Tutorial 12 : Forces on Submerged Bodies [Solutions]

MECH 2210 - Fluid Mechanics (L2)

Spring 23-24

Justin Sun
[email protected]

6th May 2024

Contents
1 Concept Recap 2
1.1 Lift and Drag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.1 Quantifying Lift and Drag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.2 Pressure and Friction Drag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 Exercises 5
2.1 Question 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.1 Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2 Question 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2.1 Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2.2 Case (a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2.3 Case (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2.4 Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.3 Question 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.3.1 Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3 Additional Problems 11
3.1 Question 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.1.1 Part (a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.1.2 Part (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.2 Question 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.2.1 Part (a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.2.2 Part (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.3 Question 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.3.1 Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

4 Appendix: Typical Drag Coefficients 16

1
1 Concept Recap
1.1 Lift and Drag
For all objects submerged within a fluid (usually air or water), the fluid exerts a force on the
object itself. These forces give us the fundamental lift and drag forces in objects such as cars,
planes, ships, etc. Lift and drag forces vary due to many factors, such as shape, size, surface
roughness, flow speed, pressure distribution, shear stress distribution, etc., which are inherently
hard to quantify, it is very difficult to quantify the lift and drag forces themselves. The physical
interpretation of these force components is the summations of the pressure distribution and shear
stress distributions caused by the flow over the object, as shown below:

Figure 1: Forces from the surrounding fluid on a two-dimensional object: (a) pressure force, (b)
viscous force, and (c) the resultant forces - lift and drag.

Figure 2: Pressure and shear forces on a small element of the surface of a body.

The x and y components of the fluid force on the small area element dA in the above Figure 2
are as follows:
dFx = (pdA) cos θ + (τw dA) sin θ
dFy = −p(dA) sin θ + (τw dA) cos θ
A direct summation of these forces can be expressed as follows:
Z Z Z
FD = dFx = p cos θ dA + τw sin θ dA (1)

2
and:
Z Z Z
FL = dFy = − p sin θ dA + τw cos θ dA (2)

1.1.1 Quantifying Lift and Drag

However, it is impractical to get these pressure or shear stress distributions. There are two general
ways to compute the lift and drag forces. The first “brute force” method is through numerical
simulations otherwise better known as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Otherwise, we use
the following equations:
1
FL = CL ρV 2 A (3)
2
and:
1
FD = CD ρV 2 A (4)
2
where we have:
(i) FL , FD : Lift and Drag Forces

(ii) CL , CD : Lift and Drag Coefficients

(iii) ρ: Fluid Density

(iv) V : Fluid Speed

(v) A: Characteristic Area (or Effective / Projected Area)

Note that the lift and drag forces are just factors of the dynamic pressure term 21 ρV 2 . Since the
drag and lift forces have many factors that are hard to quantify, i.e.:
 ε
CL = fL shape, Re, M a, F r,
ℓ
 ε
CD = fD shape, Re, M a, F r,
ℓ
we encompass them into a coefficient, CL and CD respectively. Some of these factors or concepts
you are already familiar with such as the shape, the Reynolds number, Re, and the relative surface
roughness, εℓ . The other two are the Mach number, M a and the Froude number, F r respectively.
The Mach number is the ratio of your speed to the speed of sound, and the Froude number is the
ratio of the inertial forces to the gravitational forces.

The Mach number is important since when we are travelling above the speed of sound (super-
sonic, M a > 1 ∼ 1.2 or even hypersonic, M a > 5), additional effects due to the shockwaves and
immense amount of excess energy affect lift and drag differently. The Froude number is an idea
to relate waves travelling within a free surface - often not considered unless we have to consider
the effects of fluid-fluid (such as air-water) interfaces.

These coefficients are normally extrapolated from experiments and presented as a reference chart
or a reference table. However, it is common that these coefficients vary depending on particular
configurations. As seen in the figure below, we can have two effective areas - Frontal and Planform

3
areas. It can be that a particular table has coefficients for the frontal area and another for the
planform area. Beware of the particular situation when using the reference tables for these
coefficients.

Figure 3: Examples of Characteristic Areas A depending on flow directions.

The above figure also gives you a better idea of how we quantify the Characteristic Area. You
may imagine a light shining in a particular direction onto the object, and the shadow we observe
is the Characteristic Area that we should consider.

1.1.2 Pressure and Friction Drag

Notice that we can further decompose our Drag Force term as follows:

FD = FD,friction + FD,pressure

where FD,pressure is the pressure drag, caused by the static pressure distribution onto the object,
and FD,friction is the friction drag, which is drag contributed by the shear stress, τ, distribution on
the object.

