engineering tech article, what would you like to know more about?

[frankiman]

alright, my trimester is ending tomorrow with my last exam (physics )
i have 12 days before my next trimester starts

so i thought i'd share the knowledge

so i've already done a couple small write-ups regarding automotive engineering within my project thread, one big about brakes

anyway, i'd like to write another tech article in my project thread

so what would you guys like to know more about, based to facts and formulas

1. suspension; spring rate, dampning rate, sway bar stiffness, geometry, tension rods, alignment blah blah...

2. exhaust system; what impacts flow rate, diameters, material used, merge design, tube design, catalyser, muffler blah blah

3. whatever you want that i know about

voting ends in 3 days

[mitch32]

I think talking about exhaust sizes on a turbo car is useless, or rather not as important (unless your talking about anything related to exhaust before the turbo aka valves, valve size, port openings, cam lift, cam duration, etc...). So I vote for suspension!!!!

[frankiman]

I think talking about exhaust sizes on a turbo car is useless, or rather not as important (unless your talking about anything related to exhaust before the turbo aka valves, valve size, port openings, cam lift, cam duration, etc...). So I vote for suspension!!!!

everything would be general, and could be applied to any car,

and about the exhaust, i would explain how the diameter, length, connections, and material affects exhaust flow and ''back pressure''

[frankiman]

oh, and if i do the suspension article, i'll talk about the importantce of unsprung weight, and how much of a difference bigger / heavier wheels do to the overall performance of a car

[Driftacular]

as a fellow (future) engineer
id say go a different route, and do aero.. the flow of aero is more interesting than the a lil bit of flow mechanics for exhaust :/ imo that is

Im studying automotive, and im doing research on general aero on such! Our school (UOIT) should have our windtunnel finished this summer, and im hoping to see if i can get some proofs to let me use it for research!

[frankiman]

well i've done external surface fluid flow in the last part of my fluid mechanics class, and its really really complicated and cannot be explained as easily as other concepts,
and also, its not something that most people will be able to apply to their cars, unless they also have a wind tunnel
whereas internal flow is much simpler and easier to apply

[Driftacular]

i love when stuff gets complicated! lol
alright how bout the flow of intake plenums? (intake system from turbo through IC too)
ive seen some smooth nice plenums than boxy ass ones..

[Boyscout]

def suspension IMO.

[JerseyBoi]

I say supspension because while i realy like the idea of the exhaust article i kinda have some understanding from a post u made in another thread. I also know JACK about suspension and really want to learn more about it.

[collector240sx]

I would like to say suspension, but truth is, it's one of the most if not the
most complicated part of all cars. (when you start getting technical).

You can have a setup on 1 car and try the same setup on an seemingly
identical car and have different result. There is a lot of different variant
when it comes to suspension. Aldo you could explain the principle behind
a setup, the application is an other story.

I'm pretty sure most people here would benefit more of air flow in and out
of the head. Even if it's not has interesting. lol

And this way some members might learn how to properly choose a turbo, for
there application and how to get the most out of it. Or what modification
they could do to there head wich would be the most beneficial for there
goal.

Either way there both interesting subject. I just think if your going to talk
about suspension, there is a lot of technical aspect that could be talked
about, it's just theres not a lot of people here that could put it in application.
For example, you can teach what the rebound mean on there coilover, but
I don't even know of 1 place in less than 10h from my place that could
actually test my coilover to give me that info.

I'm really sad to said this, but understanding a problem to wich you have
no information is useless. And frankly information about suspension is one
of the hardess to find on the internet. And by this I don't mean how many
failure or bob said they suck. I mean real test bound and rebound charts,
And how they are affected by there adjustability. These test are really
rare, and are how you can see the difference between cheap and quality.

Just my 2 cents
I think you get the feeling I like both subjects.

P.S.
Don't talk about aerodynamic, if we where worried about that, we wouldn't
of bough a car that had the same drag coefficient has a brick. lol

[frankiman]

Don't talk about aerodynamic, if we where worried about that, we wouldn't
of bough a car that had the same drag coefficient has a brick. lol

my thoughts exactly lol

i couldn't find the exact quote, but a couple years ago in Sport Compact Car magazine (best ever car magazine, may it r.i.p.), some guys were doing a race between L.A. and Las Vegas

one team were going to L.A.X. airport to catch a private jet directly to vegas
the other team were blasting the highway with an R32 GTR

anyway long story short, the R32 team had a radar detector, since they were travelling at 120mph+
and when it beeped, they said they didn't even have to brake, they just let off the gas and the ''brick-like areodynamics'' would slow the car down faster then applying a prius's brakes really hard (years ago)

[mitch32]

well i've done external surface fluid flow in the last part of my fluid mechanics class, and its really really complicated and cannot be explained as easily as other concepts,
and also, its not something that most people will be able to apply to their cars, unless they also have a wind tunnel
whereas internal flow is much simpler and easier to apply

Funniest thing is, that in your fluids class whatever you learned was not even touching the surface of how complicated external flow is (wtvr level it was it doesn't matter; in my school we had 2 regular levels, then another one for external, another for vehicles specifically, and also a turbine class). Even in your Masters you will never fully understand flow, its IMO the most complicated part of mechanical engineering. Internal flow is also complicated but it's easier to neglect things to make your life easier in the calculations. I'm starting to miss school, but mostly for the girls (but engineering sucked for that)!!!

[frankiman]

i totally agree

[frankiman]

alright, suspension it is,

i should have it done by the end of next week, hopefully