Fluids 3 - Drag Measurement on a Sphere
Zain Humayoun
Student ID: 001031353
E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract It took many years of research, tests, experiments and effort
by a lot of engineers throughout the years to develop a good
In this report, a lab experiment that was conducted to measure understanding of drag forces through which the following
Drag is talked about how the experiment was conducted what equation for the drag coefficient was devised. The drag
was achieved from the experiment and what were the aim and coefficient equation is as shown in Equation 1. We can also
objectives of the lab. What did the students learned at the end determine the drag force from the same equation by
of the experiment and discussed about the graphs and the rearranging It as shown in Equation 2.
values that were obtained and what recommendations were 𝐹𝐷
there for the experiment. 𝐶𝐷 =
1
𝜌𝐴𝑣 2
2
1. Aim and Objectives of The Lab Equation 1. Drag Coefficient
The experiment aimed to collect data from the wind tunnel and
correlate it graphically with the given data so the drag 1
coefficient could be obtained at a given Reynolds number. 𝐹𝐷 = 𝐶 𝜌𝑢2 𝐴
2 𝐷
The objective of the wind tunnel experiment that was Equation 2. Force Drag
conducted was that the students would have knowledge Where FD is the Drag force
regarding this and to understand the following.
CD: Drag Coefficient
1. To Understand the experiment and its various U: fluid velocity
aspects regarding the drag of an object in a fluid P: Fluid Density
which was air in the wind tunnel.
𝜋𝑑 2
2. To make assumptions of the experiment and its A: Projected area of the sphere( )
4
results.
3. To measure and obtain the values from the In this system, the sphere which is the most common shape the
experimental procedures. is used as it is easy to calculate its cross-sectional area and
4. To analyze the data obtained through the experiment volume. The sphere is placed inside the wind tunnel to
and correlate it graphically measure the resistive forces by using the drag balance. For the
5. Then to discuss and examine the findings and report spheres to travel faster it is necessary to have a very low drag
it coefficient. A system was established whereby the sphere is
6. And to recommend improvements towards the stationary and the fluid is moving around as by a sphere
experimental procedure and the procedure to obtain moving freely in a fluid and measuring its resistive forces can
the values from the experiment. be complex.
Many experiments have been conducted throughout time to
2. Introduction and Background calculate the drag coefficient of many shapes in terms of
Reynolds number the equation of Reynolds number is shown
A Drag force is the resistance force caused by the movement below in Equation 3.
of the body through a fluid for example water or air. A drag 𝜌𝑣𝐷
force acts inverse to the direction of the oncoming flow 𝑅𝑒 =
𝑢
velocity (Anon., n.d.). there are many different types of drag
forces on an object few of them are a parasitic drag, skin Equation 3. Reynolds Number
friction drags, lift-induced drag, and. wave drags. Where Re: Reynolds Number
The drag force on an object usually moves through a fluid this p: Fluid density
has known for many years the first man to discover the V: Fluid velocity
buoyancy was known as Archimedes therefore as being the
first person to discover the law of buoyancy the principle was D: Diameter
named after him. The principle of Archimedes decides the U: Viscosity
mass of an item which is submerged in the fluid by deciding
If blockage ratio is taken into account in Drag force the
the quantity of fluid displaced. (Hemmati, 2020). By getting
equation is changed as shown in Equation 4.
the drag coefficient we can get drag force.
1 𝜋𝑑2 𝜌𝑢𝑑 𝜀 𝜋𝑑2
The Drag coefficient characterizes all of the complex factors 𝐹𝐷 = 𝜌𝑢2 . . ∅( , , )
that affect the drag it is a dimensionless number. This Drag 2 4 𝜇 𝑑 4𝐴𝑡
coefficient is usually determined experimentally using a Equation 4.
model in a wind tunnel.
Which makes Drag Coefficient
𝜌𝑢𝑑 𝜀 𝜋𝑑2
𝐶𝐷 = ∅( , , )
𝜇 𝑑 4𝐴𝑡
Equation 5.
3. Equipment Used
1. The Wind Tunnel
Wind tunnels are large tubes that blow air through them the
speed of the air can be controlled they are mainly blown by Figure 3. Wind Tunnel used in the lab
fans (Anon., n.d.).
