Quote:
Originally Posted by aardvarcus
In fact, there are many examples of these sorts of "template modifications" documented in Julian's book. In fact, page 170 has a full page devoted to a T100 with a full bedcover and a tail... I wonder who built that one...I wonder who picked it as worthy for publication...
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The issue--what I think Julian was arguing, without putting words in his mouth--is that while the template is a low-drag shape, it is often referred to here as the
ideal shape. But once you start reading the literature out there, it becomes abundantly clear that there is no one ideal low-drag shape. As RH Barnard puts it in his book
Road Vehicle Aerodynamic Design:
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The teardrop shape in full, half, or modified form has never proved to be the basis for a good practical vehicle shape for everyday use, and as will be shown in later chapters, satisfactory low-drag shapes can be produced without resorting to impractical 'ideal' configurations. The essence of the art of streamlining is simply to devise a geometry that does not produce strongly adverse pressure gradients or a wide wake.
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Additionally, a thread I posted here several days ago has another excerpt from this author discussing "ideal" shapes in more detail.
Hucho devotes several pages to discussing "ideal" shapes as well, in the 4th edition of
Aerodynamics of Road Vehicles, pp. 212-213 and 224-229. It's worth looking at if you have the book.