AE69006

AEROSPACE LABORATORY Ⅱ

Measurement of drag coefficient for a flow past circular cylinder by

direct weighing method

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Sandeep Saha Pushpa Pandey

Naresh Kumar

Jitendra Kumar Vishwakarma

Pawan Kumar

M. Jaffar Mujawar

Department of Aerospace Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur

AIM
To find Coefficient of drag of flow past circular cylinder by using direct weighing method.

APPARATUS
 Airflow bench

 Circular cylinder

 Multi-tube manometer

 Balance arm

 Dead weights

ABSTRACT
Drag is the heart of aerodynamic design. The accurate estimation of drag force by any method results in
economic design of vehicles. Total aerodynamic drag on the cylinder is estimated by using direct weighing
method. The drag coefficient of a cylinder was calculated from data obtained by performing tests flow with
varying flow rates. A graph is plotted between the co-efficient of drag obtained by the direct weighing
methods and Reynolds number. The co-efficient of drag obtained by weighing method is more accurate than
those obtained from pressure distribution because it includes both skin friction drag and pressure drag.

Keywords: Drag force; Drag coefficient; Reynolds number.

THEORY
INTRODUCTION

The resistance encountered by a body as it moves through a fluid is of great technical importance in
hydrodynamics and aerodynamics. Drag characteristics of objects in fluid flow is important for
engineering design point of view, to reduce the drag on vehicles like automobiles and aircraft for speed
and fuel economy. In this experiment we place a circular cylinder in an air-stream and measure its
resistance (drag force) by direct weighing method. We adjusted the weights (W) to achieve equilibrium
position and noted the value of the weights. Adjusted the flow speed and readjusted the weights to
achieve equilibrium. The values of the weights, total pressure and static pressure are recorded. From
experimental data of drag force coefficient obtained under varying conditions of flow velocity have been
plotted to show the variation of drag force coefficient with Reynolds numbers.

Where CD is Drag coefficient, W is Drag Force, ρ is air density and v is free stream air velocity.
 Much research have been carried out to predict the variation of Co-efficient of drag vs. Reynolds number
for circular cylinder

BACKGROUND

Drag is zero for a cylinder kept in a inviscid incompressible flow. Practically, the flow is viscous in nature.
Viscous flow forms the boundary layers on the object where speed of flow is very low. This is due to skin
friction resulting in drag. Thus, drag force is affected by viscosity of fluid and surface roughness of object. A
smooth surface will produce lesser drag.

Drag force is also affected by flow velocity and size of the object. Drag force increases with flow velocity and
projected area of object normal to the flow. Also, a denser fluid causes higher drag.

Drag force ‘FD’ on a body kept in a real viscous flow is given by,

______________________________(1)

where CD is drag cofficient, q is dynamic pressure and ‘S=DL’ is the projected area of the body normal to the
flow. L is length of cylinder.

Total pressure PT of a flow is summation of static pressure and dynamic pressure q.

Mathematically,

Dynamic pressure is expressed in terms of free stream velocity ‘v’ and density of fluid ‘ ’ as .

The above equation becomes,

( )
This gives frees steam velocity, √ ______________________________(2)

Drag cofficient is a function of reynolds number. Reynolds number of the flow for a circular cylinder is given
by

______________________________(3)

where ‘D’ is the diameter of cylinder and is the dynamic viscosity of the fluid.

Dynamic viscosity for air varies with temperature and is given by

where T is temperature of air in Kelvin.

If the drag force is balanced by a mass ‘m’, then

______________________________(4)

Equating equation 1 and 4,

Thus expression for CD comes out to be

______________________________(4)

PROCEDURE

1. Take dimensions of circular cylinder.

2. Fix the circular cylinder in the air flow bench.
3. Load the known weights in the weighing balance pan.
4. Set the flow regulator to desired position to balance the arm.
5. Take the total pressure and free-stream pressure from the airflow bench.
6. Find the freestream velocity and necessary parameters.
7. Plot graphs for (i) D vs V∞and (ii) CD Vs Reynolds number.

