DRAG

INTRODUCTION
• Drag is the force which resists forward motion of the aircraft.
• It acts parallel to and in the same direction as the relative
airflow(opposite to flight path).
 INTRODUCTION
• Every part of an aircraft
exposed to the airflow
produces different types of
resistance to forward
motion which contribute to
the Total Drag. Drag = CD ½ρ
V2S
• Just as with coefficient of
lift(CL), coefficient of
drag(CD) expresses the Interference Drag
percentage of dynamic
pressure turned into drag.
• Skin Friction aks Viscous
Drag and Form Drag are
together known as Profile
Drag.
 FLOW ALONG FLAT PLATE
• The layer of fluid where velocity is changing from zero to a
constant value is known as boundary layer.
• Within the boundary layer there are relative velocities
between the particle layers and an internal friction is present.
• This internal friction extends to the surface of the body.
• The cumulative effect of all these friction forces is to produce
a drag force on the plate.
• This drag force is referred to as skin-friction drag.
 SKIN FRICTION DRAG
• Particles of air in contact with surface of aircraft are
accelerated to the speed of the aircraft and are carried along
because of viscous adhesion.
• Adjacent particles will also be accelerated but their velocities
will be lesser because viscosity of air is low.
• As distance from the surface increases less and less
acceleration of layers of air take place.
• Therefore, over entire surface there will exist a layer of air
whose relative velocity ranges from zero at surface to a
maximum at the boundary of the air affected by the presence
of aircraft.
• The layer of air extending from the surface to the point where
no viscous effect is detectable is known as the Boundary Layer.
 SKIN FRICTION DRAG
• Accelerating this mass of air requires a force, and thus creates
drag, which named as viscous drag, or more commonly “skin
friction.”
• Viscous drag is confined to a layer of air immediately adjacent
to the surface of the aeroplane; the layer within which all the
viscous drag develops is called the boundary layer.
• It is worth noting that viscosity of air increases with air
temperature. That means air “sticks” to the sides of an
aeroplane more on a warm day than a cold day.
• Therefore, there is more viscous drag(skin friction drag) on
warm days.
• In flight, the nature of boundary layer will determine the max
lift coefficient, stalling characteristics, the value of form drag,
and to some extent high speed characteristics of an aircraft.
 SKIN FRICTION DRAG
• Consider a flow of air over a flat surface as shown below.
• Boundary Layer will exist in two forms: Laminar and Turbulent.
• In general, flow at the front will be Laminar and become Turbulent at some
distance back, known as Transition Point.
• Increased rate of change of velocity at the surface in the turbulent flow will
give more skin friction than the laminar flow.
• Turbulent boundary layer has a higher level of kinetic energy than a laminar
layer.
• On a typical light aeroplane the boundary layer is only two or three millimeters
thick at the wing leading edge but more than a centimeter thick at the wing
trailing edge (even thicker on the aft sections of the fuselage.)
• On a large aeroplane the boundary layer may be four or five centimeters thick
at the trailing edge of the wing, yet less than one millimeter at the leading edge.
 TRANSITION POINT

• Forward movement of transition point will increase surface

friction drag because there will be greater area of turbulent
flow.
• Position of transition point depends on:
a) Surface condition-
thin laminar layer is extremely sensitive to surface irregularities; any
roughness in the skin of aircraft at leading edge will cause transition
to turbulent flow and the thickening turbulent boundary layer will
spread out downstream causing marked increase in skin friction.
 TRANSITION POINT
Position of transition point depends on(contd):
b) Adverse Pressure Gradient-
• A laminar flow will be encouraged in the region of Favorable Pressure
Gradient; a laminar flow can not exist when pressure is rising in the
direction of flow.
• On a curved surface, such as an aerofoil, the transition point is usually
at or near to the point of max thickness.
• Because of adverse pressure gradient existing on a curved surface the
transition point will be further forward than if the surface was flat.

