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Parasitic drag

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Form drag
Skin friction drag
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Parasitic drag, also known as profile drag,

(1991). 9780070016798, McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780070016798

(2025). 9780078027673, McGraw Hill Education. ISBN 9780078027673

is a type of aerodynamic drag that acts on any object when the object is moving through a fluid. Parasitic drag is defined as the combination of form drag and skin friction drag.Clancy, L.J. (1975). Aerodynamics, Sub-section 5.9. Pitman Publishing.

It is named as such because it is not useful, in contrast with lift-induced drag which is created when an airfoil generates lift. All objects experience parasitic drag, regardless of whether they generate lift. Parasitic drag comprises all types of drag except lift-induced drag, and the total drag on an aircraft or other object which generates lift is the sum of parasitic drag and lift-induced drag.

Form drag

Form drag arises because of the shape of the object. The general size and shape of the body are the most important factors in form drag; bodies with a larger presented cross-section will have a higher drag than thinner bodies; sleek ("streamlined") objects have lower form drag. Form drag follows the drag equation, meaning that it increases with the square of the velocity, and thus becomes more important for high-speed aircraft.

Form drag depends on the longitudinal section of the body. A prudent choice of body profile is essential for a low drag coefficient. Streamlines should be continuous, and Flow separation with its attendant vortex should be avoided.

Form drag includes interference drag, caused by the mixing of airflow streams. For example, where the wing and fuselage meet at the wing root, two airstreams merge into one. This mixing can cause eddy currents, turbulence, or restrict smooth airflow. Interference drag is greater when two surfaces meet at perpendicular angles, and can be minimised by the use of Aircraft fairing.

Wave drag, also known as supersonic wave drag or compressibility drag, is a component of form drag caused by generated when an aircraft is moving at transonic and supersonic speeds.

Form drag is a type of pressure drag, a term which also includes lift-induced drag. Form drag is pressure drag due to separation.

Skin friction drag

Skin friction drag arises from the friction of the fluid against the "skin" of the object that is moving through it. Skin friction arises from the interaction between the fluid and the skin of the body, and is directly related to the wetted surface, the area of the surface of the body that is in contact with the fluid. Air in contact with a body will stick to the body's surface and that layer will tend to stick to the next layer of air and that in turn to further layers, hence the body is dragging some amount of air with it. The force required to drag an "attached" layer of air with the body is called skin friction drag. Skin friction drag imparts some momentum to a mass of air as it passes through it and that air applies a retarding force on the body. As with other components of parasitic drag, skin friction follows the drag equation and rises with the square of the velocity.

Skin friction is caused by viscosity in the boundary layer around the object. The boundary layer at the front of the object is usually laminar and relatively thin, but becomes turbulent and thicker towards the rear. The position of the transition point from laminar to turbulent flow depends on the shape of the object. There are two ways to decrease friction drag: the first is to shape the moving body so that laminar flow is possible. The second method is to increase the length and decrease the cross-section of the moving object as much as practicable. To do so, a designer can consider the fineness ratio, which is the length of the aircraft divided by its diameter at the widest point (L/D). It is mostly kept 6:1 for subsonic flows. Increase in length increases Reynolds number ( $Re$ ). With $Re$ in the denominator for skin friction coefficient's relation, as its value is increased (in laminar range), total friction drag is reduced. While decrease in cross-sectional area decreases drag force on the body as the disturbance in air flow is less.

The skin friction coefficient, $C_f$ , is defined by

C_f \equiv \frac{\tau_w}{q},

where

\tau_w

is the local wall shear stress, and q is the free-stream dynamic pressure. For boundary layers without a pressure gradient in the x direction, it is related to the momentum thickness as

C_f = 2 \frac{d \theta}{d x}.

For comparison, the turbulent flow empirical relation known as the One-seventh Power Law'' (derived by von Karman) is:

C_{f,tur} = \frac{0.074}{Re^{0.2} },

where $Re$ is the Reynolds number.

For a laminar flow over a plate, the skin friction coefficient can be determined using the formula:

C_{f,lam} = \frac{1.328}{\sqrt{Re}}

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