4
2 Exercises
2.1 Question 1
A wing generates a lift, FL , when moving through sea-level air with a velocity, U . How fast must
the wing move through the air at an altitude of 10,000m with the same lift coefficient if it is to
generate the same lift?

Assume the density of air at sea-level is ρsea-level = 1.23 kg/m3 and density of air at an altitude of
10,000m is ρ10,000m = 0.414 kg/m3 .

2.1.1 Solution
We know from Eq. (3) that our lift force can be expressed as follows:
1
FL = CL ρV 2 A
2
Therefore, for the lift force generated at sea-level, we have:
1 2 1 2
FL,sea-level = CL ρsea-level Vsea-level A = CL (1.23)Vsea-level A
2 2
and at an altitude of 10,000m, we have:
1 2 1 2
FL,10,000m = CL ρ10,000m V10,000m A = CL (0.414)V10,000m A
2 2
To find the velocity that generates the same lift, we can equate the lift generated, and given
the same lift coefficient and the same projected area (since it is the same object), we have the
following:

FL,sea-level = FL,10,000m
1 2 1 2
CL (1.23)Vsea-level A = CL (0.414)V10,000m A
2 2
2 2
(1.23)Vsea-level = (0.414)V10,000m
(1.109053651)Vsea-level = (0.6434283177)V10,000m
1.723663104Vsea-level = V10,000m

Therefore, we must travel approximately 1.72 times of the sea-level speed at an altitude of 10,000m
in order to generate the same lift.

5
2.2 Question 2
Air at standard conditions flows past a flat plate as shown below. In case (a), the plate is parallel
to the upstream flow, and in case (b), it is perpendicular to the upstream flow. From experiments
and theory, we have managed to obtain the following pressure and shear stress distributions in
the figure.

Determine the lift and drag forces on the flat plate in case (a) and in case (b).

2.2.1 Solution
No matter the orientation of the flat plate in case (a) or (b), the lift and drag are determined by
Eq. (1) and Eq. (2) where we have:
Z Z Z
FL = dFy = − p sin θ dA + τw cos θ dA

and:
Z Z Z
FD = dFx = p cos θ dA + τw sin θ dA

2.2.2 Case (a)

In case (a), we have θ = 90◦ on the top surface, therefore sin θ = 1 and cos θ = 0 and we have
θ = 270◦ on the bottom surface, therefore sin θ = −1 and cos θ = 0. For our lift force, we have
the following:
Z Z

FL = − p sin θ dA + τ w cos
θdA
Z Z 
=− p sin θ dA + p sin θ dA
bottom top
 Z Z 
=− − p dA + p dA
bottom top
Z Z
= p dA − p dA
bottom top

FL = 0

since p = p(x) = 0.

6
For our drag force, we have the following where we have no pressure terms since cos θ = 0:
Z   Z

FD = p cos
 θ dA + τw sin θ dA
 
Z
= τw sin θ dA
Z Z
= τw sin θ dA + τw sin θ dA
bottom top
Z Z
=− τw dA + τw dA
bottom top
1.24 × 10−3 1.24 × 10−3
Z Z
=− − √ dA + √ dA
bottom x top x
| {z }
double-negative
Z
=2 τw dA
bottom
1.24 × 10−3
Z
=2 √ dA
top x
Z
1
−3
= (2.48 × 10 ) x− 2 d(bx)
Zbottom
1
= (2.48 × 10−3 ) 10x− 2 dx
Zbottom
4m
1
−2
= (2.48 × 10 ) x− 2 dx
x=0
−2
 √ 4
= (2.48 × 10 ) 2 x 0
= (2.48 × 10−2 )[4 − 0]
FD = 0.0992 N
Note that we can combine the bottom and top integrals due to symmetry about the x-axis. Fur-
ther, note that mathematically, this symmetry is from the double negative term double negative
since we must place a negative term onto the shear stress term since the shear stress term is now
defined in the negative x-direction, but the shear stress in our figure is in the positive x direction.
To visualise this, refer to Figure 2 and increase θ to 270◦ by rotating the entire image including
the force arrows.

2.2.3 Case (b)

In case (b), we have θ = 0◦ on the front surface, therefore sin θ = 0 and cos θ = 1 and we have
θ = 180◦ on the back surface, therefore sin θ = 0 and cos θ = −1. Let us consider the lift force
first, where we can separate the forces into the front and back of the plate and we have no shear
stress terms since cos θ = 0:
Z Z


FL = −psin θ dA + τw cos θ dA
 

Z Z
= τw dA + τw dA
front back
Z Z
 
= τw dA +
 τw dA

front
 back

7
 FL = 0

where we can cancel out the shear stress integrals since it was given that τw (y) = −τw (−y).

