What is Drag in Physics – Air and Fluid Resistance

In fluid dynamics, drag is a force acting opposite to the relative motion of any moving
object. The force a flowing fluid exerts on a body in the flow direction. Unlike other resistive
forces, such as dry friction, which are nearly independent of velocity, drag forces depend on
velocity. Drag force is proportional to the velocity for a laminar flow and the squared
velocity for a turbulent flow. Drag is generally caused by two phenomena:

Skin Friction. In general, when a fluid flows over a stationary surface, e.g. the flat
plate, the bed of a river, or the wall of a pipe, the fluid touching the surface is brought
to rest by the shear stress to at the wall. The region in which flow adjusts from zero
velocity at the wall to a maximum in the main stream of the flow is termed the
boundary layer. Therefore, a moving fluid exerts tangential shear forces on the
surface because of the no-slip condition caused by viscous effects. This type of drag
force, depends especially on the geometry, the roughness of the solid surface and on
the type of fluid flow.

• Form Drag. Form drag known also as pressure drag arises because of the shape
and size of the object. This type of drag force is an interesting consequence the
Bernoulli’s effect. According to Bernoulli’s principle, faster moving air exerts less
pressure. This causes, that there can be a pressure difference between surfaces of the
object. The general size and shape of the body are the most important factors in form
drag. In general, bodies with a larger presented geometric cross-section will have a
higher drag than thinner bodies.

Both of these forces, in general, have components in the direction of flow, and thus the
resulting drag force is due to the combined effects of pressure and skin friction forces in
the flow direction.
When the friction and pressure drag coefficients are available, the total drag coefficient is
determined by simply adding them:

At low Reynolds numbers, most drag is due to friction drag. This is especially the case for
highly streamlined bodies such as airfoils. On the other hand, at high Reynolds number, the
pressure drop is significant, which increases form drag.

The components of the pressure and skin friction forces in the normal direction to flow tend
to move the body in that direction, and their sum is called lift.

In aeronautics, the lift is an upward-acting force on an aircraft wing or airfoil. Bernoulli’s

principle requires airfoil to be of an asymmetrical shape.

Bernoulli’s Principle – Lift Force

See also: Bernoulli’s Principle – Lift Force

In aeronautics, the lift is an upward-acting force on an aircraft wing or airfoil. Bernoulli’s

principle requires airfoil to be of an asymmetrical shape. Its surface area must be greater
on the top than on the bottom. As the air flows over the airfoil, it is displaced more by the
top surface than the bottom. According to the continuity principle, this displacement must
lead to an increase in flow velocity (resulting in a decrease in pressure). The flow velocity is
increased some by the bottom airfoil surface, but considerably less than the flow on the top
surface. The lift force of an airfoil, characterized by the lift coefficient, can be changed
during the flight by changes in shape of an airfoil. The lift coefficient can thus be even
doubled with relatively simple devices (flaps and slats) if used on the full span of the wing.

The use of Bernoulli’s principle may not be correct. The Bernoulli’s principle assumes
incompressibility of the air, but in reality, the air is easily compressible. But there are more
limitations of explanations based on Bernoulli’s principle. There are two main popular
explanations of lift:
 • Explanation based on downward deflection of the flow – Newton’s third law
• Explanation based on changes in flow speed and pressure – Continuity principle and
Bernoulli’s principle

Both explanations correctly identify some aspects of the lift forces but leaves other important
aspects of the phenomenon unexplained. A more comprehensive explanation involves both
changes in flow speed and downward deflection and requires looking at the flow in more
detail.

What is Parasitic Drag

The term parasitic drag is mainly used in aerodynamics, since for lifting wings drag it is in
general small compared to lift. Parasitic drag is a combination of form drag, skin friction drag
and interference drag.

Skin Friction – Friction Drag

As was written, when a fluid flows over a stationary surface, e.g. the flat plate, the bed of a
river, or the wall of a pipe, the fluid touching the surface is brought to rest by the shear
stress to at the wall. The region in which flow adjusts from zero velocity at the wall to a
maximum in the main stream of the flow is termed the boundary layer. Therefore, a moving
fluid exerts tangential shear forces on the surface because of the no-slip condition caused by
viscous effects. This type of drag force, depends especially on the geometry, the roughness
of the solid surface (only in turbulent flow) and on the type of fluid flow. The friction drag
is proportional to the surface area. Therefore, bodies with a larger surface area will
experience a larger friction drag. This is why commercial airplanes reduce their total surface
area to save fuel. Friction drag is a strong function of viscosity, and an “idealized” fluid with
zero viscosity would produce zero friction drag since the wall shear stress would be zero.