2. Air Velocity Measurement
The wind tunnel is specifically designed for the use of students
this tunnel is mounted on castors so it can easily be moved Air velocity is measured by using a pitot-static tube. Air
from one place to another this wind tunnel is an Armfield low- velocity can also be measured by tube manometer as shown in
speed wind tunnel which is supplied by Armfield engineering Figure 4. which is fitted inside the wind tunnel in an inclined
Ltd, located in England in Hampshire. The material of the manner which measures the difference between some suitable
tunnel is made by fibreglass. section of the tunnel and the atmospheric air outside the tunnel
the manometer is specially built for this system tunnel the data
As shown in figure 1. The air enters in the tunnel through a are read and written down directly from the scale on the tube.
large intake section and passes through by a honeycomb mesh The difference between the outer atmospheric air and the air
to reduce the instabilities of the flow which are incoming. This pressure inside depends on the wind speed as the speed
is then followed by a contraction section to give a uniform increases the difference increases.
velocity distribution in the working section. The working
section is made from acrylic material and it's about 450mm
long in the working section the corners of the section has fillets
as shown in figure 2.
Figure 4. Inclined Manometer
3. Drag Balance
Figure 1. 2D Armfield Low-Speed Wind Tunnel At the point when mounted in the base of the wind tunnel
working section, the balance measures the drag force only.
The wind tunnels are provided with a lift and drag balances.
These system measures lift and drag as it uses various
components of levers and pivots. This particular system that is
used in the experiment has only lift and drag balances. The
system can be seen below in Figure 5. The static tube that was
used it was to measure the velocity of the air.
Figure 2. Cross-section of the working section
Figure 5. Drag Balance System
4. The Spheres Where P: Pressure (Pa), R: Specific Gas Constant is (287.05)
J/(kg.K) and T: Temperature (K).
The four spheres were made from wood and laminated so they
can be hollow they are manufactured and finished in the The Drag Force, Drag Coefficient and Reynolds Number were
workshop to an acceptable standard for smoothness. The fifth calculated using the equations as shown in Equation 1,2 and
sphere was smoker ball. All the spheres had different diameter 3. Blockage ratio was calculated by using Equation 6. as
with different colours starting from Black (48mm), Red shown below.
(75mm), Blue (100mm), Yellow (125mm) and Green 𝝅𝒅𝟐
(150mm). 𝑩𝒓 =
𝟒𝑨𝒕
Equation 6. Blockage ratio
Where Br is Blockage Ratio
d: Diameter
At: Cross-sectional area of the working section.
Table 1. Results and Calculations
Figure 6. Spheres U 𝑭𝑫 (𝑵) 𝑭𝑫 𝒑𝒖𝒅⁄𝝁 𝑩𝒓
(m/s) 𝟎. 𝟓𝒖𝟐 𝒑𝑨 (Re)
5. The Carrier
Black 4.5 0.1 4.57 14267.61
The carrier was designed to avoid as far as possible affecting
Sphere
the flow around the spheres in the region where the wake 6.5 0.16 3.50 20608.77
forms. It has the shape of a question mark with a well- 9 0.19 2.17 28535.22 0.019581893
streamlined upright part to reduce drag.
11.5 0.22 1.54 36461.67
4. Experiment Procedure 14.5 0.32 1.41 45973.41
Red 4.5 0.11 2.06 22293.14
1. The procedure of the experiment was conducted Sphere 6.5 0.2 1.79 32201.20
starting by opening the tunnel and placing a
dummy sphere carefully as the sphere could drop 9 0.3 1.4 44586.28 0.047807356
and fall inside the tunnel. 11.5 0.44 1.26 56971.36
2. Then the 2 counterpoises were set on the steelyard 14.5 0.58 1.04 71833.45
at the marked zero also the counterweight was
adjusted which was on the right side of the hand so Blue 4.5 0.19 2.00 29724.19
that the index is on the zero of the scale after being Sphere
6.5 0.35 1.76 42934.94
at zero the counterweight was locked in the place.
9 0.53 1.39 59448.38 0.084990856
3. After locking it, the velocity of the air was
increased to the desired value as specified by the 11.5 0.72 1.16 75961.81
inclined manometer and weigh the drag by moving 14.5 0.97 0.98 95777.94
the counterpoises to the left-hand side of the scale
Yellow 4.5 0.32 2.15 37155.23
so until the index reads zero again.
Sphere
6.5 0.6 1.94 53668.67
4. The air velocity at different speeds to obtain the
values which could be used to plot graph. 9 0.83 1.40 74310.47 0.132798212
5. All the steps from 1 to 4 were repeated on a total of 11.5 1.15 1.19 94952.27
5 different spheres.
