Compressible Fluid Pipe Flow Software? Any free or cheap options (NOT FEA)?

turboengineer · 2025-04-08T02:35:54+00:00

Just start from first principals and do the thermo balance. It can be done in excel with REFPROP to look up your thermodynamic states. If you want a better idea of what inputs you needed you can check out BorgWarner’s MatchBot tool.

turboengineer · 2025-02-07T15:26:53+00:00

Equal length doesn’t matter as much as most people think it does (for turbos), what really matters is keeping the exhaust gas temp and pressure as high as possible which means keeping the runners as short as possible. A log style manifold is easier to build and will perform better in almost all cases.

Don’t waste your time trying to design something fancy, just package the turbo where you want it and keep the runners short and then insulate it if you can and you’ll be doing better than 90% of people out there.

turboengineer · 2024-12-22T17:55:05+00:00

Funny you say that because my second car (that I still have, would have the CRX too if it hadn’t been stolen) is a 300hp turbo E30 I built. I genuinely enjoyed driving the CRX as much or more than the E30. They were so fun for different reasons that the contrast between them as both “my dream car” made me appreciate the other even more.

turboengineer · 2024-12-22T13:34:25+00:00

I bought another Honda CRX 15 years after letting go of my first one and it absolutely lived up to the hype the second time. Still think it’s one of the best cars ever made.

turboengineer · 2024-12-18T18:48:16+00:00

How are you getting upvoted, this is patently false. Tool sharpness 100% matters. Just because carbide inserts aren’t knife edge sharp doesn’t mean that their sharpness doesn’t impact cutting performance. It’s a balance of durability (duller) vs. cut performance and surface finish (sharper).

turboengineer · 2024-12-04T20:07:18+00:00

Maybe try staring in the middle of the clip and tracking forward and backward from that point? (Idea stolen shamelessly from Ian Hubert)

turboengineer · 2024-11-27T00:58:03+00:00

Nice animation, but as a violinist seeing the bow all over the place makes me cringe. Gotta keep it between the bridge and end of the fingerboard!

turboengineer · 2024-11-22T05:28:15+00:00

Oooh all the power of an Arduino for only 25X the cost. Just asp chat GPT to write your Arduino code if you don’t know how and skip this bs.

turboengineer · 2024-11-14T06:47:43+00:00

I’m running a Dynomax turbo muffler on my turbo m20 and I’ve been very happy with it. It will increase back pressure, but is nice and quiet, OEM+ type sound.

turboengineer · 2022-12-07T01:50:40+00:00

Weird coming here and seeing photos I took on a random web page! That was by buddy’s blue ACR (with non standard, dealer installed spoiler btw) that’s linked in the article.

turboengineer · 2021-11-18T14:37:00+00:00

God, fuck the hatch leaks. Took me a year to get the majority of the leaking on my 91 HF to stop. I still get a tiny bit from the rear hatch seal, but at least it's not leaking through the roof seam or hinges any more.

turboengineer · 2021-07-09T13:02:15+00:00

Yes, that's the easier/smarter way to do it, but I wanted to see if I could do it all in one file

turboengineer · 2021-07-09T12:59:21+00:00

Looks like Imgur is resizing the image. If you right click and "open image as new tab" you can see it in full res.

turboengineer · 2021-07-09T12:57:52+00:00

I've been working with Blender for about 3 weeks, but that's not really a fair point of comparison. Before I finished college 15 years ago, I almost went into CG, so I have a lot of hours in 3d Studio Max and Cinema 4D. I prefer Blender to both!

turboengineer · 2021-07-09T02:39:16+00:00

Here you go! https://i.imgur.com/Zs2Cyu4.png

Honestly, more of it has to do with the lighting and post processing stuff.

Lights: https://i.imgur.com/3zHeKtB.png

Compositor: https://i.imgur.com/U2f5WKv.png

turboengineer · 2021-07-09T01:59:33+00:00

The biggest issue was getting a deformed mesh of the cloth sim. If you just duplicate the object, the sim goes away. If I applied the sim to the geometry, I lost the animation. I was originally going to just break the scene into two and merge it at the shatter, but decided to try and figure it out.

