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Old Mar 18, 2010 | 01:14 PM
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tom2112
She can ride with me ;)
Joined: Sep 2007
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From: Sharon, PA
Default Re: The truth about "ram air"

Originally Posted by Wikipedia
Laminar flow, sometimes known as streamline flow, occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between the layers. In fluid dynamics, laminar flow is a flow regime characterized by high momentum diffusion and low momentum convection. It is the opposite of turbulent flow. In nonscientific terms laminar flow is "smooth," while turbulent flow is "rough."
This pretty much restates what Thumper said. But I wanted to point out that laminar flow is directional, meaning that all of the particles are flowing in parallel and not disturbing the flow of the others. In turbulence, the particles are chaotically bouncing around. Laminar flow would be like a whole bunch of cars, all going the same speed and all staying in their lanes on the highway. It's efficient and no one is messing anyone else up. Compare that to actual highway driving where everyone is going at different speeds, cutting each other off, changing lanes for no reason, etc. Chaos vs. order.

That's one reason why some MAF sensors have a honeycomb in front of them. This helps to laminarize the air flow so the sensor can get a more stable reading.

I think Woody was playing with a honeycombed cold air intake or intake manifold. I don't know what his results were.
 

Last edited by tom2112; Mar 18, 2010 at 01:16 PM.
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