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The drag equation may be derived to within a multiplicative constant by the method of dimensional analysis. If a moving fluid meets an object, it exerts a force on the object. Suppose that the fluid is a liquid, and the variables involved – under some conditions – are the: speed u, fluid density ρ, kinematic viscosity ν of the fluid,
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.
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
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.
The force F required to overcome drag is calculated with the drag equation: = Therefore: = Where the drag coefficient and reference area have been collapsed into the drag area term. This allows direct estimation of the drag force at a given speed for any vehicle for which only the drag area is known and therefore easier comparison.
The derivation of Stokes' law, which is used to calculate the drag force on small particles, assumes a no-slip condition which is no longer correct at high Knudsen numbers. The Cunningham slip correction factor allows predicting the drag force on a particle moving a fluid with Knudsen number between the continuum regime and free molecular flow.
= where is the relaxation time of the particle (the time constant in the exponential decay of the particle velocity due to drag), is the fluid velocity of the flow well away from the obstacle, and is the characteristic dimension of the obstacle (typically its diameter) or a characteristic length scale in the flow (like boundary layer thickness ...
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 ]