THICKNESS-2MM

THICKNESS-20MM
 FORM(PRESSURE)DRAG

• Form drag results from pressure at the leading edge of a body being
greater than the pressure at the trailing edge.
• Skin friction causes a continual reduction of KE of boundary layer
flowing towards rear.
• Adverse pressure gradient behind the transition will cause an
additional reduction in KE of boundary layer.
• If boundary layer does not have sufficient KE, the lower levels of
boundary layer stop moving(stagnate).
• Upper levels of boundary layer will overrun at this point(separation
point)and the boundary layer will separate from the surface at
separation point .
• Reverse flow will start from trailing edge towards separation point.
 FORM(PRESSURE)DRAG

• Because of separation there will be a lower pressure at trailing

edge(TE) than at the leading edge(LE).
• An aerodynamic force will act towards the lower pressure-Form Drag.
• Separation will occur when there is no sufficient KE in the presence
of adverse pressure gradient.
• Loss of KE in the boundary layer can be caused by various factors.
a. As A of A ↑,the transition point moves closer to the leading
edge and APG becomes stronger. This causes the separation
point(SP) to move forward.
b. Eventually ,BL separation will occur so close to LE that there will
be insufficient wing area to provide the required lift, CL will
 LAMINER AND TURBULENT FLOW
SEPARATION

• Separation has been shown to be caused by the airflow

meeting APG, but it is found that turbulent BL is more resistant
to separation than a laminar BL when meeting the same APG.
• In this respect turbulent BL is preferable.
• But from the point of view of drag laminar BL is preferable.
 STREAMLINING
• Each part of an aircraft will be subject to form(pressure)drag.
• To reduce form drag it is necessary to delay separation as
close to TE as possible.
• Streamlining is the process of increasing the ratio between
the length and depth of a body, reducing the curvature of the
surfaces and thus the adverse pressure gradient.
• Fineness ratio is a measure of streamlining.
• Fineness ratio of an aerofoil is chord /thickness=c/t.
• It has been found that ideal fineness ratio is 3:1.

FINENESS RATIO= LENGTH/DEPTH

 INTERFERENCE DRAG
• On a complete aircraft the total drag is greater than the sum
of the values of drag for the separate parts of the aircraft.
• The additional drag is the result of flow interference at
wing/fuselage, wing/nacelle and other such junctions leading
to modification of the boundary layers.
• If one boundary layer causes another to separate the result
is a substantial increase in pressure drag, this is called
interference drag.
 INTERFERENCE DRAG
• Further turbulence in the wake causes a greater pressure
difference between fore and aft surface areas and therefore
additional resistance to movement.
• Interference Drag can be reduced by:
– Reducing the number of junctions. For example V-tail rather than
conventional tail. Monoplane rather than Bi-plane, etc.
– Making the junction at an angle more than 90 0 if possible. Acute
angles bring the boundary layers closer together and increase
interference.
– Installing filets. A filet is a smooth fairing that allows two boundary
layers to merge gradually.
 INTERFERENCE DRAG
• How to minimize Interference drag?
FACTORS AFFECTING PARASITE DRAG
1. Indicated Air Speed(IAS)-
• Parasite drag varies directly with square of IAS(V2)
2. Configuration-
• Parasite drag varies directly in proportion to frontal area presented
to the airflow; this is known as parasite area.
• If flaps are deployed, gears lowered, spoilers deployed, parasite area
is increased and parasite drag will increase.
3. Airframe Contamination-
• Contamination by ice, snow, frost, mud or slush will increase the
parasite drag coefficient.
4. Viscous drag dominates at small angles of attack and
pressure drag at higher angles of attack.
 PARASITE DRAG FORMULA

• Dp = CDp ½ ρ V2 S, where
Dp = Parasite Drag
CDp = Parasite Drag Coefficient
½ ρ V2 = Dynamic Pressure
S = Surface Area
 INDUCED DRAG

• Induced Drag is an undesirable by-product of lift.

• Wing tip vortices modify upwash and downwash in the
vicinity of the wing which produces a rearward component
of lift known as induced drag.
• The lower IAS, the higher angle of attack and the stronger
the vortices.
• The stronger the vortices the greater the induced drag.
 WING TIP VORTICES
• Air flow over the top surface is at lower pressure than that
beneath.
• Trailing edge and wing tips are the places where flows interact.
• Pressure differential along the span sets local flow(span-wise
flow) to move from root to tip beneath the wing and from tip to
root over the same. --- Fuselage centre line

Wing tip
root

• The resultant airflow direction is inclined towards the root on top

surface and towards tip beneath the surface-forming a series of
vortices trailing behind the wing with increasing vortex strength
towards tip.
WING TIP VORTICES
 WING TIP VORTICES
• Direction of vortices is towards the fuselage.
• At higher angle of attack(lower IAS)chord wise flow vector
decreases and spanwise flow vector increases, making the
two tip vortices further stronger and the drop in pressure at
the core may be sufficient to cause vapor trails to form.
 INDUCED DOWNWASH

• Wing tip vortices create vertical velocity components in the

airflow in the vicinity of the wing, both in the front and behind it.
 INDUCED DOWNWASH
• These vertical velocities strengthen upwash and
downwash, which reduces the effective angle of attack.
• The greater the vortices the greater the downwash and the
greater will be the reduction in effective angle of attack.

