Understanding Aerodynamincs

[belair]

Can anyone suggest a good book on Aero and its use on our cars.

Thanks,
Cliff

[Mark C. Ritter]

Racecar Aerodynamics by Katz.

[FC63F]

The Katz book is very good and was the first decent book I read on Aero but the best to date, with the calculations to enable fact based analysis - I would recommend "Competition Car Downforce A Practical Handbook" by Simon McBeath which is available through Amazon.com and similar. Most of the book can be practically transferred to FC or CFC directly. I used the calculations to model my CFC Crossle 63F in Excel includings front wing downforce, rear wing downfoce, Drag v Power and aerodynamic balance. Was a lot of fun

David Keep

[belair]

Thank you! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[ziig]

x2 on the competition downforce book....I used it during my time at uni for my final year project on aerodynamics as a source of practicle info............

[Neil_Roberts]

If you are ready for engineering-level content, there are two books on aerodynamics that are pure gold: Fluid Dynamic Drag and Fluid Dynamic Lift, both by S. F. Hoerner.

The really good news is that pdf versions of both are available for a whopping five bucks here. You will need to create an account, and the web site is very slow, but it's worth the wait.

[pwlucas]

If ready for engineering books, get a basic undergrad fluid mechanics book for fundamentals. I just got done taking fluid mechanics and we used Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics by Munson. It was a decent book. Then for aero for vehicles, Aerodynamics of Road Vehicles would be perfect. These would be for someone ready for engineering books though.

Katz's book is pretty good also.

[brownslane]

Cliff, sometimes the intent of the reading is needed. For me, sometimes I find technical documentation a great way to induce sleep...if the intent is to gather a basic understanding of aerodynamics, then you should (actually, regardless of intent) pick up the Carroll Smith books. They are college-level introductory books related to the care and feeding of race cars.

there are also a large number of aero books related to home-built aircraft design and fabrication. Where some of the data will be limited in its applicability (ie we operate in ground effect; aircraft only do so taking off and landing), there is still a lot of information available there.

For me, the Carroll Smith books (while dated) are still a good place to start. A vote for the Katz book as well. A decent read.

For me the best "reading" I do is to look at water streams (the dirty lines left on the bodywork after a race car has been on the track). A simple method of creating these tell-tale lines is to spray the leading edges of wings, rad openings, ducts, etc with WD-40 before taking to the track. The dirty little rivulets will tell you a lot.

YMMV

Can anyone suggest a good book on Aero and its use on our cars.

Thanks,
Cliff