14.5 1.4 0.91 119722.42
6. At the end of the experiment, the ambient
Green 4.5 0.5 2.34 44586.28
temperature and barometric pressure were
Sphere 6.5 0.81 1.81 64402.41
calculated.
9 1.15 1.34 89172.56 0.191229425
5. Results and Data Calculations
11.5 1.23 0.88 113942.72
During the experiments, various data were calculated and N/A due to much turbulence
measured for each sphere at different speeds as shown below
in Table 1. The values U (Air Velocity) and FD (Drag Force)
were obtained during the experiment and the rest were
calculated using the equations.
𝑃
The density of air was calculated using 𝜌 =
𝑅𝑇
6. Discussion 1.2166 0.047807356
49000 1.6368 0.084990856
The values were compared in Table 1. The Drag Force on each 1.90999 0.132798212
sphere was increasing as the speed was increasing. At one of
the maximum speeds which were 11.5 m/s of the green sphere 2.0359 0.191229425
had the most drag force which was 1.23 (N) and at 14.5 m/s
the data of drag force for green sphere was not obtainable as it
1.1211 0.047807356
had too much turbulence.
54000 1.5383 0.084990856
In this experiment it shows that the value for Drag force, drag
coefficient and Reynolds number increases with Air Velocity 1.80634 0.132798212
(speed) the more the speed the bigger the value is obtained 1.8874 0.191229425
from it.
Errors are difficult to identify but there could be some errors
in general such as in the system the manometer was not 1.0406 0.047807356
levelling with the zero. There could be some human error as 59000 1.4448 0.084990856
well as the readings could not have been measured correctly
or more accurately due to viewing it from different angles. 1.70719 0.132798212
1.7439 0.191229425
0.9751 0.047807356
1.3563 0.084990856
64000 1.61254 0.132798212
1.6054 0.191229425
0.9751 0.047807356
The values that were chosen as shown were 44000, 49000,
Figure 7. Drag Coefficient CD Against Reynolds Number 54000, 59000 and 64000 all have 5000 difference. Afterwards,
Re [Appendix for full view] the Drag Coefficient CD were calculated for each curve.
As shown in figure 7. The graph was Plotted between Drag
Coefficient against Reynolds number whereas, Re being in x-
axis and CD in Y-axis. All spheres were plotted as shown in
the graph the Yellow sphere had the most Reynolds number
whereas, the Black sphere had the most Drag Coefficient with
less Reynolds Number and Green sphere had the least Drag
Coefficient. Five values were taken down for each sphere
when plotting.
Five Arbitrary values were chosen for Reynolds Number for
all the spheres except Black sphere as shown below in Table
2. The pattern follows the Red, Blue, Yellow and Green
Sphere. The value for the Black sphere could not be calculated
as the result produced a big overlapping region.
Table 2. Selected Reynolds Number
Reynolds CD Blockage Ratio Figure 8. Drag Coefficient CD Against Blockage Ratio Br.
Number (Br) [Appendix for full view].
As shown in figure 8. Drag coefficient was plotted against
Blockage Ratio. Using the values that were founded by
1.3271 0.047807356 calculations.
44000 1.7403 0.084990856 The black graph was removed due to having a big overlapping
2.01814 0.132798212 region and the remaining were plotted. Blue line with the Re
value of 44,000 had the most drag coefficient with the light
2.1894 0.191229425
blue which has Re (64000) having the least drag coefficient
and blockage ratio. All the spheres increased slowly and then
it started to slow down and dropped very little.
9. The drag coefficient decreased in steadily but quickly from
44000 Re to 640000 Re. it dropped from 0.6823 to 0.2717 there
was a total difference of 0.3566.
7. Conclusion
The lab was conducted to measure the drags on 5 different
spheres all with different sizes, mass and different colours.
The spheres were placed inside the wind tunnel and at 5
different speeds, the values were obtained. The graphs were
plotted after obtaining the results.
Due to this experiment, the students were familiarized with the
equipment and how they could run the test and obtain results
and how to calculate the Drag force and Drag coefficient. The
Figure 9. Correlation Between the Drag Coefficient (CD) wind tunnel experiment was a success as the assumptions that
and the Reynolds Number (Re) [Appendix for full view]. were made was done. The aim and objectives were attained at
the end.
