Quote:
Originally Posted by Big time
How to create fine and well defined dye lines in a small water tunnel for Hot Wheels or 1:24 sized models?
Said dye lines would be akin to smoke lines in a wind tunnel.
Also how to fit small scales to measure drag and lift/downforce without having water leaking out or water ruining the scales on such small water tunnels?
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Texas Tech used food coloring,injected through hypodermic needle flush ports on the models surface,fed through very small Tygon tubing, run up through the tunnel floor and then the model's tires.
As the water became cloudy,chlorine bleach was injected to clear it back up.
For drag,the model ran on the floor of a water tank,connected to a sting,which was connected to an overhead rolling bridge which spanned the tank, riding rails.
They used a 3/8th scale model ($68,000),considered the minimum scale to reflect all the details of the actual car.