| The thing that surprised me was not so much that it worked but that they could scale up the size of the divots. The effect is a result of small pockets of air swirling at the effective surface of the ball. This is a function of the air not the ratio of the divot size to object size. Fundamentally I think it's a function of the viscosity of the air and the flow speed. I was surprised that the larger divots worked as well as they did. From a rough estimate I'd assume that a golf ball moves somewhere between 40 and 100mph depending on the golfer. One application where I think this may work really well is ducting. Most duct-work isn't visible but by dimpling the surface the boundary layer becomes smaller and thus the effective size of the ducting becomes larger (or rather the flow rate should increase for a given pressure drop). What more, if the flow is predominately axial (down the duct, no sharp joints) then I bet the divots could be replaced with ribbing....hmmm.
"The 300ZX Turbo is a dance; it's a song; it's rolling, roaring automotive art. There is no color that doesn't suit it. There is no mood-lifting chemical substance it can't replace." - Automobile Magazine
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