ANALYSIS OF RESULTS

 Calculation

( -Total Pressure, P- Static Pressure over the surface of cylinder, Cd- Drag coefficient,

W-Weight)

Projected area of cylinder= S= (0.012*.045)m2

Dynamic viscosity: As per Sutherland’s viscosity correlation with temperature,

Dynamic viscosity is given by,

Where T is temperature in kelvin. Here T=25 0C= 25+273 (K) = 297 K

Substituting in above relation,

( )
Pressure is given by

( )
√

For experimental case;

Drag coefficient, =
( )

Using above equation, the drag coefficient is calculated for the cylinder. The average value of Drag
coefficient is found to be,

= 1.138678.

[ NOTE: Refer TABLE-1 of APPENDIX for detail analysis of drag coefficient ]

PLOTS

Figure 1:Drag polar for the flow over circular cylinder

 Figure 2: Drag coefficient variation for various Reynolds Number

Figure 3: Drag V/s Velocity^2 plot

Figure 3: Comparison for Cd from literature with Weighing method and Pressure distribution method.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

JEETENDRA KUMAR VISHWAKARMA


The drag force for the flow past a circular cylinder can be obtained using: A. Direct
weighing method. or B. Pressure distribution method.

The force components included in the present experiment technique is the Drag force.
 The drag force i.e. the force exerted by the following fluid on the cylinder in direction of
flow depends upon the Reynolds number of the flow.

1. When Reynolds number(𝑅𝑒)<1, drag force is directly proportional to velocity and hence
the drag co-efficient ( 𝐷) is inversely proportional to Reynolds number.

2. (ii) When Reynolds increases from 1 to 2000, the drag co-efficient decreases. The
minimum value of 0.95 at Re = 2000.

3. (iii) When the value of Reynolds number is increased from 3×104 to3×105. At
Re=3×105, the value of CD is 0.3.

4. (iv) If the Reynolds number is increased beyond 3×106, the value of CD increases, and it
becomes equal to 0.7 in the end.
 When surface roughness is increased:
1. The drag force is increased with respect to the velocity.
2. The drag force is increased with increase in roughness of the cylinder with respect to the
diameter of the cylinder.
The experimental data of drag force obtained under varying conditions of flow velocity and
constant diameter of the cylinder. In this case diameter is constant, velocity increase and drag
force increase. In smooth surface drag force is less when roughness increases drag forces will
increases.
 The values of co-efficient of drags obtained from direct weighing and pressure distribution
profiles show close agreement in the range of angle of incidence between 0 to 180º. The
values of co-efficient of drag obtained by direct weighing method start deviating from the
corresponding values of pressure distribution method.
………………………………….. End of my part ……………………………………..
Results and discussion (Naresh Kumar)

 Drag cofficient and reynolds number was computed for each reading. Drag cofficient was found to
vary with reynolds number as shown in figure 2. It was found to decrease from 1.2 to 1.10 as the
reynolds number increases from 5.5 x 103 to 1.7 x 104. Beyond this, the Drag cofficient increases to
1.15 as the reynolds number increases to 2.45 x 104.
 It can be concluded that there is slight variation in drag cofficient (1.10 to 1.20) in this range of
reynolds number (5.5 x 103 to 2.45 x 104). This observation is consistent with the plot given in figure
4, which is based on experimental data. The plot shows that drag cofficient remains nearly constant
(between 1 and 1.5) in this range of reynolds number.

Figure-4: Variation of cylinder drag cofficient with reynolds number

(Source: “Fundamentals of Aerodynamics” by JD Anderson).

 Drag force was plotted with velocity of flow (figure 1) and variation was parabolic which is consistent
with the governing equation

since CD is nearly constant.

