Construct · 2 fields · 2 citations

ground effect: one construct, many systems

One name. One construct. Different systems. One map.

● invariant · one construct, two systems Nearest construct by meaning·not indexed
same near-ground aerodynamics, inverted to make downforcegroundeffect2 SYSTEMSAircraft ground effectWING · GROUND PROXIMITYCar ground effectKATZ · DOWNFORCE

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2006Aircraft ground effect2006Car ground effect
2026

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Aircraft aerodynamics

A wing gains lift and sheds drag near the ground

Ground effect is the change in a wing's aerodynamics when it flies close to a surface: the ground constrains the downwash and weakens the wingtip vortices, which cuts induced drag and raises the effective lift, so an aircraft within about a wingspan of the runway feels a cushion that flattens its descent. Rozhdestvensky's 2006 Wing-in-ground effect vehicles reviews the physics and the craft built to exploit it. The referent is the alteration of the pressure field and trailing vorticity of a lifting surface near a boundary, measured by the lift and induced-drag changes with height, and it is the same aerodynamic phenomenon that a race car turns upside down to its advantage.[1]

Unit
The change in lift and induced drag as a lifting surface nears the ground, versus height/span
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Assessed by lift and induced-drag coefficients as a function of ground clearance (height-to-span ratio)

Automotive aerodynamics

A shaped underbody sucks the car to the road

In race-car aerodynamics ground effect is the same near-ground physics put to the opposite purpose: a shaped underbody and diffuser accelerate the air beneath the car, dropping its pressure and pulling the car down onto the track, so cornering grip rises without the drag penalty of a large wing. Katz's 2006 Aerodynamics of race cars reviews how underbody tunnels and diffusers generate this downforce. The referent is the ground-proximity modification of the flow and pressure under a body, measured as downforce and its ratio to drag, and it is the identical aerodynamic construct as an aircraft's lift cushion, inverted so that the vehicle is pressed toward the surface rather than lifted from it.[2]

Unit
The downforce generated by near-ground underbody flow (and its ratio to drag)
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Measured as downforce and lift-to-drag efficiency from underbody and diffuser pressure, versus ride height

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Nearby constructs

washout2 fields · 2 citationsjingle · one word, two constructsdownforce1 fields · 2 citationsanchor · one construct, one fieldslipstream3 fields · 5 citationsinvariant · one construct, three systems

References

  1. Rozhdestvensky, K. V. (2006). Wing-in-ground effect vehicles. Progress in Aerospace Sciences, 42(3), 211–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paerosci.2006.10.001
  2. Katz, J. (2006). Aerodynamics of race cars. Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, 38(1), 27–63. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.fluid.38.050304.092016

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