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Old 07-13-2010, 05:56 PM   #15 (permalink)
aerohead
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turbulent BL

Quote:
Originally Posted by 406pat View Post
I'm new here so feel free to let me know if this is a dead horse.

Has anyone considered using a rough surface on a truck topper rather than a smooth one? Having a rough surface would create a turbulent boundary layer and this could possibly allow a greater angle on the truck topper due to the effect a turbulent boundary layer has on separation.

Any thoughts on this?
All the air is already in turbulent boundary layer,as the critical velocity for this with vehicles occurs around 20-mph.
Turbulators would allow a steeper cap angles without separation,but then you'd be losing valuable space inside the bed underneath.
22-degrees is the magic number.You don't want to exceed it.
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