Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
I like their characterizing a curve as the radius of a hypothetical circle, rather than an angle as with The Template discussions.
The Hugo Award gets the ichthyoid part right. |
Road vehicles don't have the luxury of the rocket's fineness ratio, and as 'bluff' bodies 'ARE' limited in the magnitude of all local tangent angles along the aft-body contour, such that they remain incapable of triggering the adverse pressure gradients that cause flow separation.
In addition, 'curves' are aerodynamically inefficient compared to a streamline contour.
I gave you the ROLEX, Big Ben 'template' over a decade ago. It is based on the 'curve' of the dimpled golf ball. It provides a separation-free aft-body, but at the cost of added length, friction drag, weight, etc., compared to the 'template', which performs the same task with the absolute minimum in material.