Module # 4

Flow Past of Immersed

Bodies

1 1
Incompressible Flow

2 2
Flow Around Objects

3 3
FLUID FLOW ABOUT IMMERSED BODIES
Drag due to surface stresses composed
of normal (pressure) and tangential
(viscous) stresses.
p7 p8
p6 5 6 p9
7
p5 4 8 p10
U DRAG
p4 3 p11
9
p3 2 p12
10
p2 1 ……
p13
p1 p…
Fluid Resistance
The transmission of energy from an object passing through a
fluid to the fluid is known as fluid resistance.

The resistance of an object passing through a fluid increases

as the speed of the object increases and as the viscosity of the
fluid increases.
Drag
◦ Is the
resistance an
airplane
experiences
in moving
forward
through the
air
 Fn  P A P : pressure
At any point on surface:
Ft   A  : shear stress
Integrate pressure and shear stress distributions around body
surface

Drag FD - component of resultant force in direction of flow

Lift FL - component of resultant force perpendicular to
direction of flow
Concept of Drag
Drag is the retarding force exerted on a moving body
in a fluid medium
It does not attempt to turn the object, simply to slow
it down
It is a function of the speed of the body, the size (and
shape) of the body, and the fluid through which it is
moving
Drag Force Due to Air
The drag force due to wind (air) acting on an object
can be found by:
FD = ½ ρ CDV2A

where: FD = drag force (N)

CD = drag coefficient (no units)
V = velocity of object (m/s)
A = projected area (m2)
ρ = density of air (kg/m3) {1.2 kg/m3}
Surface and Form Drag
Surface drag is a result of the friction between the
surface and the fluid.
The fluid closest to the object (boundary layer) rubs
against the object creating friction.

Form drag occurs when air is driven past an

object and is diverted outward creating a low
pressure region behind the object.
low pressure

high pressure
Form Drag
Low form drag
The orientation of the
object will affect the
frontal area and will
play an important role
in the amount of form
drag.

High form drag

 Lift and Drag
shear stress and pressure integrated over the surface of a
body create force
drag: force component in the direction of upstream
velocity
lift: force normal to upstream velocity (might have 2
components in general case)
D
D   dFx   p cos  dA    w sin  dA CD  1 2
2 U A
L
L   dFy   p sin  dA    w cos  dA CL  1 2
2 U A

CD = FD/(1/2 U2A) = CD,pressure + CD,friction

 Projected Area
The projected area used in the FD is the area “seen” by the
fluid.
Spherical Particle
2
2 D
A  R 
4
 Projected Area
For objects having shapes other than spherical, it is
necessary to specify the size, geometry and orientation
relative to the direction of flow.
Cylinder

Axis perpendicular to flow Rectangle A  LD

2
D
Axis parallel to flow Circle A
4
 Resultant
FR
Lift FL
C

A B

drag D
FD
 Drag force due
to pressure difference
low pressure region

motion of air

high pressure region motion of object

 Drag force due
to pressure difference
flow speed (high) vair + v
 reduced pressure

v
vair (vball)

v flow speed (low) vair - v

 increased pressure

Boundary layer – air

sticks to ball
high pressure region (viscosity) – air
low pressure region dragged around with
ball
lift
Drag Coefficient
For slow flow around a sphere and Re <10

24 24 
Cd  
Re Du0 
2
Recall:
C d A u 0
FD 
2
Stokes’ Law for Creeping Flow Around Sphere

FD  3 Du0
 Flow past an object

Character of the
steady, viscous flow
past a circular
cylinder: (a) low
Reynolds number
flow, (b) moderate
Reynolds number
flow, (c) large
Reynolds number
flow.
Effect of pressure gradient

inviscid flow viscous flow

Examples
• b/h =1 square, CD = 1.18; (disk; CD = 1.17)
• CD independent of Re for Re > 1000
Question: CD = FD/(1/2 U2A)
What happens to CD if double area (b/h 2b/2h)?
What happens to FD if double area (b/h 2b/2h)?
Drag dependence
 Drag Coefficient
Re  10 Cd  24 Re Re  1000 Cd  0.44

for external flow: Re > 100 dominated by inertia, Re < 1 – by viscosity

Why Different Regions?
As the flow rate increases wake drag becomes an important factor.
The streamline pattern becomes mixed at the rear of the particle thus
causing a greater pressure at the front of the particle and thus an extra
force term due to pressure difference. At very high Reynolds numbers
completely separate in the wake.

Streamline separation
Example
A cylindrical bridge pier 1 meter in diameter is submerged to a depth
of 10m in a river at 20°C. Water is flowing past at a velocity of 1.2
m/s. Calculate the force in Newtons on the pier.

 water  998.2kg m 3
 water  1.005  x10 3 kg m  s u0  1.2m s
 Cd A u02
Fk 
2
3
 u0 D 998.2 kg m 1.2 m s 1m 6
Re    1.192  10
 1.005 10 3 kg m  s
From figure Cd ≈ 0.35

Projected Area = DL = 10 m2

2
0.35 kg 2 m
Fk  10m 2  998.2 3  1.2  2  2,515 N
2 m s
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29
 STREAMLINING
Streamlining is the attempt to reduce the drag on a body

CD ~ 2 for flat plate CD ~ 0.06

Streamlining
The less drag you have…
◦ Flying a glider: the further you
can fly
◦ Flying an airplane: the less fuel
you use

Therefore streamlining is important

◦ A design device by which a body
is shaped to minimize drag
In general, the importance of
streamlining to reduce drag.
2-D rectangular cylinder
STREAMLINING
 STREAMLINING

2 cm

~ same drag AND wake

 Non-circular Channels
Equivalent diameter defined as 4 times the hydraulic radius
(rH).
A
r 
H
L p

Where, A = cross-sectional area of channel

Lp = perimeter of channel in contact with fluid

Hydraulic radius of circular tube,

D 4 D
2

r 
H

D 4
The equivalent diameter is 4 rH.
For a rectangular duct with width W and height H, the
hydraulic diameter is
4A 4WH 2WH H
Dh   
P 2(W  H ) W  H

W
Annulus between two circular pipes

D D 2 2

  0

D  D
i

r 4 4  0 i

D  D 4 i 0
 Sphericity

Surface area of sphere, Sp = 4  r 2 =  Dp2

Volume of sphere, Vp = (4/3)  r 3 = (1/6)  Dp3

Sphericity (s) : The surface-volume ratio for a sphere of

diameter Dp divided by the surface-volume ratio for the
particle whose Nominal size is Dp.

6
D S 6

S
p

p

V D
s

v p
p s p

37
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40
41
42
Response to Superficial Velocities
44
45
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Problem
Air (  = 1.22 Kg/m3,  = 1.9 X 10 –-5 pa.s) is flowing
in a fixed bed of a diameter 0.5 m and height 2.5 m. The
bed is packed with spherical particles of diameter 10 mm.
The void fraction is 0.38. The air mass flow rate is 0.5
kg/s. Calculate the pressure drop across the bed of
particles.

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Solution
Q = volumetric flow rate = = 0.41 m3/s

A = D2 = (0.5)2 = 0.1963 m2

u = = = 2.1 m/s

Rep = =

Rep = 2174

fp = + 1.75 = 1.819 =

  0.276 x 105 pa.

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