Not every car owner knows the difference between a spoiler and a wing, but not the one who wants to improve the aerodynamic characteristics of his four-wheeled friend at high speeds. Initially, these body kit elements were used exclusively on racing cars in professional sports, where the importance of aerodynamics is equated with engine power. Now they are installed by many manufacturers in serial production or by car owners themselves, improving the maneuverability of their iron horse. Before proceeding directly to what a wing and a spoiler are, how they work and are classified, let's turn a little to the theory.
Vehicle aerodynamics
A mass-produced car is capable of reaching speeds of about 400 km / h, and aircraft take off at 200 km / h. The question arises: why don't cars fly? To understand this will help such a section of mechanics as aerodynamics. In addition to gravity, friction, traction and rolling resistance, a moving car is subjected to the effects of lifting and downforce air, airflow resistance. These factors affect the maneuverability, stability of the car and fuel consumption.
The air flow bypasses the body in two directions - under the bottom and above the roof, and when accelerating, the resistance of the air flow increases in proportion to the speed squared.
At the end of the 18th century, the Swiss Bernoulli found that the flow is denser from below, and therefore the car rises. In addition, the air, colliding with the roof or hood, swirls and forms an unsafe vacuum. The more right angle the body elements are, for example, windshield, the higher the lift force. These points are taken into account when developing machines by designers. Motorists themselves can influence aerodynamics by adhering to the following recommendations:
- keep windows and hatches closed while driving;
- get rid of unnecessary decorative elements and overlays, and the necessary ones, for example, an antenna, acquire a streamlined shape;
- polish the body
- take care of fastening protruding parts under the bottom (cables, hoses, etc.);
- install body kits that reduce the discharge zone and increase downforce.
To implement the last recommendation, it is better to use the services of an auto-tuning workshop or consult an experienced specialist, since an incorrectly installed body kit (spoiler or wing) will not only not improve aerodynamic performance, but can lead to loss of control of the machine.
Important! Often a spoiler and a wing are confused with each other or mistaken for one and the same element. The wing, due to its shape, increases downforce, has two working surfaces and is mounted on special racks. The spoiler acts on the car in the longitudinal direction, increasing its stability, and outwardly looks like an extension of the body, and not separate element.
Spoiler
Among the various body kits used by manufacturers and car owners, the spoiler is the most popular - a design that converts a laminar air flow into a turbulent one. The part performs several main functions:
- improves the aerodynamic characteristics of the car;
- decorates the exterior of the car, being an element modern tuning,
- improves handling when driving at high speeds;
- increases the stability of the car while driving;
- minimizes the likelihood of drifts;
- saves fuel while driving high speeds;
- reduces glass contamination.
What are spoilers?
At the point of attachment
These body kit elements are classified according to various criteria. Firstly, they can be installed on different body elements. The front is located under the bumper. They direct the air flow upwards, creating high blood pressure, and a vacuum is formed under the bottom. There is a so-called ground effect that increases the downforce of the front axle, so it is advisable to install such structures on front wheel drive cars. Sometimes spoilers are made in such a way as to direct the airflow towards brake discs and radiator. The car seems to “suck in” air into the ventilation holes and presses against the road surface.
Spoiler on rear bumper it makes no sense to use it alone, but in combination with other body kit elements, it has a significant impact on the aerodynamic characteristics of the car, increasing the resistance to lift. Elements installed in the sill area, otherwise called sill extensions, increase the overall resistance to air flow. Regardless of the type of machine drive, they improve the braking process.
A rear spoiler is located on the rear of the roof or on the trunk. It prevents the formation of a swirl of air flows behind the machine, thereby reducing drag. Gives a load on the rear axle of the car at high speeds. This element is useful for trucks. In this case, it is equipped with a handle that allows you to adjust the height in proportion to the height of the trailer.
According to the method of fastening
For effective fastening of spoilers on supports, they most often resort to self-tapping screws, less often bolts. There are also so-called sticky spoilers. They are fixed using double-sided tape or glass glue.
According to the material of manufacture
Among great variety materials used in the production of spoilers, we can distinguish the following:
- the first products were made of metal. The transverse member was usually made of aluminum, while the posts were made of steel. Now metal spoilers are rarely produced;
- fiberglass structures are strong enough and easy to process. The material is a synthetic resin filled with fiberglass;
- ABS plastic is used in serial production spoilers. This is an inexpensive and ductile material, however, short-lived due to the ever-increasing brittleness due to the evaporation of phenols as a result of atmospheric influences;
- silicone structures have high ductility, strength and long service life. Recently, their popularity has been increasing;
- The advantages of carbon fiber are strength and lightness. Due to the large labor and energy intensity, spoilers from it are the most expensive.