• Due to localized reduction in effective angle of attack, the

overall lift generated by a wing will be below the value that
would be generated if there were no spanwise pressure
differential-no local flow-no vortices – no downwash and
no reduction in effective angle of attack.
 INDUCED DOWNWASH
• To replace the lost lift by increased upwash and downwash
the wing must be flown at a higher angle of attack, than
would other wise be necessary.
• This increases drag and the extra drag is called INDUCED
DRAG.

αe= effective angle of attack

αi = induced angle of attack
 INDUCED DOWNWASH
• Previously we defined angle of attack (α) as the angle
between the chord and relative wind. However the wing
actually experiences a lesser effective angle of attack
(αeffective) which is equal to α minus αind.
• αeffective = α – αind
• There is a benefit of this in that the wing will not stall until
αeffective reaches the stalling angle of attack.
• Since αeffective is always less than α , stall is delayed near the
wingtip. We will explore this effect in detail later.
• On rectangular-wing aircraft this drag is concentrated at the
wingtips, on swept wing aircraft it spreads along the span.
 FACTORS AFFECTING INDUCED DRAG

Size of the lift force

– Greater the lift the greater the induced drag; in level flight lift equals
weight, so if aircraft weight increases more lift is required to maintain
level flight and consequently induced drag increases.
– Certain maneuver require lift more than the level flight lift such as
level turn, thus induced drag is higher in such turns than that in level
flight.
– Relationship of lift to weight is known as load factor; greater the load
factor the greater the induced drag.
– Induced drag will increase in proportion to the square of the lift
force.
 FACTORS AFFECTING INDUCED DRAG
The aspect ratio of the wing:
• The tip vortices of a high aspect ratio wing affect a smaller
proportion of the span so the overall change in downwash
will be less, giving a smaller rearward tilt to the lift force.
• Induced drag therefore decreases as aspect ratio increases
(for a given lift force).
• The induced drag coefficient is inversely proportional to the
aspect ratio
 EFFECT OF ASPECT RATIO ON LIFT

The effect of increasing aspect ratio on the lift curve is to decrease the wing
angle of attack necessary to produce a given lift coefficient( Fig. 6.10). Higher
aspect ratio wings are more sensitive to changes in angle of attack, but require a
smaller angles of attack for maximum lift.
 EFFECT OF ASPECT RATIO ON LIFT

Theoretically the CL peak values should not be affected, but

experimental results show a slight reduction of CLmax as the
aspect ratio is lowered.

CLmax

Stall Angle
 EFFECT OF AR ON INDUCED DRAG
• From Fig, it can be seen that at any lift coefficient, a higher
aspect ratio gives a lower wing drag coefficient since the
induced drag coefficient varies inversely with aspect ratio.
• When the aspect ratio is
high the induced drag
varies only slightly with
lift.

• At high lift coefficients

(low IAS), the induced
drag is very high and
increases very rapidly
with lift coefficient.
• A wing with a very
high aspect ratio will
have poor control
qualities at low
airspeeds.
DISADVANTAGES OF HIGH AR WING
Very high aspect ratio wings will experience the following:-
a. Excessive wing bending moments: which can be reduced by
carrying fuel in the wings and mounting the engines in pods beneath
the wing.
b. Reduced rate of roll (particularly at low airspeed): This is caused by
the down-going wing (only while it is actually moving down)
experiencing an increased effective angle of attack. The increased
effective angle of attack is due to the resultant of the forward TAS of
the wing and the angular TAS of the tip. The higher the aspect ratio,
the greater the vertical TAS of the tip for a given roll rate, leading to
a greater increase in effective angle of attack. The higher the
effective angle of attack at the tip, the greater the resistance to roll.
This phenomena is called aerodynamic damping.
c. Reduced ground clearance in roll during take-off and landing.
 FORMULA FOR INDUCED DRAG

• DI = CDI ½ ρ V2 S, where symbols have their usual meanings.

