Quote:
Originally Posted by jcfdillon
As a kid I was fascinated by paper airplanes for a while, and I noticed then that the tube shaped paper airplanes were the ones that traveled the furthest, had the most stable flight, and followed the straightest path, out of all of the paper airplanes I tried. So, my question is whether anyone has used large straight air tubes or air channels for cars, aligned precisely in the direction of travel? I am not sure if a round tube or square tube would be best, but inside needs to be straight and smooth. Thank you.
|
For drag reduction,the point of separation must be moved rearward along a path which maximizes boundary layer attachment while reducing the body cross-section to convert kinetic energy into static pressure behind the body.
The 'Template' does this very thing.
If you rob air from the outside of the body and allow it to flow through,you kill off the very kinetic energy you'd be harvesting to protect the boundary layer.
with a straight tube you'd be doing nothing to reduce the body cross-section,and internal skin-friction along the inner wall of the tube would be killing off kinetic energy,converting it to heat,which is necessary to dilute the low base pressure behind the tube.
Then there's the issue of interior space within the vehicle (occupants,luggage,car seats,groceries,etc.).