Wunibald Kamm

Wunibald Kamm (26 April 1893 – 11 October 1966) was an automobile designer, engineer, and aerodynamicist. He is best known for his breakthrough in reducing car turbulence at high speeds; the style of car bodywork based on his research has come to be known as a Kammback or a Kamm-tail.

Design

One goal of automotive aerodynamics is to reduce the air turbulence, or drag, caused by the shape of the automobile. Aerodynamic drag may be reduced either by reduction of frontal area or by reduction of the drag coefficient.^[1] In bodies such as automobiles and airships, drag decreases after the rear of a car's cross-sectional area is reduced to fifty percent of the car's maximum cross section; "the best position is nearer 45 percent of the length, and ... to have this maximum cross-section nearer the rear end than the front, and its drag has proved even less".^[2] There are other aspects of the car's design such as keeping the flow of air attached to the body far to the back of the car as possible to minimize pressure drag (the Bernoulli relationship).^[3] A design with less drag means higher efficiency and an increased maximum speed, given the same powertrain.

Career

German Professor, Wunibald Kamm worked with aerodynamics engineer Baron

In the 1920s, Kamm worked for

• In 1958, he received the German Service Cross, First Class.^[4]
• The
  University of Braunschweig conferred an honorary Ph.D. in recognition of technical lifetime achievements.^[4]
• Asteroid
  M.P.C. 111798).^[8]

• AMC Gremlin and AMC Eagle Kammback^[10][11][12] — The truncated hatchback design increased interior space capacity, not for streamlining.
• Chevrolet Vega Kammback^[13] — The station wagon design has more taper than the Gremlin, but not enough to gain aero-effects.

The Kammback "cut-off tail" design continues to be popular. It often insinuates streamlining when used in production cars and is a design technique to make the vehicle look "sporty".^[14][15][16] Kamm's design approach is found on popular mass-market vehicles, supercars, alternative fuel vehicles, as well as for race cars.^[17][18][19]

References