 Similarly, drag force was found to vary linearly with velocity2 as per above equation (Refer figure 3).
 Drag coefficient was found in the last experiment by measuring pressure distribution around the
cylinder is found to be 1.26 for a reynolds number of 1.21x104. In this experiment, the drag cofficient
is found to be 1.11 for the same reynolds number.
Probable reason for slight difference in the drag cofficient could be
− Fluctuation in balancing arm when trying to stabilize by varying the mass flow rate which is
further complicated due to friction in knob for varying the air flow rate.
− Friction in the hinge of the balancing arm which is assumed to be frictionless for the experiment.
 The above two factors were not present in the previous experiment.

………………………………………………….. End of my part ………………………………………………………….

Pushpa Pandey

In this experiment the objective was to calculate drag coefficient by weight balancing. The wind
speed were adjusted (for the given weight) to low level to achieve equilibrium position and the value
of the weights and wind speed were noted. The values of the weights and the total pressure and static
pressure at the inlet were recorded.

1. The different ways to find the drag force for the flow past circular cylinder
 Drag Force by Direct Weighing Method: In this method we calculated the drag
coefficient. We record the value of the drag force, total pressure, static pressure,
dynamic pressure.
Drag coefficient, Cd =
( )

Where -Total Pressure, P- Static Pressure over the surface of cylinder, Cd- Drag
coefficient, W-Weight, Scylinder –Projected area of cylinder

 Drag coefficient by pressure distribution Method: In this method we calculated drag

coefficient. We record the value of the surface pressure, static pressure, total
pressure& Pressure coefficient.

Where -Total Pressure, - Freestream static Pressure, - Static Pressure at the

surface of cylinder
Thus, drag coefficient can be written in terms of pressure coefficient

Cd = ∫

2. The force component’s included in the present experiment technique

 Skin Friction drag which comes from friction between the fluid and the surfaces over
which it is flowing. This is associated with the development of boundary layers, and it
sensitive to Reynolds number.
 Pressure drag comes from the eddying motions that are set up in the fluid by the
passage of the body. This drag is associated with the formation of a wake and it is
usually less sensitive to Reynolds number than the frictional drag.
3. The effect of Reynolds number.
  The drag coefficient decreases at low Reynolds numbers because the flow is in a
regime where the inertial forces are negligible. The drag coefficient at very low

Reynolds number to be Cd ∝ 𝑅𝑒. Once the drag coefficient levels off, the flow is now

in the laminar region with significant inertial effects.

 The large dive in the drag coefficient happens when the boundary layer over the
cylinder transitions from laminar to turbulent. Turbulent boundary layers are more
resistant to separation, so the flow stays attached longer resulting in decreased form
drag.
 The drag coefficient rises again as more of the cylinder has a turbulent boundary
layer. Turbulent boundary layers have a higher skin friction coefficient than their
laminar counterparts.
4. Effect of increased surface roughness.
It is observed experimentally that a roughened cylinder will transition to turbulent flow at a
lower Reynolds number than a smooth cylinder.

Figure 4. Drag coefficient Vs Reynolds Number for Smooth and Rough surface

5. Improvement in the current setup to measure the drag force more accurately
 Calibration is needed before the experiment is conducted and even during the
experiment when weights are changed
 Digital manometer should be used instead of multi-tubed manometer for stable and
accurate readings.
6. Comparison of Cd obtained from Direct Weighing Method and Pressure distribution
Method
Cd obtained from Direct Weighing Method = 1.138678
Cd obtained from Pressure distribution Method = 1.2608
% Deviation of Cd from Pressure distribution Method = 9.68%
A marked deviation of 9.68% in two values of the coefficient of drag is observed. This is due
to the formation of boundary layer on the surface of the cylinder. The coefficient of drag
obtained by weighing method is more accurate than those obtained from pressure
distribution.

………………………………………………….. End of my part…………………………………………………………….

Discussion (Pawan kumar)

Drag coefficient for the flow past a circular cylinder using direct weighing method was successfully
performed and the following points describe important points regarding the same.