Or, DI = (CL2/πAR)(½ ρ V2) S,
Or, DI = (L2/(⅟2ρV2S)2 (1/AR) (½ ρ V2) S = L2/ (½ ρ V2 S) (1/AR)
– When air density decreases induced drag increases, therefore
induced drag is more of a problem for high flying aeroplanes.
– As span (b) increases induced drag dramatically decreases.
– Induced drag is inversely proportional to velocity squared, so slow
aeroplanes experience more induced drag than fast aeroplanes
(other things being equal.) As any aeroplane slows induced drag
increases dramatically.
METHODS OF REDUCING INDUCED DRAG
Modified wing tips : Wing tip fence, winglet, tip tank etc are
design features to reduce induced drag.
 EFFECT OF LIFT ON PARASITE DRAG
• While parasite drag is not directly
associated with the production of lift, Fig-1
in reality it does vary with lift.
• The variation of parasite drag
coefficient, C D p , with lift coefficient,
CL, is shown for a typical aeroplane
in Fig-1.
• However, the part of parasite drag
above the minimum at zero lift is Fig-2

included with the induced drag

coefficient. Fig-2.
• It follows that the greater the lift, the
greater the drag increments, and, in
fact, this additional drag is only really
noticeable at high angles of attack.
 EFFECT OF LIFT ON PARASITE DRAG
• Effect of Configuration:
a. Parasite drag, Dp , is unaffected by lift, but is variable with dynamic
pressure and area.
b. If all other factors are held constant, parasite drag varies
significantly with frontal area.
c. As an example, lowering the landing gear and flaps might increase
the parasite area by as much as 80%.
d. At any given IAS this aeroplane would experience an 80% increase
in parasite drag.
• Effect of Altitude:
a. In most phases of flight the aircraft will be flown at a constant IAS,
the dynamic pressure and, thus parasite drag will not vary.
b. The TAS would be higher at altitude to provide the same IAS.
EFFECT OF SPEED ON PARASITE DRAG
• Effect of Speed: The effect of speed alone on parasite drag is the
most important.
a. If all other factors are held constant, doubling the speed will give four times
the dynamic pressure and hence, four times the parasite drag, (or one
quarter as much parasite drag at half the original speed).
b. This variation of parasite drag with speed points out that parasite drag will
be of greatest importance at high IAS and of much lower significance at low
dynamic pressures.
c. To illustrate this fact, an aeroplane in flight just above the stall speed could
have a parasite drag which is only 25% of the total drag.
d. However, this same aeroplane at maximum level flight speed would have a
parasite drag which is very nearly 100% of the total drag.
e. The predominance of parasite drag at high flight speeds emphasises the
necessity for great aerodynamic cleanliness (streamlining) to obtain high
speed performance.
 AIRCRAFT TOTAL DRAG
• Total drag of an aircraft in flight is the sum Parasite Drag(DP)
and Induced Drag(DI).
• Fig below illustrates the variation of total drag with
airspeed(EAS) in level flight at given weight and clean
configuration.

• Note the predominance of DI at low speed PD at high

 AIRPLANE TOTAL DRAG
• Total drag of an airplane in level
flight = induced + parasite drag.
• Fig illustrates variation of total
drag with speed for a given
airplane in level flight at a
particular weight, configuration,
and altitude.
• Parasite drag increases with
speed varying as square of
velocity while induced drag
decreases varying inversely as
square of velocity.
• Total drag of airplane shows
predominance of induced drag at
low speed and parasite drag at
 TOTAL DRAG

• Induced drag is a small component at high

speeds (cruising flight) and relatively
unimportant since it constitutes only about
5 to 15 percent of the total drag at those
speeds.
• At low speeds (take-off or landing) it is a
considerable component since it accounts
for up to 70 percent of the total drag.
 TOTAL DRAG

• The speed at which total drag is a minimum(VIMD) occurs when

the induced drag and the parasite drag are equal to each other.
• Range, endurance, climb, glide, maneuver, landing and take-off
are all based on some relationship involving the aircraft total
drag curve .
• Aerodynamic efficiency, (L/D)max occurs at VIMD ,which
corresponds to 40 angle of attack in level flight.
 POLAR DIAGRAM
Polar diagram is a plot of
CL against CD; and the
point where tangent
drawn from origin
touches the polar
diagram gives the value
for (CL/CD)MAX or (L/D)max.
FURTHER COMMENTS ON L/DMAX

• Many important items of A/C performance are

obtained in flight at L/Dmax
• Typical performance conditions which occur at L/Dmax
are:
– Max endurance of jet aircraft
– Max range of propeller aircraft
– Max climb angle for jet aircraft
– Max power off glide range for both jet and propeller aircraft.
 EFFECT OF WEIGHT ON TOTAL DRAG
• As fuel is consumed, weight will decrease induced drag decreases, parasite drag
decreases a little; VIMD decreased.
• When the gross weight is increased induced drag increases more than parasite drag.

