Numerical Approximation of the Total Drag of a Body in a Tube.

Abstract

A study is made of numerical methods to approximate the total drag coefficient of an axisymmetric body in a tube. An analytical relationship for the drag coefficient is obtained via a standard open system control volume analysis. This relationship is found to be difficult to apply numerically using available numerical tools, leading to an approximation of the drag coefficient by neglecting the tube wall skin friction and the pressure distribution across the tube radius near the body tail. The resulting drag coefficient approximation, which accounts for tunnel blockage and horizontal buoyancy effects, is found to provide a good estimate to available experimental data for an unheated body. The approximation makes use of currently available numerical codes for axisymmetric inviscid and boundary layer flow. Numerical obtained drag distributions over a range of Reynolds numbers are compared with experimental drag data for the unheated laminar flow body in the Garfield Thomas 48-inch diameter water tunnel. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 25, 1985
Accession Number
ADA159548

Entities

People

  • K. C. Kaufman

Organizations

  • Pennsylvania State University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Base Pressure
  • Boundary Layer
  • Boundary Layer Flow
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Computational Science
  • Control Surfaces
  • Experimental Data
  • Flow Fields
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Geometry
  • Inviscid Flow
  • Layers
  • Pressure Distribution
  • Reynolds Number
  • Skin Friction
  • Standards
  • Water Tunnels

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Fluid Dynamics.