 The drag force for the flow past circular cylinder can be evaluated by performing tests in
an air flow bench. To obtain the values of drag force, two popular methods :
 Direct weighing method
 Pressure distribution around the cylinder.
A comparison has been made between the co-efficient of drag obtained by the two
methods. A visible deviation in two values of the co-efficient of drag is observed obtained
from these methods. This is due to in pressure distribution around the cylinder method the
viscous drag is neglected. The co-efficient of drag obtained by weighing method is more
accurate than those obtained from pressure distribution because it gives the total drag
(skin friction drag and pressure drag).

 Force components included in the present technique are pressure drag force and skin
friction drag was determined.

 Cofficient of drag and reynolds number was computed for each reading. Cofficient of
drag was found to vary with reynolds number as shown in figure 2. It was found to
decrease from 1.2 to 1.10 as the reynolds number increases from 5.5 x 103 to 1.7 x 104.
Beyond this, the Drag cofficient increases to 1.15 as the reynolds number increases to
2.45 x 104.

 If surface roughness is increased.

Figure 5: Cd vs Reynolds number for a circular cylinder (Source- NASA images)

 For a circular cylinder of given diameter and velocity, the drag force increases with
surface roughness due to increase in skin friction drag. However pressure drag reduces
due to reduction of wake region behind the cylinder.
  Cd obtained from this method with the Cd obtained using pressure distribution.
 Comparison between pressure distribution method and direct weighing method for
determination of Cd.
 Value of drag coefficient is 1.26 from pressure distribution method and 1.126 from direct
weighing method for the same Reynolds number. The results are not satisfactory; drag
coefficient value from weighing method should be higher than drag coefficient obtained
from pressure distribution method. Because weighing method gives the total drag (skin
friction drag and pressure drag) and in pressure distribution around the cylinder method
the viscous drag is neglected.

 Deviation of results and Errors.

− Manually unable to stabilize the euilibrium position of balancing arm by varying the mass
flow rate.
− Friction at hinge of the balancing arm was neglected during experiment.

………………………………………………….. End of my part ………………………………………………………….

Discussion and Conclusions.

( M. JAFFAR MUJAWAR- 18AE60R12 )

The experiment on finding drag coefficient for the flow past a circular cylinder using direct weighing method
was successfully performed and the following points describe important points regarding the same.

 Different ways of determining drag force on cylinder are explained as follows:

 By pressure distribution method.
Here we obtain distribution of pressure on the cylinder surface, which gives us the drag force
acting on it. This method is somewhat inaccurate, as skin friction drag of the body is not
accounted for determination of total drag.
 By direct weighing method
In this method, we balance the force acting of the body (drag in this context) with weights. So
any force acting in the upstream direction of flow relative to body is accounted by the weights
being used.
 Oil film interferometry
Oil film interferometry relies on the principle that the rate at which oil thins on a surface is a
function of the shear stress magnitude.The interference between the partially reflected light at
the air-oil interface and the light reflected from the model surface will vary between
constructive and destructive as the oil film thickness changes. This is observed as a series of light
and dark bands or fringes, the spacing of which is proportional to the skin friction.
[Refer Naughton and Sheplak (2000) detail explanation for above method]

 Force components included in the present technique.

In the above experiment total drag force as the summation of pressure drag due to flow separation
and skin friction drag due to flow retardation by the cylinder were determined.

 Effect of Reynolds number on drag of circular cylinder is explained as below.

For the range of Reynolds number from 10-1 to 104 we observe a monotonic decreasing trend in Cd ,
That means drag coefficient actually decreases with increase in Reynolds number in this region.
 Figure 6: Cd vs Reynolds number graph for a circular cylinder. (Source- www.chegg.com)

The detail analysis is presented below.

