Materials for Dimple Surfaces (reduced separation)

[chillsworld]

So I was reading an article about tiny homes (one of my other interests), and saw a picture that instantly made me think of golf ball dimples...

Would the holes in the material, along with the smooth edge of the material lead to a similar golf ball dimple situation?


The backsides of some of these have bumps, so they aren't holes but pockets.


It's for drainage and hydrostatic barriers, or some such architectural/engineering technical mumbo-jumbo that I didn't follow. But they are made of plastics, rubbers, and high impact polystyrene, depending on application. Miradrain is one of the companies/brands for this stuff, and that's who's product is in the pictures above.

I haven't been able to find exact dimensions on this stuff, but it appears as if the plastic core of the product is around 10mm thick (for the shiny mettalic one above). So perhaps you could shave off the bumps on the back side bringing it down to like 3mm, and then use something like vinyl to attach it to the surface of the roof, rear pillars, and rear quarters? Or even better, to your belly pan?? Or would these be too small to achieve the same result as golf ball dimples? I know that dimples on the bottoms of the newer VW's, Audi's, and Lexus' have much bigger fist sized dimples on their belly pans.

I look forward to your thoughts.

~C

[gone-ot]

You've been watching "Mythbusters" too much...but, have fun nevertheless (*)










(*) seen any airplanes with dimples? Didn't think so.

[chillsworld]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

You've been watching "Mythbusters" too much...but, have fun nevertheless (*)


(*) seen any airplanes with dimples? Didn't think so.

I don't watch mythbusters.

Nope, no airplanes... But I'll counter with this, when was the last time you saw an airplane that wasn't aerodynamic? I don't see airplanes with airdams, rear diffusers, grill blocks, intake warmers, pizza pie wheel covers, low rolling resistance tires, or any other common ecomodder modifications... Why? Because it's a plane But thanks for sharing your immense wisdom in your post.


~C

[Joris]

Does your car have a perfectly round shape like a golf ball?

[chillsworld]

Originally Posted by Joris

Does your car have a perfectly round shape like a golf ball?

Does the kammback you made for your volvo magically make your car a perfectly aerodynamic tear shape?

And I thank you as well for your infinitely wise and profound comment, I had never realized my car wasn't a sphere


~C

[Frank Lee]

I see you really do look forward to the solicited thoughts.

[chillsworld]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

I see you really do look forward to the solicited thoughts.

I've created multiple threads here, and each time people have responded with a genuine interest to expand my understanding if they thought I was going down the wrong path. I have the utmost respect and appreciation for people who actually take the time to help others, or to have an open dialogue about something... I'm sorry that you think I should look forward to people openly mocking my intelligence.


Dimpled or non-uniform surfaces work on spheres, ships hulls, motorcycle helmets, wheels, rims, the sides of tires, and the list goes on and on. The way the dimples work on a sphere, or a hull, or a wheel, or a flat surface, are all different. The commonality is that they cause turbulence, thus preventing the separation of airflow from an object, and thus greatly decreasing the wake of the object as it moves through water or gas. This is the same driving force behind turbulator race wings, vortex generators, and many other aerodynamic modifications used for racing and for drag reduction in general.

The reason you don't see them on a plane, is that planes are streamlined and their main source of drag is skin friction drag, as opposed to the drag caused by blunt or non-streamlined shapes. They do however, use vortex generators, which have similar goals... They impact the manner in which air over comes adverse pressure gradients, which directly relates to separation and boundary layers of flow.

And while my car isn't shaped like a golf ball, none of our cars are shaped like tear drops either... Guess I'll keep my questions and ideas to myself from now on.

~C

[2000mc]

Originally Posted by chillsworld

I don't watch mythbusters.

Nope, no airplanes... But I'll counter with this, when was the last time you saw an airplane that wasn't aerodynamic? I don't see airplanes with airdams, rear diffusers, grill blocks, intake warmers, pizza pie wheel covers, low rolling resistance tires, or any other common ecomodder modifications... Why? Because it's a plane But thanks for sharing your immense wisdom in your post.


~C

I think a lot of the aero mods done are aimed at basically emulating an airplane fuselage with wheels as much as possible

[chillsworld]

Originally Posted by 2000mc

I think a lot of the aero mods done are aimed at basically emulating an airplane fuselage with wheels as much as possible

I would agree completely, that was the point of my comment... To say that a modification isn't a good idea because it isn't on a plane, is illogical because none of our modifications are on a plane.


~C

[2000mc]

Most of the things I've seen dimples on are objects that spin, or don't really have a front. I haven't seen a dimpled helmet, but I know the last street bike helmet I bought, shoei claimed to of done work to try to neutralize changes in lift and drag depending on the direction you're looking. So even though it clearly has a front, I could see dimpling tring to minimize the effects.

Do you have examples of dimpling used on hulls?