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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.
Drag is a force that acts parallel to and in the same direction as the airflow. The drag coefficient of an automobile measures the way the automobile passes through the surrounding air. When automobile companies design a new vehicle they take into consideration the automobile drag coefficient in addition to the other performance characteristics ...
For an object with well-defined fixed separation points, like a circular disk with its plane normal to the flow direction, the drag coefficient is constant for Re > 3,500. [17] The further the drag coefficient C d is, in general, a function of the orientation of the flow with respect to the object (apart from symmetrical objects like a sphere).
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.
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.
The drag at zero-lift can be more easily conceptualized as the drag area which is simply the product of zero-lift drag coefficient and aircraft's wing area (, where is the wing area). Parasitic drag experienced by an aircraft with a given drag area is approximately equal to the drag of a flat square disk with the same area which is held ...
The drag coefficient is used to compare the solutions of different geometries by means of a dimensionless number. A drag count is more user-friendly than the drag coefficient, as the latter is usually much less than 1. A drag count of 200 to 400 is typical for an airplane at cruise. [4]
Another method of determining trajectory and ballistic coefficient was developed and published by Wallace H. Coxe and Edgar Beugless of DuPont in 1936. This method is by shape comparison an logarithmic scale as drawn on 10 charts. The method estimates the ballistic coefficient related to the drag model of the Ingalls tables.