Figure 7: Flow past a cylinder. (Source- NASA images)

 The first image from above figure shows an ideal flow, i.e. it simulates the flow at very low
Reynolds numbers. We have an ideal flow with no boundary layer along the surface, completely
attached flow (no separation) and no viscous wake downstream of the cylinder. This type of
flow does not occur in nature where there is always some small amount of viscosity present in
any fluid.
 In the second image we can observe a pair of stable vortices being formed at the rear part of
cylinder which are responsible for drag force on the cylinder. Here flow Reynolds number is
typically between 4 to 40.
 In the third image one can observe that the vortices have become unstable and are separated
from the body as they alternately shed downstream. This situation arises for Reynolds number
above 40. The alternate shedding is called the Karman vortex street.
  The value of Reynolds number for the flow shown in fourth image is of the order 105. Here the
Karman Vortex Street becomes turbulent and begins to transform into distinct wake.
 In the fifth image, the separation of laminar boundary layer still takes place on the forward face
of the cylinder. But in the free layer over the top of the separated region, transition to turbulent
flow takes place. The separation point is initially slightly downstream from the laminar
separation point, so the wake is initially slightly smaller and the drag is less than the
corresponding laminar drag. Increasing velocity eventually brings the turbulent drag up to and
even higher than the laminar drag value, but there is a range of Reynolds numbers, during
transition from laminar to full turbulent, for which the turbulent drag is less than the laminar
drag.
 Effect of surface roughness on drag coefficient of circular cylinder.
For blunt bodied such as cylinder in the present experimental case, increase in surface roughness
actually decreases the drag coefficient. This is done by tripping the boundary layer into turbulence at
low Reynolds number, causing the fluid to close in behind the body, narrowing the wake and
reducing pressure drag considerably.
This explains why golf balls have dimples on them as shown in below image.

Figure 8: Effect of dimples on golf balls.(Source-www.scienceabc.com)

 Improvement in drag measuring technique used in this experiment.

 Using more intermediate values of weights in addition to the one that are being used in this
experiment will give a better trend in drag values for different flow rates, or for different
Reynolds numbers.
 Also, the observations for balance of weights with drag over cylinder were carried out
manually. If we use some sophisticated technique of adjusting the balance position for
weights with the the force acting on the cylinder than the readings would be more accurate.
 Comparison between pressure distribution method and direct weighing method for determination
of CD .
From pressure distribution method- CD= 1.26
From direct weighing method- CD=1.138
The above values were calculated for Reynolds number value of 12100.
Comment- Since, by using direct weighing method we take into account both pressure and skin
friction drag, the value of drag coefficient by this method should be greater than the one calculated
by pressure distribution method. But considering error induced due to instruments and human
limitations and recalling that for bluff bodies like cylinder in this case skin friction drag contribution
to total drag is minimal, the results can be acceptable.

………………………………………………….. End of my part…………………………………………………………….

REFERENCES

[1] White, F. M., “Fluid Mechanics,” 6th ed., Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, 2008.

[2] Anderson, J.D., “Fundamentals of Aerodynamics,” 4th ed., McGraw-Hill, Singapore, 2005.

[3] Anderson, J.D., “Introduction to Flight,” 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 2001.

APPENDIX

TABLE-1

Observations for experiment on the Drag Coefficient of circular cylinder

S.No Weight(gm) Drag(N) Pt(mbar) P(mbar) V(m/s) Re Cd SQR_V
1 2 0.01962 8.2 7.9 7.164211024 5552.461 1.211111 51.32592
2 7 0.06867 9.1 8 13.71841968 10632.15 1.156061 188.195
3 12 0.11772 13.8 11.9 18.0295357 13973.39 1.147368 325.0642
4 17 0.16677 14.8 12 21.88702621 16963.05 1.102976 479.0419
5 22 0.21582 15.9 12.3 24.81755498 19234.29 1.110185 615.911
6 27 0.26487 16.9 12.5 27.43683936 21264.31 1.114773 752.7802
7 32 0.31392 17.9 12.7 29.826989 23116.74 1.117949 889.6493
8 37 0.36297 18.7 12.85 31.63629928 24519.01 1.149003 1000.855