 09 April 2013 - 12:41 PM
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#7
Ramcatlarry
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Posted 10 April 2013 - 12:28 PM
And never ignore the bottom of the car. I found (by track testing) that the open bottom frames can generate lift with many scale bodies.
Larry D. Kelley, MA
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#8
iceracer
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Posted 18 April 2013 - 06:07 AM
I wondered whether closing off the bottom of a wing car chassis would aid it? I mean it could be done with lightweight/rigid material that would not add significantly to the weight of the car. I wonder what a little venturi tunnel might add? Although motor heat no where near what F1 exhaust is, any benefit to that resource I wonder?
There was someone, (cannot recall where I saw it) messing around with ground effects in wing cars?
I have a powerful dust collector in my shop that I often contemplate pulling the air over a slot car to see the effects, might have to do that one day...
Terry Dalton
