Endplates

N

NateDogg

Guest
I saw some pics of dragsters from 1998 and noticed their different style endplates compared to todays. I always thought they were for lateral stability, then I got to thinking, why would they be worried about that? c'mon nate.

I have learned that a three element wing has such a pressure difference between the top and bottom that the endplates keep the pressures of the top and the bottom seperate. The wings of this erahave been determined that flow was spilling over the top of the enplate and would disrupt the flow on the bottom surface of the wing. This would would reduce the amount of potential downforce that the wing could generate. Solution, new endplates.
 
Have you noticed that recent spill plates on PS car only blocked the bottom half?
 
I didn't realize that they had upper and lower plates to begin with. Just that small lip on the end right?
_________/ basically so or something like that hehe.
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Looking at pictures, the chevys and the ford plates seem to be dropped a inch or two off the rear end, the dodges and pontiacs seem to be level coming off the end, for the most part. Also the endplates are almost a outwards U shape to them. I will get some pics up of them.
 
left to right: Darrel, WJ, Ron Krisher, Scott Geoffrion
with: Dodge, Pontiac, Chevy, Ford
 

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Excellent pics. But see how they block the bottom more than top, letting the air on top spill off the sides? Going back to Geoffrion's ride. Doesn't it look like the Ford used more wing to begin with (more wicker bill and end plate together)? I wonder why? (going back to our earlier thread).
 
yeah the air rolls off the sides for sure. I am tryingto figure it out from these cross flow velocity sheets of a top fuel dragster. Data for this includes three elements, first one has no end plate, second one is a older style, the third is the new style all are 20in back on the third element, which is about the highest pressure points.

Numbers include...

No Endplate produces 741.9 pounds of Down Force 232.4 of Drag giving it a ratio of 3.19
Old Style produces 960.7 pounds of Down Force 258.5 of Drag giving it a ratio of 3.72
New Style produces 967.6 pounds of Down Force 243.6 of Drag giving it a ratio of 4

Here is the one with no endplate. There is defintally a big vortec area where there endplates flare out
 

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I mean where the endplates would flare out, pretty crazy how the air spills away.
Here is the one with teh old style plate.
 

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and the new style...
 

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after seeing those you can make an assumption for the Pro Stock plates. That the air is going to flow over even better with no top. And with ends flared out giving it the down force that the top would normaly give but since its in a vortec area the drag doen't increase that much but the down force does. With the air spilling over the sides I assume that a top portion of the end plate would have to much drag for what its worth.

Which brings us back back to Scott, it does seem longer and more. I take that they are producing more DF than the rest, but could be hurting top end on smooth tracks. I never heard anything from the nhra about longer plates for them. When I was in St. Louis, I still wasn't that mobil and didn't find the panella camp until they were gone staging for their second run. He probally read this and knew I was comin with a pocketfull of questions, hehe. But when they roll into Indy, he is going to find a Nate with 2 healthy knees. This is very intriguing indeed.
 
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