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This is extracted from an article on NASCAR Cooling
Radiators. Notice that they even talk about radiators 7"
THICK! The standard apparently being 3 1/2" thick. Now I am no
NASCAR expert, but I know they spend BIG $$ on getting the ultimate
performance out of every component of the race car. Now the GM evaporator
core is probably not anywhere close to being as effective as one of the
NASCAR radiators since its design for a refrigerant gas rather than water, but
it is interesting that they measure around 3 3/8- 3 1/2" thick.
Here is the extract:
"Race radiators are all
aluminum and range anywhere from 3-1/2 inches thick
to 7 inches
thick in the core, with the standard intermediate
track radiator being 3-1/2 inches thick
The speedway radiator
is usually thicker,said Joey Cogdell of Griffin Thermal Products.
The high speeds force air through them, whereas the short track radiator needs
to be thinner to get the maximum amount of air-flow" (Eds Note: This implies that the slower the air flow through the
radiator (less dynamic pressure) then the thinner your radiator needs to be for
good cooling - but, if you have the high dynamic pressure, then a more compact
thicker radiator is perhaps a better solution)
Here is the URL if you want to read the entire
article
Now if 7" is not too thick for racers
traveling in the vicinity of 200 MPH on the straight away, then 3 1/2"
should be just about right many of us flier.
Now if your machine only flies at a speed
of 80 MPH then logically you need to consider thinner radiators. The key
appears to be the dynamic pressure available to produce the Mass flow through
the radiator. So presumably if you fly a P-51 you can fly with 7" or
thicker radiators. Like in most cases, there is the theoretical perfect
situation and then the real world situation. The real world solutions
almost always involved trade-offs and compromises - not perfect - but workable
solutions.
So those of you who may have had concerns about
radiator thickness here is some additional data. All the engine cares
about is some mechanism to remove the waste heat - hell, a water hose running
through the block might work, but would require an awfully long hose
{:>)
FWIW
Ed
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