For our drag force, we have the following where we have no shear stress terms since sin θ = 0:
Z Z

FD = p cos θ dA + τ θ
w sin dA
Z Z
= p cos θ dA + p cos θ dA
Zfront Z back

= p(1) dA + p(−1) dA
Zfront Z back
= p dA − p dA
front back
y2
Z   Z
= 0.744 1 − d(by) − (−0.893) d(by)
front 4 back
Z 2m Z 2m
y2
 
= 0.744 1 − b dy − (−0.893)b dy
y=−2 4 y=−2
Z 2m Z 2m
y2
 
= 0.744 1 − (10) dy − (−0.893)(10) dy
y=−2 4 y=−2
Z 2m Z 2m
y2
= 7.44 1− dy + 8.93 1 dy
y=−2 4 y=−2
2
y3

= 7.44 y − + 8.93 [y]2−2
12 −2
23 (−2)3
   
= (7.44) 2 − − −2 − + (8.93)[2 − (−2)]
12 12
= 19.82 + 35.72
FD = 55.56 N

2.2.4 Note
Note that the pressure and shear stress distributions are very different at different angles, as
observed in case (a) and case (b). Clearly there are two mechanisms responsible for the drag.
On the ultimately streamlined body (a zero-thickness flat plate parallel to the flow) the drag is
entirely due to the shear stress at the surface and, in this example, is relatively small. For the
ultimately blunted body (a flat plate normal to the upstream flow) the drag is entirely due to
the pressure difference between the front and back portions of the object and, in this example, is
relatively large.

8
If the flat plate were oriented at an arbitrary angle relative to the upstream flow as indicated in
the figure above there would be both a lift and a drag, each of which would be dependent on
both the shear stress and the pressure. Both the pressure and shear stress distributions would be
different for the top and bottom surfaces.

9
2.3 Question 3
An aircraft with a mass of 1000kg is designed to cruise at a speed of 80m/s at an altitude of
10km. The effective wing area is approximately 15m2 and exhibits and lift-to-drag ratio of 76.3.
Determine the lift coefficient. What power is required by the plane when cruising?

Assume the density of air at an altitude of 10,000m is ρ10,000m = 0.412 kg/m3 .

2.3.1 Solution
Given the aircraft is cruising at a constant velocity at a constant altitude, there must be no
acceleration in any direction and therefore all forces are in equilibrium. First, we find the force
equilibrium in the y-direction which is the weight and lift forces:
X
Fy = FL − W = 0
FL = W
1
CL ρ10,000m V 2 A = mg
2
1
CL (0.412)(802 )(15) = 1000(9.81)
2
1635
CL = (or ≈ 0.496)
3296
Given the lift-to-drag ratio is 76.3, we have the following:
FL CL 12 ρV 2 A
=
FD CD 12 ρV 2 A
CL
76.3 =
CD
1635
3296
CD =
76.3
75
CD = (or ≈ 0.006501)
11536
which gives us the drag coefficient. We compute the drag force as follows:
1
FD = CD ρ10,000m V 2 A
2
75 1
= (0.412)(802 )(15)
11536 2
900
FD = (or ≈ 128.57)
7
where the thrust from the aircraft FT = FD since all forces must be in equilibrium. From the
force, we can then compute the power, P , from the following relationship:
P = FT V
900
= (80)
7
P = 10285.7̇14285̇
P = 10300 W (3.s.f.)

10
3 Additional Problems
3.1 Question 4
Fluid flows past the 2-dimensional bar shown below. The pressures on the ends of the bar are
shown below, and the average shear stress on the top and the bottom of the bar is τavg .

Assume that the drag due to the pressure is equal to the drag due to viscous effects.
ρU 2
(a) Determine τavg in terms of the dynamic pressure, .
2
(b) Determine the drag coefficient for this object.

3.1.1 Part (a)

Note that we have the drag force from the shear stress (viscous effects): friction drag, and the
drag force from pressure: pressure drag. These two terms are equal as given in the question. Let
us first compute the friction drag as follows:
Z
FD,friction = τw dA
Z
= τavg dA

= τavg 2(10hb)
FD,friction = 20hbτavg

Note that we can take the shear stress term out of the integral since the question provides us with
an average shear stress term independent of x or y. Let us now find the pressure drag term:
Z
FD,pressure = p dA
Z Z
= p dA − p dA
front back
Z  Z
1 2 1 2
= ρU dA − −0.2 ρU dA
2 front 2 back
1 1
= ρU 2 bh + 0.2 ρU 2 bh
2 2
2
FD,pressure = 0.6ρU bh

