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Drag
Dragisaforcethatopposesmotion.Anaircraftflyinghastoovercomethedragforce
uponit,aballinflight,asailingshipandanautomobileathighspeedaresomeofthe
otherexamples.Itisclearthatviscosityisanagentthatcausesdrag.Wehaveseen
thatitgivesraisetoboundarylayersonsolidsurfaces.Thereisshearstressin
boundarylayersthatdotendtoretardthemotionoffluidpastthesolidsurface.Thisis
sketchedforanaerofoilsurfaceinFig.6.6.ThisistermedSkinfrictionDrag.

Figure6.6:Shearstressonabody

Thereisanotheragentthatcancausedrag.Thisisthepressuredifferenceuponthe
flow.Thiscouldcomeaboutduetogeometricaleffectsthatinduceseparationas
happenswithacylindertobediscussedlater.ThisiscalledPressureDragorForm
Drag,sinceitisduetothebodygeometry.

ThesumofpressuredragandskinfrictiondragconstitutesDragaboutthebodyor
ProfileDrag.

Figure6.7:Effectofthicknessofbodyondrag

Theshapeofthebodydeterminestherelativemagnitudeofthedragcomponents.A
thinbody(smallt/lratio)asshowninFig.6.7obviouslycauseslesspressuredrag.
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4/2/2016 Drag

Almostalldragcomesfromskinfriction.Athickbody(larget/lratio)isreadilyprone
forseparationandproducesconsiderablepressuredrag.Streamliningabodytoavoid
separationwillenabletodecreasepressuredragconsiderably.Itisobviousthatabluff
bodylikeacylinderorasphereoraflatplateplacednormaltoflowwillcause
separationandleadtopressuredragwhichmayfarmorethantheskinfrictiondrag.
Incaseofaflatplateplacedparalleltoflow(Fig.6.8),itistheskinfrictiondragthat
dominates.Ontheotherhand,incaseofaflatplateplacednormaltoflow,itisthe
pressuredragthatdominates.Inthelattercase,theplatebehaveslikeabluntbody
andgivesraisetoseparationbehinditwhichcontributestopressuredrag.

Figure6.8:Dragaboutaflatplate

Subsections

DragCoefficient

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(c)Aerospace,Mechanical&MechatronicEngg.2005
UniversityofSydney

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