New amateur aerodynamics book

[Julian Edgar]

Hello everyone - I have been given permission by the webmaster to spruik my new book.

It's called the Amateur Car Aerodynamics Sourcebook.

Amazon have it on opening special at the moment - see Amazon.com: Amateur Car Aerodynamics Sourcebook: For everyone interested in road car aerodynamics (9781482735253): Julian Edgar: Books

The blurb says:


At last – a book for those who like to modify the aerodynamics of their road cars!

In this book author Julian Edgar explores a host of practical and low-cost techniques that you can do yourself without spending a lot of money or needing special facilities.

Section 1 introduces aerodynamic drag and lift. The language is simple and straightforward – but still includes concepts such as drag co-efficients, lift co-efficients and the different types of drag that affect road cars.

Section 2 is devoted to aerodynamic testing – directly measuring aerodynamic pressures, and seeing airflow patterns by the use of on-road wool-tuft testing.

Section 3, the largest part in the book, covers aerodynamic modification. Fitting vortex generators, testing different undertrays, reducing drag, using turning vanes in intercooler ducting – all are covered in detail. In addition, techniques are described for reducing wind noise, building an effective engine intake that breathes high-pressure cold air, siting bonnet vents in the correct location, and testing airflow through intercoolers.

With nearly 300 full-colour photos and diagrams, this book is practical and down to earth – and uses techniques able to be carried out on the road.

[Frank Lee]

I hope it does NOT have that New Beetle "air flow" illustration.

[Julian Edgar]

It doesn't... but it has the wool tuft pics on which the illustration was based.

[freebeard]

I have enjoyed visiting (and quoting) your website. It's been years since I bought a book (I think it was that coffee-table sized book on Jack Northrup's flying wings). Maybe it's about time again.

How much of the book duplicates materials on the website?

From the Amazon page's About the Author:

Other books by the author: 21st Century Performance, Clockwork Media, 2000 High Performance Electronics for Cars, Silicon Chip Publications, 2004, (co-authored with John Clarke) Inventors and Amateur Engineers Sourcebook, CreateSpace, 2013 Home Workshop Sourcebook, CreateSpace, 2013 Hybrid and Electric Cars Amateurs Sourcebook, CreateSpace, 2013

This is not well punctuated. I'm *not* suggesting you wrote it. It would be a good opportunity for an unordered list.

[Julian Edgar]

How much of the book duplicates materials on the website?

The material in the book is based on material I have written over the last 15 years. Therefore, if you have read absolutely everything I have written on the topic of aero, you will have seen much of it before.

That said, even I was surprised by the stuff that I dug up - I'd forgotten I wrote some of it.

I also find the presentation in the book very different to the web material - for example, it is much easier to read when all parts in a series are together, re-edited into one story.

Finally, all material was re-evaluated and (in some cases substantially) re-edited on the basis of experience I have gained over that time.

[freebeard]

If the answer is in the book, I'll say fair enough; but if not...

I took notice of:
Issue: 497 Section: Technical Features 9 September, 2008
The Patent Files: Pneumatic Aerofoils!
Blowing air over wings to give extra downforce!

A VW flat 4 disgorges approximately 1000cfm at 5 psi of engine cooling air. If the boattail rear of a car was as #38 in the patent, how many square feet of cross-section area could be supported pneumatically with that amount of air?

[Julian Edgar]

If the answer is in the book, I'll say fair enough; but if not...

Sorry, the answer to the question that you posed in your post?

The answer is not in the book.

[albyneau]

And want to see more~ where might this website be found?

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by freebeard

If the answer is in the book, I'll say fair enough; but if not...

I took notice of:
Issue: 497 Section: Technical Features 9 September, 2008
The Patent Files: Pneumatic Aerofoils!
Blowing air over wings to give extra downforce!

A VW flat 4 disgorges approximately 1000cfm at 5 psi of engine cooling air. If the boattail rear of a car was as #38 in the patent, how many square feet of cross-section area could be supported pneumatically with that amount of air?

I think we'll have to go to Ludwig Prandtl's work of the 1930s for this answer.In his book,'Boundary Layer Theory,' Hermann Schlichting refers to Prandtl's work with suctioned and blown wing sections.A photograph is offered of a tufted wing flap at extremely steep angle of attack with perfectly attached flow.
The caveat though,is that this a 2-D flow away from ground effect.Abbott and Von Doenhoff,who wrote 'The Theory of Wing Sections' warn that tabulated data on sections is for 'flight conditions' only.Ground proximity changes everything.
The US NAVY Pilot Flight Manual mentions that wings lose upwash,downwash,and tip-vortices when in ground effect,which remarkably alters their aerodynamic performance.
There is a 4-engined Japanese maritime aircraft with STOL capability derived from blown or suctioned wings.It requires a 5th jet engine to provide the necessary volume and pressure for the air curtain.
Georgia Tech University continues to research 'blown' boat-tailing.As of a decade ago or so,the 'pump' power required to create the effect exceeded the power savings from it.

[Julian Edgar]

Originally Posted by albyneau

And want to see more~ where might this website be found?

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