Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Form drag depends on the longitudinal section [clarification needed] of the body. A prudent choice of body profile is essential for a low drag coefficient. Streamlines should be continuous, and separation of the boundary layer with its attendant vortices should be avoided. Form drag includes interference drag, caused by the mixing of airflow ...
Drag coefficients in fluids with Reynolds number approximately 10 4 [1] [2] Shapes are depicted with the same projected frontal area. In fluid dynamics, the drag coefficient (commonly denoted as: , or ) is a dimensionless quantity that is used to quantify the drag or resistance of an object in a fluid environment, such as air or water.
The equation is precise – it simply provides the definition of (drag coefficient), which varies with the Reynolds number and is found by experiment. Of particular importance is the u 2 {\displaystyle u^{2}} dependence on flow velocity, meaning that fluid drag increases with the square of flow velocity.
Parasitic drag, or profile drag, is the sum of viscous pressure drag (form drag) and drag due to surface roughness (skin friction drag). Additionally, the presence of multiple bodies in relative proximity may incur so called interference drag , which is sometimes described as a component of parasitic drag.
Note the minus sign in the equation, the drag force points in the opposite direction to the relative velocity: drag opposes the motion. Stokes' law makes the following assumptions for the behavior of a particle in a fluid: Laminar flow; No inertial effects (zero Reynolds number) Spherical particles; Homogeneous (uniform in composition) material
Skin friction drag is generally expressed in terms of the Reynolds number, which is the ratio between inertial force and viscous force. Total drag can be decomposed into a skin friction drag component and a pressure drag component, where pressure drag includes all other sources of drag including lift-induced drag. [1]
The drag curve or drag polar is the relationship between the drag on an aircraft and other variables, such as lift, the coefficient of lift, angle-of-attack or speed. It may be described by an equation or displayed as a graph (sometimes called a "polar plot"). [1] Drag may be expressed as actual drag or the coefficient of drag.
In mechanics and aerodynamics, the drag area of an object represents the effective size of the object as it is "seen" by the fluid flow around it. The drag area is usually expressed as a product , where is a representative area of the object, and is the drag coefficient, which represents what shape it has and how streamlined it is.