Skin friction is caused by viscous drag in the boundary layer around the object. Basic
characteristics of all laminar and turbulent boundary layers are shown in the developing
flow over a flat plate. The stages of the formation of the boundary layer are shown in the
figure be

Boundary layers may be either laminar, or turbulent depending on the value of the
Reynolds number.

For lower Reynolds numbers, the boundary layer is laminar and the streamwise velocity
changes uniformly as one moves away from the wall, as shown on the left side of the figure.
As the Reynolds number increases (with x) the flow becomes unstable and finally for
higher Reynolds numbers, the boundary layer is turbulent and the streamwise velocity is
characterized by unsteady (changing with time) swirling flows inside the boundary layer.

Transition from laminar to turbulent boundary layer occurs when Reynolds number at x
exceeds Rex ~ 500,000. Transition may occur earlier, but it is dependent especially on the
surface roughness. The turbulent boundary layer thickens more rapidly than the laminar
boundary layer as a result of increased shear stress at the body surface.

There are two ways to decrease friction drag:

• the first is to shape the moving body so that laminar flow is possible
• the second method is to increase the length and decrease the cross-section of the
moving object as much as practicable.

The skin friction coefficient, CD,friction, is defined by

It must be noted, the skin friction coefficient is equal to the Fanning friction factor. The
Fanning friction factor, named after John Thomas Fanning, is a dimensionless number, that is
one-fourth of the Darcy friction factor. As can be seen, there is a connection between skin
friction forces and frictional head losses.

See also: Darcy Friction Factor

For laminar flow in a pipe, the Fanning friction factor (skin friction coefficient) is a
consequence of Poiseuille’s law that and it is given by following equations:

In turbulent flows, however, things are more difficult, as the friction factor depends strongly
on the pipe roughness. The friction factor for fluid flow can be determined using a Moody
chart. For example:
The frictional component of the drag force is given by:

Form Drag – Pressure Drag

Form drag known also as pressure drag arises because of the shape and size of the object.
The pressure drag is proportional to the difference between the pressures acting on the front
and back of the immersed body, and the frontal area. This type of drag force is also an
interesting consequence the Bernoulli’s effect. According to Bernoulli’s principle, faster
moving air exerts less pressure. This causes, that there can be a pressure difference between
surfaces of the object. The general size and shape of the body are the most important factors
in form drag. In general, bodies with a larger presented geometric cross-section will have a
higher drag than thinner bodies.

As can be seen from the figure, the drag force arises from the difference between the
pressures acting on the front and back of the immersed body. For this force can be calculated
(for this case) simply using the definition of pressure as:
Since the head loss is roughly proportional to the square of the flow rate in most
engineering flows, the total drag coefficient can be determined by simply adding the friction
and pressure drag coefficients:

Drag Force – Drag Equation

The drag force, FD,depends on the density of the fluid, the upstream velocity, and the size,
shape, and orientation of the body, among other things. One way to express this is by means
of the drag equation. The drag equation is a formula used to calculate the drag force
experienced by an object due to movement through a fluid.

The reference area, A, is defined as the area of the orthographic projection of the object on a
plane perpendicular to the direction of motion. For hollow objects, the reference area may be
significantly larger than the cross sectional area, but for non-hollow objects, it is exactly the
same as a cross sectional area.

Drag Coefficient – Drag Characteristics

As was written, the drag characteristics of a body is represented by the dimensionless drag
coefficient, CD, defined as:
The reference area, A, is defined as the area of the orthographic projection of the object on a
plane perpendicular to the direction of motion. For hollow objects, the reference area may be
significantly larger than the cross-sectional area, but for non-hollow objects, it is exactly the
same as a cross sectional area. As can be seen, the drag coefficient is primarily a function of
the shape of the body and taking into account both skin friction and form drag. It may also
depend on the Reynolds number and the surface roughness.

When the friction and pressure drag coefficients are available, the total drag coefficient is
determined by simply adding them:

At low Reynolds numbers, most drag is due to friction drag. This is especially the case for
highly streamlined bodies such as airfoils. On the other hand, at high Reynolds number, the
pressure drop is significant, which increases form drag.

Drag Coefficient - Cars

The drag coefficient is a common measure in automotive design. Drag coefficient, CD, is a
commonly published rating of a car’s aerodynamic resistance, related to the shape of the
car. Multiplying CD by the car’s frontal area gives an index of total drag. The result is called
drag area.

Since aerodynamic drag and drag force increases with the square of velocity, this property
becomes critically important at higher speeds. Reducing the drag coefficient in an automobile
improves the performance of the vehicle as it pertains to speed and fuel efficiency. The
average modern automobile achieves a drag coefficient of between CD = 0.30 and 0.35.