Quote:
Originally Posted by ChazInMT
Here's an analysis I did for someone messing with a MGB GT top view with template overlays. This was my understanding as to how they are to be applied.
Oh, and if you hold the Alt key and type 0176, you get the "°" 22° thingy to appear. |
My understanding was that the vertical centreline forms the 0 point for the horizontal axis, so the templates overlayed from above would be half the size you have shown and the base line for both would be the centreline of the vehicle.
This also raises the point of where the maximum width/height is aligned to, the way it has been described and used for the side views, aligned with the max height of vehicle is fine, but this suggests a wing application and that the vehicle profile continues that way for a much wider distance, where as in real world vehicles the greater effect in most cases is from the sides, so maybe we should be concentrating primarily on the top view, not the side view.
If we think of it in the sense of the mirror effect of the ground principle, then the verticle centreline is ground for the side taper,
Otherwise, the way you have drawn it would suggest another mirror on either side of the vehicle, suggesting a 3x width, which doesn't make sense.
Basically the side flow acts to a degree, as a "flow in free air" model, because this air has nothing to push against, but the top air has the ground to push against to clear room for the vehicle to pass through, this is what I am seeing as the ground effect.
Just for analogies, just like a boat traveling on the water, inverted view, it is much easier to push air to the sides. If the boat was forced to hold it's vertical position on the water, which one would be more streamlined, curved bottom with parallel sides or curved sides with a flat bottom?