Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In aerodynamics, aerodynamic drag, also known as air resistance, is the fluid drag force that acts on any moving solid body in the direction of the air's freestream flow. [ 23 ] From the body's perspective (near-field approach), the drag results from forces due to pressure distributions over the body surface, symbolized D p r {\displaystyle D ...
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.
drag force F d. Using the algorithm of the Buckingham π theorem, these five variables can be reduced to two dimensionless groups: drag coefficient c d and; Reynolds number Re. That this is so becomes apparent when the drag force F d is expressed as part of a function of the other variables in the problem:
For Reynolds numbers below about 1 the dependence is linear, above 1000 (turbulent flow) it becomes quadratic. In air, which has a kinematic viscosity / around 0.15 cm 2 /s, this means that the drag force becomes quadratic in v when the product of object speed and diameter is more than about 0.015 m 2 /s, which is typically the case for ...
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 aerodynamic force is the resultant vector from adding the lift vector, perpendicular to the flow direction, and the drag vector, parallel to the flow direction. Forces on an aerofoil . In fluid mechanics , an aerodynamic force is a force exerted on a body by the air (or other gas ) in which the body is immersed, and is due to the relative ...
Consider fluid flow around an airfoil. The flow of the fluid around the airfoil gives rise to lift and drag forces. By definition, lift is the force that acts on the airfoil normal to the apparent fluid flow speed seen by the airfoil. Drag is the forces that acts tangential to the apparent fluid flow speed seen by the airfoil.
The distribution of forces on a wing in flight are both complex and varying. This image shows the forces for two typical airfoils, a symmetrical design on the left, and an asymmetrical design more typical of low-speed designs on the right. This diagram shows only the lift components; the similar drag considerations are not illustrated.