Richard Petty with his 1968 Roadrunner at Daytona. That top is textured paint, not the factory vinyl, to hide the acid dip thinned metal wrinkles from racing speeds
The textured paint would have added drag to the car wouldn'd it? Did the weight loss from thinner metalor the drag from the textured paint have the most effect on speed?
it does seem counter productive to thin the metal, to have to add paint. But, paint is lighter than metal. And the textured paint wouldn't add drag, as the aero dynamic effect, as I understand it, of the dimples on a golf ball increase the range by decreasing the drag. So, the laminar flow of the air over the texture COULD make it less resistant to air flow. Water also has laminar flow in pipes, and the layer closest to the material of the pipe creates a small insulating effect on the rest of the water in the pipe, as I recall. Physics... it's complicated.
Laminar flow in pipes can cause separation on the components that make up the product. When I was working in natural gas measurement we always used a probe to the middle third of the pipe to take samples to test. if the velocity of the gas was slow the heavier gases could separate from the lighter gases. It would be interesting to wind tunnel test a car before and after a dip/paint to see what the results really are.
The textured paint would have added drag to the car wouldn'd it? Did the weight loss from thinner metalor the drag from the textured paint have the most effect on speed?
ReplyDeleteit does seem counter productive to thin the metal, to have to add paint. But, paint is lighter than metal.
DeleteAnd the textured paint wouldn't add drag, as the aero dynamic effect, as I understand it, of the dimples on a golf ball increase the range by decreasing the drag. So, the laminar flow of the air over the texture COULD make it less resistant to air flow.
Water also has laminar flow in pipes, and the layer closest to the material of the pipe creates a small insulating effect on the rest of the water in the pipe, as I recall.
Physics... it's complicated.
Laminar flow in pipes can cause separation on the components that make up the product. When I was working in natural gas measurement we always used a probe to the middle third of the pipe to take samples to test. if the velocity of the gas was slow the heavier gases could separate from the lighter gases.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to wind tunnel test a car before and after a dip/paint to see what the results really are.