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Turbo Intake Plenum


MONZTER

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I just read this entire thread.

 

Monzter, you don't happen to have a daughter I could date, do you? :D

 

 

And if/when you decide to start selling these, I'll be in the line :D

 

Even if he didn't have a daughter, he could probably CAD Draw, CFD Test, Mill, and "Flow" Bench one for you, lickety split!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just re-read this entire thread from cover to cover, and I realized something.

 

Olderthanme was the first person to mention the concept of "vortex generators" being used to even and straighten the flow, and it was flatly turned down (I will not mention by whom out of manners, I am not trying to talk down about that person.) In the end, the "honeycomb" effect that was noticed on the air intake at the Air Museum, and integrated and ultimately tweaked into nearly perfect airflow balance, seems to me to be just that: vortex generators, air straighteners, a comb. A honeycomb. When we think of VGs on the roof of a car they appear very different, because thats open atmospheric airflow, but for something like an intake tract simple plates suffice, instead of the "dolphin dorsal fin" shape of roofline aero VGs.

 

So, I wanted to point out OTM as the one who initially came up with the REAL "silver bullet" in this design. It seems to me, at least, that the baffle plates are somewhat unique to this plenum design (at least in the Z world.) Once they had been tuned to lengths appropriate for each plate, the effect seen in the CFD diagrams was phenomenal. One question I had (and its probably not worth bringing up) is this: Once you weld the piece together around the perimeter, what is to stop the diffuser plates from moving relative to each other? Not only alignment-wise, but also through warping, any relative movement of these would starting buggering that beautiful laminar flow all to hell.

 

 

 

Overall, my impressions of the entire thread are thus:

 

In retrospect, the entire design seems so mind-blisteringly obvious!

 

Jeff, I realize that you in NO way wish to make a profit off of this, but have you considered simply letting someone pop a mold off of it before you weld it together, and then selling the mold?????

 

and finally, I just wish I had contributed more substance and less clog.

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Daeron,

OTM did mention the Vortex generators, and for me I did not understand what he meant, because the vortex was what I was trying to get rid of. Sometimes, it takes a few things to make an idea click. So now, looking back at his post, ya I see what he meant and he was correct. Good job OTM for being the one to spot it, I wish I had got it sooner

 

In regards to the ribs moving during welding? If you look at the pictures of the CNC halves you will see 8 1/4 inch pin holes for dowels that will be inserted before welding. These dowels will Keep the two halves from shearing relative to each other. Also, the ribs are 4mm thick, plenty stiff, and the walls are 1/8. I am not worried about that.

 

Molds, you know that would probably be easy, the problem is not making the parts, its everything else. My turbo is in a totally different location than stock, and I don’t even know if a stock location turbo would fit under there. Then there is the vacuum log, BOV, fittings, throttle bodies, Intercooling plumbing, ect…. Basically, what I am trying to get at is everything is 100% custom, and so much work would have to be done to make this a useable product to the masses. I think it is a great product for a one-off have fun design/fabricate exercise. Production compatible? I don’t think so.

 

You know, I often think about the guys who get all the credit for building those one of a kind hot rods. Heck, making 1 of anything is easy. Let see them make a production run of those cars, oh ya and make them reliable, safe, and environmentally responsible. The true masters are the guys at the major companies who pull that off for the masses, now that’s talent Remember, Design is an exercise in compromise, the one with the least wins

 

Jeff

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I hadn't thought of the dowel pins.. (if you hadn't noticed, I was in the midst of a six hour long, "ugh, nothing to do hybridZ binge" when I posted that.) My primary thought was the concept of the two pieces warping relative to each other over TIME, from heat cycling the engine, and a gap showing up between the two side, up in the section where there was no weld... but I see now that the dowel pins would likely put a stop to that as well.

 

I see your point on the molding idea, too.. it is just SO hard to think that it wouldn't be worth it. Most of the inspiration for that remark was the fact that this thread has averaged about 1 request for production per 10 other posts :D

 

Lastly, I didn't want to denigrate ANY other people who had contributed to your manifold (least of all yourself) but it seemed to me like nobody tooted OTM's horn for him, and it only seemed right. When I first read his comment, my reaction was that I had thought a similar thing... but the stretch that wasn't made until the final redesign was recognizing exactly what 3 dimensional shape the "generators" had to take inside a closed system, to stabilize flow. Methinks "flow stabilisers" would be a better all around term for that type of structure, as the ones in your box obviously negated a vortex that had already been created (perhaps by inducing one of an opposite swirl?) yet the ones on a roofline, in an open aerodynamic system, whip the air away from the vortex created by the vehicle and into a separate vortex entirely...

 

Anyhow, in closing...

 

 

I still don't have anything better to say than just, "wow." And maybe cry a little.

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