Quote:
Originally Posted by Petah78
Thank you for posting this info. I have long suspected that the top doesn't represent a large percentage of the total surface area of the pick up but this post confirmed it. The 4 sides looked to have a much larger surface area and by estimation, i say the top is about 1/7 (14%). I wouldn't think flow is the problem even if the entire top side is blocked. Cavitation is a real concern though. I am not an engineer but i think cavitation will only become an issue with:
- Higher oil temps
- Higher pressure differentiation pre/post pump (how bad the blockage is)
Any engineer can confirm?
|
I'm an aerospace engineer specializing in structural design/analysis, but I have taken courses on fluid mechanics...
I would say that while the upper screen portion may only be ~15% of the screened area, it is by far the most important 15%! The fluid can easily pass through the open areas on the screen as it's traveling perpendicular to it. On the sides, the flow is roughly trying to flow more parallel with the fluid flow. It's going to present much more of a blockage, and in addition will locally force the flow more perpendicular to the direction it needs to be going in.
Something of a WAG but I'd say blocking off the top portion of the screen only and leaving the sides open could represent something like a 50% blockage... Might be OK for piddling around at low rpm but I would *not* want my car to be taken above 5k rpm with any frequency with that kind of blockage.