Abrasive flow finishing

[dzorde]

So if your car had the good ol' orange peel paintjob it would have a lower
drag coefficient, than the same car with a very nice painjob ?  Why does the
people going for land speed records build the cars to have ultra smooth
(almost glass like) surfaces ?

Dan     dzorde at geocities.com

>
>Bang on. A perfectly smooth surface will produce a laminar flow, which
>will "pull" away from the surface in small areas, disrupting the laminar
>flow, and causing turbulence. The "bumps" or "dimples" increase the
>surface area over which the airflow occurs, reducing the "pull" on the
>specific point that will break away into the laminar flow.
>
>