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Old 05-25-2012, 03:04 PM   #2028
Barracuda
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Drives: '71 'Cuda, '87 GN, '13 Shelby GT500
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Michigan
Posts: 16
Quote:
Originally Posted by 8cd03gro View Post
Loss to heat as a percentage of power output decreases as power increases because inertia of the drivetrain and friction remain the same regardless of power output.
Heat is a result of friction. Friction does not remain the same regardless of power output (see my previous post), but does go down as a percentage as power increases. So loss to heat as a percentage does go down, but not due to inertia and not because friction stays the same.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 8cd03gro View Post
Let's say I is the force required to overcome the inertia of the drivetrain, it is a constant. Y is the total power output of the engine and X is the power at the wheels. Just for simplicity we will assume a 12% loss due to variables other than inertia. In this oversimplified example the function of total power output to determine wheel hp would be

X = 0.88Y-I

As Y increases, I remains the same. So, let's say I is 10hp, and Y is 400hp.
I is not measured in HP. I (inertia) for driveline purposes is the equivalent of a rotational mass. And like any mass (in the absence of friction or other external forces), it doesn't take any force to keep it moving at a constant speed. But it does take force (or torque for rotational purposes) to accelerate. If you want to know what it takes to accelerate a given rotational inertia to a given speed (i.e. RPM), then that is measured in work. How quickly you increase that inertia to that rotational speed (i.e. acceleration) can be measured in power (i.e. HP)

Last edited by Barracuda; 05-25-2012 at 03:49 PM.
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