Monday 4 March 2013

CdA Calculations & Visualisations


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Using the virtual windtunnel it was calculated that the shape of veloci velomobile has a drag co-efficient of 0.27 using this information to calculate the cdA which is cd x A (frontal area) = cdA.
Knowing that the frontal area is 0.45m2 X 0.27 = 0.1215 cdA which I believe to be pretty slippery. The Quest velomobile has a cdA of 0.09 but this is not confirmed as accurate or in what configuration. So for a velombile that will cost a quarter of what a Quest will be nearly as aerodynamically efficient. It was also interesting to note that a lowracer such as the M5 has a cdA of 0.14 which is  very good and is due to the very small frontal area and the tailbox, the great thing with these bikes is that they are so light (claimed 8.5kg) . This has made me think about the suitability/practicality of velomobiles as a lowracer can get pretty close aerodynamically and weigh a lot less than a velomobile. This is why I believe a lightweight velomobile (under 20kg) would be very effective as long as its cdA is low (0.10-0.08 would be optimal).

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