Selection and installation
When choosing a spoiler, it is necessary to take into account the purpose of all its types, the properties of the material. Body kits should be chosen for specific model car, it is unlikely that a universal element will meet the expectations of a car enthusiast. It is also important that the aerodynamics of the car improves only at speeds exceeding 90 km / h. Therefore, it is worth considering whether they are needed at all.
Important! Installation is recommended to be carried out in a car repair shop, only an experienced master will securely fix the product at a certain angle of inclination to the axis of the machine. Otherwise, the lifting force may decrease, or an overload of one of the axles may occur, which may lead to irreversible consequences.
wing
This is an element that can create additional downforce by increasing the friction that occurs between the drive wheels and the roadway. The main functions that the element performs:
For the effective operation of the structure, a certain shape and size of the wing is required, correct fastening, which consists in the location of the part at an angle of 10 - 15 ° to the longitudinal axis of the machine. The angle of inclination may vary depending on the speed of the vehicle. The cross section of the device should have the shape of an inverted wing of an aircraft. The size of the wing is slightly larger than the spoiler, and it is located at a greater distance from the body.
Among the advantages of this body kit there is also a disadvantage: an increase in airflow resistance, which leads to a drop in speed and increased fuel consumption.
OGE 2018 Physics Part 1 Task 20
Read the text and complete tasks 20-22.
wing
Consider the movement of a fluid in a pipe of variable cross section (Fig. 1). In the wide parts of the pipe, the liquid must flow more slowly than in the narrow ones, since the amount of liquid flowing in the same time intervals is the same for all sections of the pipe. The pressure inside the liquid, which is measured using manometric tubes, behaves in the opposite way: the pressure of the liquid is greater where the velocity of the liquid is lower, and vice versa. This relationship between the velocity of a fluid and its pressure is known in physics as Bernoulli's law. Bernoulli's law is valid for liquids and gases.
To increase the downforce that presses the car to the road surface, is used special device- wing. Let us first consider a wing with a symmetrical profile, installed strictly horizontally (Fig. 2a). In this case, the streams of air running on it will go around it in exactly the same way, and the air pressure under and above the wing will also be the same.
Now let's set the wing at an angle to the flow (Fig. 2b). The speed of the air flow under the lower surface of the wing becomes greater than the speed above the upper surface. Accordingly, the air pressure on the upper surface of the wing will be greater than the pressure on the lower surface. Due to the resulting pressure difference, an aerodynamic force arises (Fig. 2b), the vertical component of which is called the downforce, and the horizontal component is called the drag force.
The downforce of the wing is due to the fact that
Sometimes, even experienced driver, what is the difference between a wing and a spoiler, it is not always possible to formulate. That is, to explain on the fingers in style: this is such a thing - everyone is quite capable (well, they say, you yourself understand what I mean). But to show the difference to an outsider who is not connected with the auto business, who has never been literate from the category, for almost everyone, is very difficult. But in vain, it would be worth finding words, since many beginners and inexperienced drivers believe that these chips are needed only to indicate the coolness of the owner in the eyes of others, that is, to divert eyes.
These devices were invented and installed not just like that, but with some goals that are not always clear to the average layman. Let's try to understand this issue.
What is the difference between a wing and a spoiler, at first glance, was well defined by one familiar auto mechanic: "The first sticks out, the second merges." However, this definition does not at all explain the reasons why people spend quite a lot of money to install these devices.
Goals and objectives
Both chips, first of all, even perform different functions: spoilers improve the aerodynamics of the body and optimize oncoming air flows, and the wing acts rather negatively on these factors, but improves car handling. Spoilers, roughly speaking, cut through the air, make it blow the car with smaller jets (by the way, their other name is splitters).
At the same time, in this process, different spoilers press different parts of the car to the roadway. Along the way, these parts take on the functions of protection, repelling dirt, clods and dust flying out from under the wheels (of their own and comrades on the road) from the body.
