Aerodynamic drag is the fluid drag force that acts on any moving solid body in the direction of the fluid freestream flow. Part of the drag is the direct consequence of the wing generating lift.
Questions tagged [drag]
312 questions
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Why is a half-streamlined body less aerodynamic?
As seen here, a streamlined half body is less aerodynamic than a fully streamlined body. The half streamlined one has less surface area (kind of) and less frontal area. Why is its drag more?
Wyatt
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What is the formula for induced drag?
I am looking to create one of these graphs for a simple model I tested in a wind tunnel.
I have managed to define the lift coefficient and thus I've been able to create the parasitic drag line. The problem is that I am having issues with finding…
Patrick
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Is it possible to create Interference Drag without physical surfaces conjoining?
Interference Drag is when boundary layers mix/combine, usually it's caused by pieces of metal conjoining (wing struts/gear retracting).
Is it possible for interference drag to be created without having physical surfaces connecting? Rather, is it…
Dmitri Scheidel
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Is the induced drag independent of wing span?
I am a new aviation student and I was reading about induced drag the other day. I know that it is produced as a result of the tip vortices and that the greater the aspect ratio of an airplane the less the induced drag force. But when it came to the…
Ghadeer Aiydhah
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How would the wave drag of an elongated Sears–Haack body change with a cylindrical mid section?
Would a Sears–Haack body have the same wave drag as the same body with cylinder of the same diameter placed in the middle, between two halves of the Sears–Haack?
Francis L.
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Is skin friction drag affected by material?
Normally, friction between surfaces is affected by the materials. Can skin friction be reduced by a low friction material like Teflon?
user2174870
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Which part of the boundary layer(chordwise) contributes most to friction drag? fore? aft? Why?
along the chord of a wing/airfoil section, which portion of it creates the most friction drag through the boundary layer?
Is it in the fore section, close to the stagnation point? or the aft section
toshi ba
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Are there any aerospace examples of applying a boat tail?
A way to reduce the pressure drag of bluff bodies is to apply a tapering of the tail (so called boat tailing)
I know some (extreme) examples of this method of drag reduction applied to cars:
Source
And I know that this a feature of the Very low…
ROIMaison
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Reference Area of Airfoils
Airfoiltools.com shows a higher Lift/Drag coefficient for thick symmetrical foils than for thin symmetrical airfoils.
Is this because the higher drag coefficient of those airfoils is hidden in the reference area/cross-sectional area or is this a…
x3oo
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drag force relationship with cube of speed?
So I saw this physics website that said drag grows quadratically with speed. Meaning the drag force at 200 km/h is 4 times what it is at 100 km/h. Ok I'm fine with that. But then it said the work required to accelerate to that speed grows cubically.…
kaz
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Is it possible to eliminate induced drag completely?
According to Wikipedia an airfoil of infinite length would create zero induced drag. Therefore, would it be possible to make a wing that creates no drag if you ignore viscous effects (skin friction) by walling it off on the wingtips to prevent…
Francis L.
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Is induced drag only created by wingtip vortices induced downwash?
In PHAK, I saw that There is two types of downwash
formed by airfoil shape that necessary(help?) to produce lift
formed by wingtip vortices
in phak 5-7 It said 'This induced downwash has nothing in common with the downwash that is necessary to…
aviii
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What is the difference between interference drag and form drag?
What are the differences between interference drag and form drag? And which factors affect them?
Chetan Gowda
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