The present disclosure relates generally to the art of providing more efficient vehicles and, in an embodiment described herein, more particularly provides a vehicle with a drag-reducing outer surface.
A vehicle in motion through a fluid (liquid or gas, such as air) creates drag, which tends to resist the motion of the vehicle. Thus, drag slows the motion of the vehicle, or requires the use of increased energy to maintain or increase a speed of the vehicle.
In the past, vehicle designers have attempted to reduce the effects of drag on vehicles by shaping the vehicles so that less frontal area is exposed to the fluid, and/or so that the extent of a laminar boundary layer is maximized. These techniques are well known to those skilled in the arts of aerodynamics and hydrodynamics.
However, not all vehicles can be shaped like sports cars or high speed boats. Furthermore, it is uneconomical or otherwise undesirable to change the overall shape of an existing vehicle.
Therefore, it may be seen that improvements are needed in the art of reducing the drag coefficient of a vehicle. Such improvements would allow increased speed at a given level of energy expenditure, or would allow operation at a given speed while reducing the required energy expenditure.