Fluid Mechanics II

Lecturer: Marios M. Fyrillas, PhD

Room: 6215
Email: marios.fyrillas@nu.edu.kz
Tel: Ext. 9125
DRAG AND LIFT

1. Explain the meaning of Drag force and give the expression of the
dimensionless Drag coefficient.
The resultant force in the direction of the upstream velocity is termed the Drag
Force (D). It has two contributions the skin friction, related to shear stress and the
pressure drag, related to pressure differential between the front and the back of
the body. The dimensionless Drag coefficient is given by:
Drag Force
CD
,
1
U 2 A
2
where A is usually the frontal area, the projected area seen by a person looking
toward the object from a direction parallel to the upstream velocity, U .
2. Explain the meaning of Lift force and give the expression of the
dimensionless Lift coefficient.
The resultant force in the direction normal to the upstream velocity is termed the
Lift Force (L). Similar to the Drag force it has two contributions however the
contribution of the shear stress to the Lift Force is often negligible. The
dimensionless Drag coefficient is given by:
Lift Force
,
CL
1
2
U A
2
where A is usually the planform area, the projected area seen by a person looking
toward the object from a direction normal to the upstream velocity, U .
3. In the Figure we identify the Drag force, the Lift Force, and we show the
direction of the total shear force.

Lift
Drag

FS

resultant
shear force

4. Expressions for , using Buckingham theorem

As we mentioned earlier, the functional dependence between a certain
number of variables can be reduced by the number of independent
dimensions occurring in those variables. Hence, if we assume that
= [, , , ]
through Buckingham theorem we can obtain the following dimensionless
groups:

= , 1 2 2 = ,

2
i.e.

= [].

Above expression implies that two configurations that they are geometrically
similar they are also dynamically similar if they have the same Reynolds
number. Similar arguments hold for .

5. Stress Distribution around an airfoil

The drag force and the lift force on an object can be obtained by:
pressure drag

skin-friction drag

=
cos A +
sin A
main component

=
sin A +
cos A

For two dimensional objects, the drag is composed of a frictional component, related
to viscous shearing in boundary layers, and pressure drag, which is related to the
pressure differential between the fore and aft of the body. The character of the flow
dictates the relative importance of the two components, i.e. whether the flow
separates or remains attached to the object. The main characteristic of a separated
flow is a separation bubble/region behind the object in which some of the fluid is
actually flowing upstream, against the direction of the upstream flow (see figure).
Because of separation, the average pressure on the rear half of the body is
considerably less than that on the front half. Thus a large pressure drag is developed
and the viscous shear drag may be quite small.
Depending on the character of the drag bodies are distinguished as Streamline or
Bluff bodies. This separation is rather geometrical because all bodies experience
both forms of Drag:
a. A Streamline body is defined as a body for which the major contribution of the
drag force results directly from viscous or skin friction of the fluid on the body.
Streamline bodies are slender and do not distort the streamlines of the flow so
that the viscous boundary layer is attached over their entire surface. Examples:
airfoil, horizontal flat plate, falling droplet.
b. A Bluff (non-streamline) body is defined as the body for which the major
contribution to the drag force is due to the low pressure in the separated region
(the wake/bubble). The shape of the body produces an adverse pressure gradient
which results in flow separation. Examples: Sphere, body of circular or
rectangular cross-section, stalled airfoil (airfoil inclined at high angle).
6.

Relation between and

The flow phenomena that have major impact on the Drag Force and hence are:
a. Flow Separation,
b. Turbulent wake,
c. Turbulent Boundary Layer.
These are explained by considering flow over the ultimate aerodynamics body, i.e. a
plate aligned with the flow and a blunt object, i.e. a sphere, explained in the following
sections.

6.1

Flow over a flat plate aligned with the flow

6.2

Flow over a blunt object, i.e. sphere and cylinder

6.3

Variation of the drag coefficient with Reynolds number

For very small Reynolds number flows, the drag coefficient varies inversely with the Reynolds number.
For most objects, the low Reynolds number flow results are valid up to a Reynolds number of about 1.

6.4

Turbulent boundary layer

6.5

Flow separation