--On February 21, 2006 11:14:06 AM -0600 Jay Mitchell
<jemitchelltx@earthlink.net> wrote:
> The formula for angular acceleration is A=v^2/r. Solving it
> for r (the turn radius) gives r = v^2/A. For 45 mph in a
> turn to cause 1.1g angular acceleration, the turn radius is
> 123 ft. Looked at another way, if you want to limit cars
> that can do 1.1g to 45 mph in turns, the maximum turn
> _diameter_ you can set up is 246 ft.
Jay (or anyone else who feels like putting their math skills to use):
What is the minimum radius seen in a slalom? Let's assume a 66" wide car,
12" wide pylons all in a line on a flat surface, evenly spaced at 60'
intervals (and let's assume opposite-phase rear-wheel steering to avoid
the wheelbase complexity). Also assume a perfectly sinusoidal path.
How about for a 45' slalom, or a wider car?
Or perhaps we should approximate the path as a series of equal-radius
interconnected arcs, which might give us a sense of the average turn
radius rather than the minimum.
How long are those arcs? How far from the path of the slalom does the
car's
path deviate? Are slaloms 90 degree corners? 120 degree?
Or maybe another way to look at it -- how tight does a slalom need to be
to be under 45 mph?
Mark
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