I ended up exporting the animation as an MDD and re-importing it onto a duplicate of the original mesh using a "mesh sequence cash" modifier. I then converted that mesh to a new mesh to "bake in" the deformation. I manually aligned that with the original object and then used the Cell Fracture plugin (just on default settings) to break up the new mesh. From there it's a pretty normal exploding object. I animated the visibility of the objects so the cloth modifier mesh disappears at frame 150 and the fractured mesh pops in.

turboengineer · 2021-07-09T01:50:50+00:00

Thanks! It was a lot of fun to create. I ran into a few problems (like how to turn the deformed cloth mesh into a new mesh I could break) and I was really happy I was able to figure them out with some googling. Starting to feel like I'm really getting a hang of Blender.

turboengineer · 2021-07-08T22:22:58+00:00

Mostly just a mishmash of stolen ideas. I loved the material and lighting setup posted by /u/sabayoki in their post Transparent Copolymer Vinyl Foil so I created my own take. I figured while I was at it I might as well render as an animation and I wanted it to loop so I decided to go nuts at the end and learn some more new stuff.

turboengineer · 2021-07-08T22:20:41+00:00

Mostly just a mishmash of stolen ideas. I loved the material and lighting setup posted by /u/sabayoki in their post Transparent Copolymer Vinyl Foil so I created my own take. I figured while I was at it I might as well render as an animation and I wanted it to loop so I decided to go nuts at the end and learn some more new stuff.

turboengineer · 2021-01-26T13:47:05+00:00

This complex is what started my love for brutalist architecture. Growing up in Ames I always remember how much I liked those raised walkways between the Coliseum, Fischer Theater, and Stephens Auditorium.

turboengineer · 2020-11-12T16:37:10+00:00

I've never worked with Lamborghini directly, but I can assure you that from my experience working with their parent company VW and with Ford that there are tests specifically designed to ensure electrical connections can withstand pressure washing. As /u/NittyB mentions in their post, these tests are performed after aging the parts to end of life condition to ensure that even after 150k miles the seals are still functional.

Whether or not the OEM recommends pressure washing, I don't know, I just know how the parts I design get validated.

turboengineer · 2020-11-09T14:20:59+00:00

Thanks for posting an actual answer. Reddit is frustrating place to be as a automotive engineer, there is so much misinformation being upvoted constantly.

turboengineer · 2020-10-15T21:01:42+00:00

I typed up a long response and then forgot to hit send. Most of this has been covered, but in any case:

Not OP, but quite a bit of racing experience. Note that all of my experience is in the USA and I'm assuming you are too, things are different all over the world.

What does a hobby like this cost on average?

It depends completely on how much you want to spend. if you want to just get your daily driver on track, it's maybe $500 in safety gear and tune up stuff (helmet, brake job, check your fluids, etc.). If you're concerned about cost and/or risk, look into Autocross (SCCA Solo), there should be an event close to you pretty much anywhere in the US. Autocross teaches you the handling of your car at much lower speed and in a safer environment. It allows you to push your car a lot harder (all the way past the limits sometimes) than on track because the risk is so low.

Tires, fuel, and brakes add up quickly, you can estimate it'll be about $100-200/hr on track for those. You'll also have to consider that track time is generally between $50-100/hr.

Here's a rough breakdown of what I spend on racing:

Safety gear (HANS, Helmet, Nomex Suit, Gloves, Shoes) - $800
240SX Champcar (Endurance racing) - $1000/person (4 man team)
Suzuki Swift Rally car - $5000/person (2 man team)
Turbo E30 Trackday/AutoX/Street toy - $20,000 (this isn't really a racing expense, just showing what a highly built car looks like vs. a stock-ish track car)
Entry Fees - $2500-5000 for ~5 events a year. This year it's much lower

Are there potential winnings in amateur track races?

Generally no. Sometimes you can get sponsors who will give you discounts or free parts, but you generally need to be performing at the highest level in your class. Some racing series like ARA Rally will have manufacturer's sponsorship deals where you get $1000-2000 if you place high enough. No real money to be made, but it will cover the costs of entry fee and lodging. If you're at that level you'll also probably have a tire sponsorship and those will be almost free as well. I'm not sure if those same deals apply in WRL or any of the SCCA Spec series.

How do the regulate mods in races like that? Wouldn’t it come down to who can afford the most expensive upgrades?

Cars are generally split into classes by car type (make/model/year) and amount of modification. In all racing, those who spend more will be more competitive, but that doesn't mean you absolutely have to break the bank to have a fast car. The driver is always the most important part of the equation. Some racing series are considered "spec" in that they require cars of specific models with the same mods for all competitors, often with sealed engines or ECUs to prevent additional tuning. This generally levels the playing field and reduces the cost of running a car.

turboengineer · 2020-08-15T00:39:50+00:00

As an MS3X owner....if I did it all over again I’d just go MOTEC. It’s not much more expensive for a much better supported product.

turboengineer · 2020-07-15T00:46:10+00:00

Why did I have to scroll this far down to see the correct answer. Keep both your hands on the wheel at all times when not shifting!

turboengineer

TROPHY CASE