Chapter 7
External Flows: Overview
If a body is immersed in a flow, we call it an external flow.
External flows involving air are typically termed aerodynamics.
Some important external flows include airplanes, motor vehicles, and flow around buildings.
Typical quantities of interest are lift and drag acting on these objects.
Often flow modeling is used to determine the flow fields in a wind tunnel or water tank.
Drag on Immersed Bodies
• Any body of any shape when immersed in a fluid stream will experience forces and
moments from the flow.
• Three forces and three moments related to this figure.
• Drag : The force on the body along stream axis
• Lift : The force that is perpendicular to the drag
• Side force: is the third force component along the third axis
Friction Drag and Pressure Drag
• The difference between the high pressure in the front stagnation region and
the low pressure in the rear separated region causes a large drag
contribution called pressure drag.
• This is added to the integrated shear stress or friction drag of the body:
The drag force, F, on a body immersed in a moving fluid is found to be a function of the fluid
velocity, V, viscosity, , density and body size D.
𝐹 = 𝑓 𝑉, 𝜌, 𝜇, 𝐷
rewrite this relation using dimensional analysis.
F V D
MLT-2 ML-3 LT-1 L ML-1T-1
𝜋1 = 𝐹 𝜌 𝑥1 𝑉 𝑦1 𝐷 𝑍1
𝜋2 = 𝜇 𝜌 𝑥2 𝑉 𝑦2 𝐷 𝑍2
F = f (, V, D, ) 𝐹 𝜇
𝜋1 = 𝑓 𝜋2 = 𝑓
𝜌 𝑉 2 𝐷2 𝜌 𝑉𝐷
𝐹𝐷
𝐶𝐷 =
1 2
2 𝜌𝑈 𝐴
If there were not viscous effects acting on an object there would be no friction
drag nor any pressure drag.
Viscosity causes friction and separation which causes pressure drag.
Friction Drag: the part of drag due directly to the shear stress
Pressure Drag/Form Drag: the part of drag due directly to the pressure
The Drag Coefficient is highly dependent on shape and the Reynolds Number:
𝐹𝐷
𝐶𝐷 =
1 2
2 𝜌𝑈 𝐴
The area A is usually one of three types:
• 1. Frontal area, the body as seen from the stream; suitable for thick, stubby bodies, such as spheres,
cylinders, cars, trucks, missiles, and projectiles.
• 2. Planform area, the body area as seen from above; suitable for wide, flat bodies such as wings.
• 3. Wetted area, customary for surface ships and barges.
External Flows: Overview
Types of External Flows:
Two-Dimensional: infinitely long and of constant cross-
sectional size and shape.
Three-Dimensional: may or may not possess a line of
symmetry.
Flow over a flat plate, parallel to the plate surface
1.328
𝐶𝐷 = 1ൗ Laminar flow ReL<1x105 (7.27)
𝑅𝑒𝐿 2
0.031
𝐶𝐷 = 1ൗ Turbulent Flow ReL > 1X105 (7.45)
𝑅𝑒𝐿 7
𝜌𝑉𝐿
𝑅𝑒𝐿 =
𝜇
11.14 As shown, wind is blowing on a drum. Estimate
the wind speed needed to tip the drum over. Work in SI
units. The drum weighs 20 kg, the diameter is 50 cm.,
and the height is 1 m.
P7.56 A delivery vehicle carries a long sign on top, as in Fig. P7.56. If
the sign is very thin and the vehicle moves at 105 km/h, estimate the
force on the sign with no crosswind.
3) A circular sign has a diameter of 50 cm and is subjected to normal winds up to 150 km/h at 10°C
and 100 kPa. Determine the drag force acting on the sign. Also determine the bending moment at
the bottom of its pole whose height from the ground to the bottom of the sign is 1.5 m. Disregard
the drag on the pole.
A cylindrical chimney has a diameter of 1.5 m and a height of 30 m.
If the chimney is to be designed for a wind speed of 60 km/h,
determine (a) the drag force and (b) the bending moment that must
be provided by the support structure?
• For air use: 𝜌 = 1.2 kg/m3 and µ = 1.8 × 10−5 kg/m.s
• Air flows past two hollow hemispherical cups of diameter 7.5 cm, as shown in
figure. The center of each cup is placed at R = 12 cm from the pivot O. If the air
velocity is 15 km/h, = 1.2 kg/m3, and =1.8×10-5 Pa s. Find:
a) The drag force on each cup.
b) Determine the direction of the rotation.
c) The moment at the pivot O.
P7.80 A heavy sphere attached to a string should hang at an angle when immersed in a stream of velocity U,
as in Fig. P7.80. Derive an expression for as a function of the sphere and flow properties. What is if the
sphere is steel (SG =7.86) of diameter 3 cm and the flow is sea-level standard air at U = 40 m/s? Neglect the
string drag.