Quote:
Originally Posted by The Toecutter
I'm in the process of re-designing my velomobile. This new design will be the third iteration.
Are there any free tools that you are aware of that will aid in the design of the shell, which will give actual charts or numbers to work with and not just a graphical representation? I'm looking for something that tells me what the air is doing as it passes over the shape, whether the flow is laminar or turbulent, whether the boundary layer is attached, what the pressure is at various points in the shape, overall drag coefficient value, coefficient of downforce/life values, ect.
This video was a good basic primer, but the 6 actual steps listed to minimize drag, little was explained regarding exactly HOW it is done.
I don't have thousands of dollars for software or tens of thousands of dollars for wind tunnel testing, nor do I want to have to make multiple iterations of the same thing as that takes hundreds of hours of work each time just to get a chance to tuft test it.
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The International Human Powered Vehicle Association ( IHPVA ) would probably be your best bet. They represent the international community of university engineering departments, which come together south of Battle Mountain, Nevada for land speed record attempts, on a section of state highway, intermittently closed to through traffic by state police for the event.
They run fully-enclosed streamliner bicycles, and three-wheel velomobiles.
Battle Mountain's convention center is a hive of activity during qualifications and competition.
Lot's of Cd 0.11 bikes and 85-mph on a good day! It's a real hoot to attend. It used to be $ 35/ year ( US ) to join, and receive newsletters.
Check out their website. Or attend, and take in Bonneville, during the same week.
Last time I attended, one of the amateur members did 57-mph in his Coroplast-clad 3-wheeler.