Golf ball concept

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Willie14228

Willie14228

Member
Jul 16, 2015
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TX, United States
I do not have the means to test this concept but I am sure there are some out there that does.
It has been proven that the devits in a golf ball reduces the drag on the leading edge.
So I cannot help but wonder what would happen if that concept was carried over to the dome of the pellet. I am not talking about a hollow point but around the top of the dome.
I think it would also cause a larger hydroshock wave through a body also.
 
bill_dd97 is correct. The divots (called dimples) on a golf ball act in the same way as seams on a baseball. When rotated they create "lift" in the direction of the rotation of the ball. That is why when you hit the ball at the incorrect angle or across the face of the ball you get a nice hook or slice because the ball is rotating more sideways than up creating the curve left or right rather than up. Spherical rotation rather than cylindrical rotation like you get with a pellet or bullet, or throwing a football for that matter.
 
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A golf ball is round therefore it does not have a plane per say
The divits do not create lift but instead reduces drag the divits act much in the same way the highspeed torpedo head does. They have a tip that creates bubbles in front of the torpedo creating a man made controlled cavitation effect this reduces the drag on the sides of the torpedo giving it the ability to reach the speeds it does.
The divits in the same way reduces drag by creating a uniform turbulence screen around the ball. Look at a football (U.S) it's surface area is also covered with small divits and it works on the same plane as a bullet even has a spin
 
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I tried that some time back with Crosman Premier Heavy's in .177. I uniformly dimpled the pellet nose with 60 grit glass beads spread out on a hard steel plate. I did not get any more unusual flyers than untreated pellets. The velocity at the muzzle was the same at about 830 ft/s. However, at 25 yards (I set-up my chronograph screens down range) the velocity of the treated pellets was actually slower by 25 ft/s on average. Also, the point of impact was also a bit lower, and the precision of the group size was a little bit larger as well. 
 
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"Mousefart"I'm thinking that if the principle held for a pellet then it would for aircraft also, and I assure you that in my 40+ years in aviation I've never seen the nose of an aircraft dimpled. Ever. 

Reference
https://www.quora.com/Why-dont-plane-designers-put-golf-ball-dimples-on-aircrafts-to-increase-the-efficiency

The answer is because there are different types of drag. The two types relavent here are base drag and skin friction drag. Base drag is the drag created when airflow separates from a body creating a low pressure area behind the body. Skin friction drag is the drag generated by airflow rubbing against the body. Golf balls take advantage of scallops or dimples to create small vortices that energize the flow, which keep it attached to the body longer. This energized flow creates more skin friction drag, but reduces base drag. In the case of a round body, like a golf ball, the base drag is so much bigger than the skin friction drag, that even though the dimples increased the friction drag, they reduced the base drag so much that the net effect is a reduction in total drag.

Airplanes used much more streamlined shapes, so they already have really low base drag. If airplanes use dimples to energize flow, they will increase skin friction drag, but won't gain much in terms of their already low base drag. So the net effect will be an increase in total drag.

You might think that I just pulled this question out of the air just to post something but I have not.
I have actually done some research on the subject bullets and pellets do not have the length to size ratio that a plane does (at least not until you start talking about really heavy grain big bore rounds) this cushion of air that the dimples create could be an alternative to the flare tail that is currently being used to stabilize pellets or at least be used to reduce the needed tail drag and therefor increase its distance to accuracy ratio.
Thanks
Willie

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MousefartI also looked into the aerodynamics of a golf ball and why they are dimpled. Boils down to the fact that a golf ball is a sphere, spheres benefit from dimpling. A pellet is/does not. Golf ball dimple yes, pellet dimple no. Interesting question from the OP, led to fun discussions. Thanks for asking
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Sorry my post sounded a lot harsher than it was meant got artillery being lobbed at me from folks I thought were friends on another thread and am a bit gun shy.
I have no idea if it would work nor how the molding process could be made to work
 
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"Goodtogo"
"Willie14228"Well now that you mention it a golf ball would make one big ass bb gun bet that would knock a squirrel out of a tree LoL

Those are for mice we use a "potato gun" around here for a squirrel. That way we get the squirrel and the tree and have enough left over for chips. ;)



MMMMM Instant Squirrel Shepherds Pie now that's a recipe I can get behind
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FWIW - golf balls have BACK SPIN imparted on them by the club (when hit correctly). The rotation creates higher pressure under the ball as the bottom side rotates into the air flow, while low pressure is created as the top surface retreats from the oncoming air. Drag forces vary as the spin rate and the linear velocity varies.

Pellets do not have back spin...

Ergo, pellets do not equal golf balls
 
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