Quote:
Originally Posted by ACEL
Some ecomodders may inquire about the choice of the wheel cover mock-ups that were trialed. After reading a number of scientific articles, I decided to test the "open center - thick perimeter" wheel studied by Vdovin in 2013 and the "open perimeter" reported by Julian Edgar in his book and some ecomodder that fabricated some for his Tesla.
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Vdovin, Alexei, in 2013 also commented on the results experienced in a wind tunnel with these types of wheels :
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It is not fun to read an engineering thesis but Tesla came to the same results that were well summarized by Vdovin. He was supported in his research and working with engineers and aerodynamicists of Volvo. The people of this company sometimes come up with great ideas and innovations.
Cheers ecomodders! |
The 2012, Coventry University research on annular rings with the full-scale Jaguar XJ reported that they 'can be more effective than using discs,' however the results showed the disc producing lower drag.
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Tata Motors European Technical Center's 2012 research on wheel drag for the Opel Calibra and Audi A3 indicated that 80% of wheel drag originated from the portion of the wheel extending below the belly of the vehicle.
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Goro Tamai, in his book, 'The Leading Edge,' commented that, from his experience with the MIT solar race car program, that a full wheel fairing package could ( did ) reduce wheel drag by up to 70%.
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Cranfield University, with respect to their 2012 research on faired wheel aerodynamic drag, indicated:
* uncertainty
* total drag for a rotating wheel was higher
* opposite results were obtained at a different wind tunnel
* at two wheel fairing depths, drag of the rotating wheel was virtually indistinguishable from the stationary wheel.
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with respect to the on-road wheel testing of the Tesla in Germany, 'convex' discs, similar to the MOON wheel cover were never evaluated.
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With rolling-road wind tunnels available to them, and in spite of any availability to 'superior,' aspirated wheel covers of their own design, General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Volkswagen AG, and Hyundai-Kia Motors, all chose the MOON, full, convex disc wheel cover for their Bonneville Salt Flats land speed record cars. Curious.