dieseltaylor Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Fairly cheap and it saves diesel/petrol and makes for a safer drive http://www.airtab.com/en/35 Not just rigs either. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stalins Organ Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Dunno if they're on the new ones, but if you look out across the wing of older Boeing 737's you might see a line of little tabs that do exactly the same thing at 600 mph - they "energise to boundary flow" - been around on them since at least 1980 or before. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Affentitten Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 They've also done a lot of research on this sort of thing for submarines and even those fancy swimming suits. Shark skin works on the same principle - control the vortices and thus reduce chaotic turbulence and therefore drag. Use the laminar flow, Luke! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumrox Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Thanks for the link. Doesn't seem to have any fuel savings on smaller vehicles, up to and including minivans (mostly individuals doing the testing here, not any manufacturer): http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/tested-airtabs-mini-van-b-no-measurable-effect-6381.html 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieseltaylor Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 Interesting - though a small van would not seem to be really where they would shine. My gut reaction is 55mph is not very fast so air displacement is not a big deal with a relatively small frontage/length. However a rig at 55mph is a different matter in shifting air : ) A van doing 70mph would possibly be more effective test. off the web It is about the wind resistance and that increases as the square of the speed. 65 squared is about 40% more than 55 squared. The drag at these speeds dwarfs other power drains. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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