Bottom post of the previous page:
I amWarren wrote:I have many more, if anyone is interested.jfr wrote:Interesting photo thanks
Technical Forum?
-
garyb
- Regular Member
- Posts: 67
- Joined: 20 years ago
If you want to know something about ground effect, look here:
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education ... amics.html
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education ... stics.html
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education ... amics.html
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education ... stics.html
-
Guest
I have the book "Race Car Aerodynamics: Designing for Speed" by Joseph Katz, 1995. It explains sliding skirts which were used first by the Lotus 78 (of 1977) which would lift and drop at different parts of the track, though they were banned in a few years b/c they would tear off in certain track bumps. Here's one paragraph:
The skirted ground-effect race cars of the late 70's and early 80's were based on the above principles and generated very large values of downforce, which led to the tremendous increase in lateral accelerations and also to a considerable increase in suspension stiffness. This was not only a result of the much increased vertical load on the suspension but also due to the limited suspension travel dictated by the moving skirts. These constraints led to quite uncomfortable cars from the driver's point of view. Also, the possibility of a failure in the skirts' sealing ability (say due to a bump in the road) could lead to a severely unsafe situation.
The skirted ground-effect race cars of the late 70's and early 80's were based on the above principles and generated very large values of downforce, which led to the tremendous increase in lateral accelerations and also to a considerable increase in suspension stiffness. This was not only a result of the much increased vertical load on the suspension but also due to the limited suspension travel dictated by the moving skirts. These constraints led to quite uncomfortable cars from the driver's point of view. Also, the possibility of a failure in the skirts' sealing ability (say due to a bump in the road) could lead to a severely unsafe situation.