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Old 05-13-2011, 03:13 PM   #35 (permalink)
aerohead
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nosecone

Quote:
Originally Posted by mateospeed View Post
That would be pretty cool! Yeah, it's probably just a dream, but it would be pretty neat. Yesterday, I saw a Honda Element cruising down the beach road with a pop-up roof, like the VW campers have/had. It made me think 2 things: 1) Cool! and 2) If they can do it, i could do it for the trailer!

Maybe one day, when I'm a big-shot manager somewhere. Or maybe not, since I don't really want to be in management.

Yes, I could enclose the tires with skirts, but the tires, wheels, and brakes are already getting warm. I'm hesitant to consider that option, since higher tire temps equate to quicker wear rates. That would quickly negate the savings in aerodynamics.


On another note, the website for NoseCone has the attached image demonstrating Cd's for several vehicles, including faired and un-faired trucks. Does that appear to match other research y'all have seen?

-Matt
Matt,sorry! trying to catch up.
*Nosecone numbers look okay.
*Hucho depicts car/trailer Cds on order of 0.45 for good configuration,using frontal area of trailer as basis.
* The inter-car/trailer gap itself can be a 10% mpg penalty by itself,or,20% drag increase over an aerodynamic singularity.
* I'm not sure enclosing the wheels is an issue.If doubtful,NACA submerged inlets and flex-duct could be positioned for dedicated cooling,along with shark-gill outlets.
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