The wing, as already mentioned, is intended mainly to improve the obedience of driving a car. The principle of its operation is already indicated in the title: if the wing must provide lifting force, then its opposite is just a clamping one. And this force acts exclusively on the rear axle, pressing the hood from the rear to the roadway. As a second function wing can be mentioned to increase the stability of the car at high speeds. However, this is a consequence of the same pressing effect.
Spoilers
Outwardly, they are, as it were, a continuation car body. They are mounted flush with it and seem to be an integral part. The front spoiler is placed under the bumper. It directs the air so that a low pressure is formed under the bottom of the machine. Accordingly, a higher one - from above - presses on the hood, pressing it to the ground. This achieves a certain aerodynamic effect.
Rear spoilers can be mounted on the trunk or on top of the rear window. As a result, the latter is less dirty during driving, and the rear axle is loaded more heavily during strong acceleration. As a result of such a division of the flow (large at the bottom, under the bottom, small - behind, over the trunk), in general, the car is pressed against the road along its entire length.
Wing: It happens only one and is placed behind, on the trunk. It is mounted not end-to-end with the surface of the body, but on racks. The simplest is installed permanently; more advanced ones can be folded - in this case, the wing rises when accelerating over 140 km / h. And it’s completely cool - on the road it can also change the horizontal slope, given the speed. When braking, the wing creates additional resistance, shortening the braking distance.
For installation - to the installers
It is not recommended to install both spoilers and a wing yourself, unless you are an expert in aerodynamics and are not familiar with the details of the correct calculations. Even the wrong selection, based on the principle “liked this one better”, can significantly increase the resistance of the case to airflow - despite the fact that the goal was to reduce it. And an illiterate installation is quite capable of making a real wing out of a wing, lifting the rear of the car above the roadway.
Knowing the difference between a wing and a spoiler, one can imagine the consequences of incompetent installation of spoilers: the car will be tossed up and driven back and forth along the road in motion. And the cost of fuel, rest assured, will increase by at least 20-25 percent: the engine will have to overcome the additional resistance of the atmospheric environment.
Often, on passing cars, one has to see a spoiler installed on the trunk lid, or as it is also called a wing. Surely, you wondered what this spoiler is for, does it perform any function, or is it just decorative body element and installed according to the preferences of the vehicle owner? This is the question we will try to answer you in this article.
Two spoiler functions
Spoilers can be installed on the car both by the manufacturer and by the owner of the car. Oddly enough, but the car spoiler has 2 purposes - functional and decorative. In the first case, the spoiler literally presses the rear of the car to the ground when it moves on. high speed. As a result of the action of such a force, the car holds the road better, has full grip wheels with pavement. In the second case, some cars really look much better with the wing installed. That is why the manufacturer himself offers cars with an already installed wing.
Based on the above, we can conclude that there are 2 types car spoilers: those that really work affect handling (but often such spoilers look very sloppy, cumbersome) and those that are created as a decoration (they are more beautiful, but do not carry any functional utility).
Spoiler in action
Very often the spoiler is installed on sports cars, the purpose of which is movement at unthinkable speeds. At speeds above 100 km/h, the air flow, filling the space that cuts through the car, creates vortices behind the car, which, in turn, leads to a decrease in the stability of the car. The spoiler, as an aerodynamic element, keeps the car cutting through the air whirlwinds, preventing them from rocking the car. However, in many situations, especially if the car is rear-wheel drive and if it is able to move very quickly, the installation of a rear spoiler alone has little effect in improving handling, on the contrary, when driving rear axle and the installed spoiler, the front of the car rises, as a result of which the car will react much worse to turning the steering wheel .. In addition, the fuel consumption of the car also increases significantly.
To avoid loss of control on rear wheel drive car, experts recommend putting 2 spoilers - one on the trunk lid, the second - on the front of the car. In the common people, the front spoiler is called a body kit, its function is similar to the functions of the rear spoiler.
Spoiler Disadvantages
Since the spoiler, in fact, exerts downforce, we can say that as a result of this, the ground clearance car, and in the current state of our roads, this is a very tangible drawback. Secondly, in modern cars rear glass has not too good review, and so the spoiler makes this review even less convenient. Finally, the financial side is also a disadvantage: installing spoilers in specialized workshops is not very cheap, and not everyone can do this procedure on their own.
Based on the foregoing, we can conclude that there are spoilers that are designed to increase the stability of the car, and there are purely decorative ones. In any case, if you are pursuing at least one, at least another goal, it makes sense to install on your car given element. In any case, it certainly won't do any harm.