The graph above in figure 9 was the experimental that was
compared with the graph below in figure 10 the graph was
available online by NASA. The graph in figure 9. Had more 8. Recommendation
drag coefficient when compared with NASA graph. The
experimental graph that was plotted had the most Drag
coefficient [1] The system for wind tunnel could be enhanced
[2] Instead of using a manual drag balance, it could be
replaced by an electronic balance that would give an
accurate reading.
[3] A digital manometer could be used for accurate
results.
9. References
Anon., n.d. Drag Force. [Online]
Available at: https://www.real-world-physics-
problems.com/drag-force.html
[Accessed 14 March 2020].
Anon., n.d. Wind Tunnel. [Online]
Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_tunnel
Figure 10. Correlation Between Drag Coefficient VS [Accessed 27 March 2020].
Reynolds Number. (Hall, n.d.) Hall, N., n.d. [Online]
Available at: https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-
The drag coefficient on an object depends on several factors, 12/airplane/dragsphere.html
including the form, size, shape, inclination, and flow [Accessed 27 March 2020].
conditions. Hemmati, A., 2020. Drag Measurement of a Sphere in Helium
When the sphere is moving with low speed in a fluid the force II. [Online]
of the drag is also low on the sphere. But when the air velocity Available at:
increases the drag force also increases. As shown in the Figure https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/289d/d7157f90ffc7a3e81c26
b71d24726744107f.pdf
Appendix
Figure 11 Calculations
U 𝑭𝑫 (𝑵) 𝑭𝑫 𝒑𝒖𝒅⁄𝝁 𝑩𝒓
(m/s) 𝟎. 𝟓𝒖𝟐 𝒑𝑨 (Re)
Black 4.5 0.1 4.57 14267.61
Sphere 6.5 0.16 3.50 20608.77
9 0.19 2.17 28535.22 0.019581893
11.5 0.22 1.54 36461.67
14.5 0.32 1.41 45973.41
Red 4.5 0.11 2.06 22293.14
Sphere
6.5 0.2 1.79 32201.20
9 0.3 1.4 44586.28 0.047807356
11.5 0.44 1.26 56971.36
14.5 0.58 1.04 71833.45
Blue 4.5 0.19 2.00 29724.19
Sphere
6.5 0.35 1.76 42934.94
9 0.53 1.39 59448.38 0.084990856
11.5 0.72 1.16 75961.81
14.5 0.97 0.98 95777.94
Yellow 4.5 0.32 2.15 37155.23
Sphere 6.5 0.6 1.94 53668.67
9 0.83 1.40 74310.47 0.132798212
11.5 1.15 1.19 94952.27
14.5 1.4 0.91 119722.42
Green 4.5 0.5 2.34 44586.28
Sphere 6.5 0.81 1.81 64402.41
9 1.15 1.34 89172.56 0.191229425
11.5 1.23 0.88 113942.72
Table 1. Results & Calculations in Report
Drag Coefficient VS Reynolds Number
5
4.5
4 Black
3.5
3 Red
2.5
2Fd/(ρAu²)
Blue
2
1.5
Yellow
1
0.5 Green
0
0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000 140000
ρud/μ
Figure 7. In Report [Drag Coefficient Against Reynolds Number For All The 5 Spheres]
Relation Between Reynolds Number & Drag Coefficient For Each Sphere
2.5 Red
Blue
2
Yellow
1.5
Cd
Green
1
REPERE
S
0.5
Linear
(Green)
0
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 90000 100000
ρud/μ
Relation Between Reynolds Number & Drag Coefficient for Each Sphere.
2.5
Drag Coefficient VS Blockage Ratio
y = -40.614x2 + 15.617x + 0.6833
y = -45.871x2 + 16.581x + 0.5379
2
y = -49.895x2 + 17.189x + 0.4208
y = -52.683x2 + 17.442x + 0.3321
1.5 y = -54.238x2 + 17.338x + 0.2717
CD
0.5
0
0 0.05 0.1 Br 0.15 0.2 0.25
44,000 49,000 54,000 59,000 64,000
Poly. (44,000) Poly. (49,000) Poly. (54,000) Poly. (59,000) Poly. (64,000)
Figure 8. In report [Drag Coefficient against Blockage Ratio]
Correlation Between the Drag Coefficient and the
Reynolds Number
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
CD
0.4
0.3 Series1
0.2
0.1
0
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000
Reynolds Number
Figure 9. In Report Correlation Between the Drag Coefficient (CD) and the Reynolds Number (Re)
