Bloodhound seeks 1,000mph record
12 Dec 2008 by Evoluted New Media
In the challenge to create a car capable of 1,000mph, Richard Noble OBE has turned to world class UK research.
In the challenge to create a car capable of 1,000mph, Richard Noble OBE has turned to world class UK research.
The Bloodhound SSC Project is aiming to set a new world land speed record of a thousand miles per hour by 2011, and UK science is playing a vital role.
On such example is and an aerodynamics team at Swansea University. They are using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the team has spent the last year creating the predictive airflow data that has shaped the car. In time, the research could lead to better vehicle or aircraft design, improved fuel efficiencies, and even new medical techniques.
“From the nose to the tail, anything that has any kind of aerodynamic influence we are modelling,” says researcher Dr Ben Evans - who as a school boy watched the Thrust SSC record on TV.
“It’s the kind of thing aerospace engineers would have traditionally done in a wind tunnel, but we’re doing it on a computer, a big multi-processor super computer. Wind tunnels have massive limitations. Bloodhound SSC is a car, so it’s rolling on the ground and there are no wind tunnels in existence where you can simulate a rolling ground with a car travelling faster than mach one, faster than the speed of sound.”
| Bloodhound SSC. Ideal for salt flats, not so great for picking the kids up |
This ‘mach factor’ is the major difference between this vehicle and its predecessor Thrust SSC. Thrust SSC was a supersonic car in that it crossed the sound barrier and was supersonic for a matter of seconds.
But with Bloodhound, the target speed is 1,000mph - mach 1.4. It will be going supersonic way beyond mach one, and for a much longer time period, which means the supersonic shockwaves it creates will be far stronger than Thrust SSC, and they will interact with the car and the desert floor for much longer.
Evans and the team also remain focussed on the wider aims of the project and the application of their research in other areas. “The whole point of doing this is not just to create a fast car. We live in a carbon economy and lots of the issues we face will require engineers and scientists to solve them - part of this project is to inspire young people.”