11
Equating the pressure and friction drag, we get the following:

FD,friction = FD,pressure
 avg = 0.6ρU 2
20
hbτ bh

 
1 2
τavg = 0.06 ρU
2

3.1.2 Part (b)

We know that the total drag force, FD , is the sum of the pressure drag and friction drag, i.e.:

FD = FD,pressure + FD,friction
1 2
ρV ACD = 2 × FD,pressure
2
1 2
ρV ACD = 1.2ρU 2 bh
2
1 2
ρU bh


ρU2
CD = 1.2  bh

2
CD = 2.4

Note that we again used the assumption that the pressure drag is equal to the friction drag, i.e.,
FD,friction = FD,pressure .

12
3.2 Question 5
A plane with a lift-to-drag ratio of 25 flies with a speed of 80 km/hr. It maintains or increases its
altitude by flying in thermals, columns of vertically rising air produced by the buoyancy effects
of non-uniformly heated air.
(a) Show that for unpowered flight, for which the lift, drag, and weight forces are in equilibrium,
CD
the glide slope angle, θ, assuming it is downwards, is given by tan θ = .
CL
(b) What vertical airspeed is needed if the plane is to maintain a constant altitude?

3.2.1 Part (a)

Observing the diagram below for a gliding plane:

and given forces are equilibrium, we get the following force balance in the x-direction:
X
Fx = FD − W sin θ = 0
FD = W sin θ
and the y-direction:
X
Fy = FL − W cos θ = 0
FL = W cos θ
Therefore, computing the drag-to-lift coefficient, we have the following:
1
FD ρV 2 ACD
= 21 2
FL 2
ρV ACL
W sin θ CD
=
W cos θ CL
CD
tan θ =
CL
where θ is the glide slope angle.

3.2.2 Part (b)

Assuming an unpowered flight identical to Part (a), such that we have speed U along the x-axis,
then we must have a vertical downward speed U sin θ. The question gives us that lift-to-drag ratio
is 25, i.e., CCDL = 25. Therefore, we have:
CD
tan θ =
CL

13
 1
tan θ =
25  
1
θ = arctan
25
θ = 2.290610043◦

Therefore, without power, the vertical downward speed is as follows:

U sin θ = (80 km/h) sin(2.290610043◦ )

Vertical Downward Speed = 3.197443068 km/h

Therefore, to compensate for this downward speed without power, if we have the same vertical
upward speed, then we can maintain horizontal flight (constant altitude):

Vertical Upward Speed = 3.197443068 km/h

14
3.3 Question 6
Estimate the wind force on your hand when you hold it out of your car window while driving at
88 km/hr where your palm is normal to the wind direction. Repeat your calculations if you were
to hold your hand out of the window of an aeroplane flying at 880 km/hr. Assume a hand has
a width of 0.1 m and a length of 0.15 m. Refer to the appendix and state your assumptions to
compute the drag force.

3.3.1 Solution
At V = 88km/hr = 220 9
m/s, let us assume our hand is similar to a thin disk with CD = 1.1,
ignoring the reference area for now such that we use A = 0.1 m × 0.15 m. We then compute the
drag force, FD , as follows, assuming an air density of 1.2kg/m3 :
1
FD = ρV 2 ACD
2
 2
1 220
= (1.2) (0.1 × 0.15)(1.1)
2 9
FD = 5.915̇
FD = 5.92 (3.s.f)

2200
Then, at V = 880km/hr = 9
m/s, we recompute similarly as follows:

1
FD = ρV 2 ACD
2
 2
1 2200
= (1.2) (0.1 × 0.15)(1.1)
2 9
FD = 591.5̇
FD = 592 (3.s.f)

which shows us that a 10-fold increase in speed leads to a 100-fold increase in the drag force, i.e.,
FD ∝ V 2 .

Note: Since we are limited in our choice of shapes in the appendix, therefore, we had to make a
rather significant assumption, assuming the shape of a thin disk while also ignoring their reference
area as well. We can check the Reynolds number as follows:
ρV D
Re =
µ
(1.2) 220


9
(0.1)
=
(1.79 × 10−5 )
Re = 163873.370577 > 103

by assuming D = 0.1 as the smaller reference length, since the Reynolds number range desired
is Re > 103 , so we compute the smallest Reynolds number - which is a valid Reynolds number
for the thin disk case. Still, this assumption must be stated clearly to show the limitations of our
solution since the drag coefficient of a hand is not commonly known, we just find the most similar
case available to us.

15
4 Appendix: Typical Drag Coefficients

Figure 4: Typical drag coefficients for regular three-dimensional objects.

16