D
R
A
G

Vmd at higher weight

EFFECT OF CONFIGURATION ON T/DRAG
• Extension of flaps, landing gears, or air brakes will increase
parasite drag with hardly any affect on induced drag; VIMD ↓.
EFFECT OF ALTITUDE ON TOTAL DRAG

• In most phases of flight the aircraft

will be flown at a constant IAS, the
dynamic pressure and, thus
parasite drag will not vary.
• The TAS would be higher at
altitude to provide the same IAS.
 SPEED STABILITY

• Steady flight means the aircraft is in equilibrium-there is

no unbalanced force and no unbalanced moment acting
on it.
• When aircraft is trimmed to fly at a steady speed, thrust
equals drag; as such drag and thrust required has the
same meaning.
• If there is a speed variation, with no change in throttle
setting,(which is called thrust available),depending on
trim speed, there will be either an excess or deficiency of
thrust available.
SPEED STABILITY
 SPEED STABILITY
• In either case, there will be a tendency to return to original
trimmed speed at ‘A’.
• Steady speeds at speeds greater than VIMD ,is characterized by a
strong tendency of the aircraft to maintain the trim speed quite
naturally; the aircraft is speed stable.
• Speed stability is an important consideration, particularly at
speeds at and below VIMD, most often encountered during the
approach to landing phase of flight.
• If the aircraft is trimmed to fly at ‘B’; and it is disturbed and goes
faster than the trim speed there will be decrease in drag giving an
excess thrust which will cause the aircraft to accelerate.
• If disturbance slows aircraft below trim speed, drag will increase
which will give a thrust deficiency causing aircraft to slow further.
• Thus flight speed below VIMD is characterized by a tendency for
the aircraft to drift away from trim speed and aircraft is speed
unstable.
 SPEED STABILITY
• Consider an aircraft
maintains a constant IAS in
the speed unstable region;
now the pilot lowers its
undercarriage or deployed
flaps which reduces its VMD
(IAS).
• This improves the speed
stability by moving the
speed stable region to the
left.
 SPEED STABILITY

• Pilots must closely monitor the speed during

approach phase of flight; any tendency for the
aircraft to slow down must be encountered by
generous application of power.
• At speeds close to VIMD an aircraft usually exhibits
no tendency to either speed stability or speed
instability-the neutral IAS region.
 POWER REQUIRED
• Consider the relationship between Thrust, Drag and Power.
– Drag can also be referred to as 'Thrust Required' and a similar
relationship exists with 'Power Required' - they are both important
airframe considerations.
– Thrust is a FORCE (a push or a pull), used to oppose Drag,
– Power is the RATE of doing WORK,
– Power= (FORCE x DISTANCE)/TIME= FORCE X DISTANCE/TIME
– Power= FORCE X SPEED
– the speed of the aircraft through the air. True Air Speed (TAS).
– Therefore, POWER REQUIRED = DRAG x TAS
• If an aircraft climbs at a constant IAS, Drag will remain
constant, but TAS must be increased - so Power Required
will increase.
 POWER REQUIRED
• If an aircraft climbs at a constant IAS, Drag will remain
constant, but TAS must be increased - so Power Required
will increase.
• Work must be done on the aircraft to "raise" it to a higher
altitude when climbing.
• Logically, maximum work can be done on the aircraft in the
minimum time when the power available from the engine(s)
is greatest and the power required by the airframe is least.
• Minimum rate of descent is achieved in a steady glide when
the aircraft is flown at the minimum power required speed
(Vmp).
 POWER REQUIRED
• Graph below is drawn for sea level conditions where TAS =
IAS and is valid for one particular aircraft, for one weight, only
in level flight.
• It shows how a graph of TAS against 'Power Required' has
been constructed from a TAS/Drag curve by multiplying each
value of drag by the appropriate TAS and converting it to
kilowatts.
• The speed for minimum power
required is known as VMP and is an
Indicated Air Speed (IAS).

• Note that the speed

corresponding to minimum
Power Required (VMP), is slower
than the speed for minimum drag
(VMD).
 EFFECT OF ALTITUDE
• An aircraft flying at VMD will experience constant drag at any
altitude because VMD is an IAS.
• At altitude the TAS for a given IAS is higher, but the power
required also increases by the amount (Power Required =
Drag x TAS).
• So the ratio of TAS to Power Required is unaffected and VMP
will remain slower than VMD.
• This information primarily concerns aircraft performance, but
the relationship of speed for minimum power required (VMP)
and speed for minimum drag (VMD) is important for the study
of rate and angle of descent in a steady glide.
CONSOLIDATION
Qs AND As