previous next Up Title

V. Conclusions From Two and Three Dimensional Examinations of Turbulence

Both the two and three dimensional experiments indicated an object's shape greatly influences its aerodynamic properties. It was found that lengthening an object while keeping the silhouette area and frontal shape constant makes it possible to decrease turbulence. It was also concluded that structures with round frontal shapes have better aerodynamic properties than pointed structures which are, in turn, better than flat frontal surfaces. These points were observed during experimentation in two dimensions and also in three dimensions when using the hemispheres and cones only. The teardrop data was found to be inconclusive in this area, perhaps because the margin of error when joining the cones to the hemispheres was too large to achieve accurate results.
Some theoretical assumptions can be made about the qualitative comparisons between shapes that could be considered in the construction of a locomotive entity. A deeper understanding of the shapes of everyday locomotive structures such as planes and automobiles was achieved. Modern day planes and automobiles use rounded frontal surfaces for the reasons that were concluded from the two and three dimensional experiments. Also by elongating the structure the drag is further reduced as was observed. An example of a modern day automobile that puts these observations effectively to work would be the Oldsmobile Aurora. A modern day aircraft that makes use of these results is the USAF's C-130 Hercules.


previous next Up Title