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ShapeEffectsonDrag

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Thedragcoefficientisanumberwhichengineersusetomodelallofthecomplexdependenciesofdragonshapeandflow
conditions.ThedragcoefficientCdisequaltothedragDdividedbythequantity:densityrtimesreferenceareaAtimes
onehalfofthevelocityVsquared.
Cd=D/(.5*r*V^2*A)
Thisslideshowssometypicalvaluesofthedragcoefficientforavarietyofshapes.Thevaluesshownherewere
determinedexperimentallybyplacingmodelsinawindtunnelandmeasuringtheamountofdrag,thetunnelconditionsof
velocityanddensity,andthereferenceareaofthemodel.Thedragequationgivenabovewasthenusedtocalculatethe
dragcoefficient.Theprojectedfrontalareaofeachobjectwasusedasthereferencearea.AflatplatehasCd=1.28,a
wedgeshapedprismwiththewedgefacingdownstreamhasCd=1.14,aspherehasaCdthatvariesfrom.07to.5,a
bulletCd=.295,andatypicalairfoilCd=.045.
Wecanstudytheeffectofshapeondragbycomparingthevaluesofdragcoefficientforanytwoobjectsaslongasthe
samereferenceareaisusedandtheMachnumberandReynoldsnumberarematched.Allofthedragcoefficientsonthis
slidewereproducedinlowspeed(subsonic)windtunnelsandatsimilarReynoldsnumber,exceptforthesphere.Aquick
comparisonshowsthataflatplategivesthehighestdragandastreamlinedsymmetricairfoilgivesthelowestdrag,bya
factorofalmost30!Shapehasaverylargeeffectontheamountofdragproduced.Thedragcoefficientforasphereis
givenwitharangeofvaluesbecausethedragonasphereishighlydependentonReynoldsnumber.Flowpastasphere,or
cylinder,goesthroughanumberoftransitionswithvelocity.Atverylowvelocity,astablepairofvorticesareformedonthe
downwindside.Asvelocityincreases,thevorticesbecomeunstableandarealternatelysheddownstream.Asvelocityis
increasedevenmore,theboundarylayertransitionstochaoticturbulentflowwithvorticesofmanydifferentscalesbeing
shedinaturbulentwakefromthebody.Eachoftheseflowregimesproduceadifferentamountofdragonthesphere.
Comparingtheflatplateandtheprism,andthesphereandthebullet,weseethatthedownstreamshapecanbemodified
toreducedrag.
Atypicalvalueforthedragcoefficientofamodelrocketis.75,basedonthecrosssectionalareaoftherocket.Asshown
above,thisvaluecanbereducedslightlybyaddingafairing,orsmallcone,totherearoftherocketbetweenthebodyand
thenozzleexit.Longthinrocketshavelessdragthanshortthickrockets.
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ShapeEffectsonDrag

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Editor:TomBenson
NASAOfficial:TomBenson
LastUpdated:June12,2014Oct22
2015
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