Anderson-98101 book December 5, 2009 15:45
CHAPTER 18 Laminar Boundary Layers 999
EXAM PLE 18.1
Consider a flat plate at zero angle of attack in an airflow at standard sea level conditions
( p∞ = 1.01 × 105 N/m2 and T∞ = 288 K). The chord length of the plate (distance
from the leading edge to the trailing edge) is 2 m. The planform area of the plate is
40 m2 . At standard sea level conditions, μ∞ = 1.7894 × 10−5 kg/(m)(s). Assume the
wall temperature is the adiabatic wall temperature Taw . Calculate the friction drag on the
plate when the freestream velocity is (a) 100 m/s, (b) 1000 m/s.
■ Solution
(a) The freestream density is
p∞ 1.01 × 105
ρ∞ = = = 1.22 kg/m3
RT∞ (287)(288)
The speed of sound is
a∞ = γ RT∞ = (1.4)(287)(288) = 340.2 m/s
The Mach number is M∞ = 100/340.2 = 0.29. Hence, M∞ is low enough to assume
incompressible flow, and we can use Equation (18.22),
1.328
Cf = √
Rec
Please note that for the flow over a flat plate at zero angle of attack, the freestream velocity
and density, V∞ and ρ∞ , are the same as the velocity and density at the outer edge of the
boundary layer, u e and ρe . Hence, these quantities can be used interchangeably. Thus,
ρ∞ V∞ c (1.22)(100)(2)
Rec = = = 1.36 × 107
μ∞ 1.7894 × 10−5
1.328 1.328
Hence, Cf = √ = √ = 3.60 × 10−4
Rec 1.36 × 107
The friction drag on one surface of the plate is given by
2
D f = 12 ρ∞ V∞ SC f = 12 (1.22)(100)2 (40)(3.6 × 10−4 ) = 87.8 N
The total drag due to friction is generated by the shear stress acting on both the top and
bottom of the plate. Since D f above is the friction drag on only one surface, we have
Total friction drag = D = 2D f = 2(87.8) = 175.6 N
(b) For V∞ = 1000 m/s, we have
V∞ 1000
M∞ = = = 2.94
a∞ 340.2
Clearly, the flow is compressible, and we have to use Equation (18.44), or more directly,
Figure 18.8. From Figure 18.8, we have for M∞ = Me = 2.94 and an adiabatic wall,
Cf Rec = 1.2
Anderson-98101 book December 5, 2009 15:45
1000 PA R T 4 Viscous Flow
1.2
or Cf = √
Rec
ρ∞ V∞ c (1.22)(1000)(2)
Rec = = = 1.36 × 108
μ∞ 1.7894 × 10−5
1.2
Thus, Cf = √ = 1.03 × 10−4
1.36 × 108
The friction drag on one surface is
2 SC = 1 (1.22)(1000)2 (40)(1.03 × 10−4 ) = 2513 N
D f = 12 ρ∞ V∞ f 2
Taking into account both the top and bottom surfaces,
Total friction drag = D = 2D f = 2(2513) = 5026 N
18.3.1 A Comment on Drag Variation with Velocity
Beginning with Chapter 1, indeed beginning with the most elementary studies of
fluid dynamics, the point is usually made that the aerodynamic force on a body
immersed in a flowing fluid is proportional to the square of the flow velocity. For
example, from Section 1.5,
L = 12 ρ∞ V∞
2
SC L
and D = 12 ρ∞ V∞
2
SC D
As long as C L and C D are independent of velocity, then clearly L ∝ V∞ 2
and
D ∝ V∞ . This is the case for an inviscid, incompressible flow, where C L and
2
C D depend only on the shape and angle of attack of the body. However, from
the dimensional analysis in Section 1.7, we also discovered that C L and C D in
general are functions of both Reynolds number and Mach number,
C L = f 1 (Re, M∞ )
C D = f 2 (Re, M∞ )
Of course, for an inviscid, incompressible flow, Re and M∞ are not players (in-
deed, for inviscid flow, Re → ∞ and for incompressible flow, M∞ → 0). How-
ever for all other types of flow, Re and M∞ are players, and the values of C L
and C D depend not only on the shape and angle of attack of the body, but also
on Re and M∞ . For this reason, in general the aerodynamic force is not exactly
proportional to the square of the velocity. For example, examine the results from
Example 18.1. In part (a), we calculated a value for drag to the 175.6 N when
V∞ = 100 m/s. If the drag were proportional to V∞ 2
, then in part (b) where
V∞ = 1000 m/s, a factor of 10 larger, the drag would have been one hundred
times larger, or 17,560 N. In contrast, our calculations in part (b) showed the
drag to be considerably smaller, namely 5026 N. In other words, when V∞ was
increased by a factor of 10, the drag increased by only a factor of 28.6, not by