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Flowing - Part 1 |
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The conventionally-powered FlatFire record-breaker worked on by the author. Top - a CFD "stern shot" of the car at 300mph before skirts were fitted to tidy up the airflow and reduce lift. |
Design tools are advancing so fast that constant attention to other design applications is essential in order to stay current. And in this activity at least, with progress can follow cost reduction. Aerodynamicist Peter Bryant explains... You may not think so, but there is a lot of commonality in the task of designing a winning America’s Cup yacht and a grand prix car. In Formula 1 motor racing the team with the best aerodynamic design capability coupled with the best mechanical package has the best possible chance of winning - providing, of course, that they also have a top-class driver. Complete understanding of the airflow around the car is paramount to success. By the same token designing a winning America’s Cup yacht has to be an even greater fluid and airflow design challenge, because a yacht has to use the air to drive the boat through the resistance of the fluid that supports it - thus requiring great understanding of both mediums. In yacht design effective mechanical engineering does play an important role, to provide the best means for deploying sails and steering the boat and achieving balance. But unlike GP racing, at America’s Cup level, the role of the ‘driver’.... |
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