Fairings and drag

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by redyaris

One question I do have is what or how much does the void volume inside the fairing matter? I am wondering if filling the void with solid stuff reduces the mass of air that is involved in causing drag? My suspision is that the relationship is not linier and that there is no way to make the space between the windshiel and the cargo bay full enough to have much effect anyway. Has any one done any research on opening size/volume and drag for bluff bodies?

If you'll go up to the Aero.Forum and do a Search Ecomodder for 'full-boat-tail trailer for T-100' you'll find some pictorial drag tables for tractor-trailer rigs which include 'gap' drag.
Also,in wind tunnel research on top-down convertibles,the wind tunnel personnel discovered that placing mannequins in the test vehicle seats positively influenced drag.
You could patent a line of Velcro-attached,break-away, clothing -fairings which would close off the transverse contamination of the body fairing void,while allowing the rider range of motion to dynamically balance the bike during crosswinds and gusts.
Better hurry to file your patent,as at least two others are currently drafting their's!

[Grant-53]

I am currently working on a light full body fairing for upright bicycles too.

[sendler]

Interesting that the gap drawings show it to be a very slight penalty if the terminations are treated properly.

[aerohead]

I posted this up at the Aerodynamics Forum and wanted to add it here.I've placed it in the #1 permalink at top of page 1 at bottom.
It's very simplistic but you can see the general degradation of Cd as the fuselage is adulterated by holes and excrescences.
I'll add additional images as schedule permits.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by sendler

Interesting that the gap drawings show it to be a very slight penalty if the terminations are treated properly.

If we had a chunk of cash we could spend a day at Cal Tech and do 'optimizing' studies.
I believe that I could virtually eliminate the gap drag with clothing.
Downhill skiers have already proved-out aerodynamic 'costumes' which affect the foot/calf/thigh area.Boat-tailed helmets are addressing the head drag.
The upper torso and arms could be addressed.
Integrating the helmet back into a deformable turtledeck/head fairing leading edge could kill the head drag entirely.
The appareldynamics would allow for extreme body English when encountering fierce crosswind or gust conditions which require significant keeling to maintain a straight path.

[redyaris]

Thanks for all the good info aerohead.

Now let me see how does one patent "The Void"?

My fear is that The BORGE do not honor patent law anyway...

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by redyaris

Thanks for all the good info aerohead.

Now let me see how does one patent "The Void"?

My fear is that The BORGE do not honor patent law anyway...

A Dallas patent attorney and the Senior Corps of Retired Executives told me in the 1980s that if I didn't have $250,000- $500,000 cash on hand to prosecute for infringement ,that a patent would be worthless to a guy like me.
And no venture capitalist will invest without patent protection.
Dr. Wunibald I.Kamm took moral issue with patenting things which would actually improve the general welfare of the population, so he avoided them as a rule.
Default philanthropy if you will.

[aerohead]

I've added two additional drag tables from Hoerner which are germane to fuselage design.They're at the top of page-1 with others.

[sendler]

Nearly linear.

[redyaris]

Originally Posted by aerohead

A Dallas patent attorney and the Senior Corps of Retired Executives told me in the 1980s that if I didn't have $250,000- $500,000 cash on hand to prosecute for infringement ,that a patent would be worthless to a guy like me.
And no venture capitalist will invest without patent protection.
Dr. Wunibald I.Kamm took moral issue with patenting things which would actually improve the general welfare of the population, so he avoided them as a rule.
Default philanthropy if you will.

Patent attornies are definetly part of the BORGE Collective...

I will now go and read chapter 9, Commercial Vehicals; Aerodynamics of Road Vehicles, Volf-Heinrich Hucho, to see what I can learn about the void...