Drag Coefficients of Circular Cylinders - ESDU 80025

Drag Coefficients of Plain Cylinders (Section 3)

USER DATA

Cylinder diameter, D [m]

Roughness height, e [mm]
Inflow turbulence factor, lT

0.41801
1.00E-01
1.00

DERIVED CONSTANTS
/D
E = /D x 10^3
Log10Reea (Eq. C.1)
Log10Reeb (Eq. C.2)
Reea
Reeb
b (Eq. C.4.3)
CM (Eq. C.4.4)
CB (Eq. C.4.5)
n (Eq. C.4.6)
'R (Eq. C.5.1)
R (='R for Ree>10^4) (Eq. C.5.1)

0.00024
0.239
5.71
5.81
5.09E+05
6.40E+05
5.1325
0.7504
0.3988
0.0599
1.16
1.16

Cd vs. Re
1.4
1.2
Drag Coefficient, Cd
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
1.0E+04

1.0E+05

1.0E+06

1.0E+07

Reynolds Number, Re

This spreadsheet computes Cd for steady flow normal to a circular cylinder based on equations given in
ESDU 80025.
User Input Data are the three items highlighted at top left.
Roughness - The effective roughness height represents an equivalent uniformly distributed sandgrain
roughness that would generate the same drag coefficient as the actual surface. For polymer extruded
pipeline, roughness will be very small - typically 0.1mm or less. (NB: The calculations fails for = 0). For a
roving, effective roughness will be half the roving diameter or less - e.g. 2-3mm for a 6mm OD roving.
Marine growth will greatly increase effective roughness and should be considered on a case by case basis.
Inflow turbulence - triggers early transition from sub to super critical regimes. ESDU 80025 (footnote to
Table 10.2) state that "intensity and scale of turbulence are very dependent on the proximity of turbulence
producing elements such as buildings or obstructions", and suggest that "turbulence generated by a
building will take about 10 building lengths to die out". ESDU 80025 Appendix C gives equations for T for
given values of turbulence intensity and length scale. Implementation is difficult, and we have no data for
open sea. In the absence of nearby turbulence inducing structures intensity should be low, hence we
assume T = 1.

Results are given in the columns highlighted at the bottom right, in a form suitable for copy/paste to OrcaFlex.

Ree < Reea

Case No. Ree
Cd*
1 1.00E+04
1.2
2 2.00E+04
1.2
3 5.00E+04
1.2
4 1.00E+05
1.2
5 2.80E+05 1.195466
6 3.00E+05 1.190983
7 3.50E+05 1.158619
8 4.00E+05 1.052246
9 4.50E+05 0.80025
10 5.00E+05 0.455649
11 6.00E+05 0.270043
12 7.00E+05
0.27
13 8.00E+05
0.27
14 1.00E+06
0.27
15 1.50E+06
0.27
16 2.00E+06
0.27
17 5.00E+06
0.27
18 1.00E+07
0.27
19 2.00E+07
0.27
20 3.00E+07
0.27

Ree>Reea, Re>3*10^4
R
f1
Cd*
-1.8062
1.0000
-1.5052
1.0000
-1.1072
1.0000
-0.8062
0.9998
-0.3591
0.6994
-0.3291
0.6192
-0.2621
0.4148
-0.2042
0.2346
-0.1530
0.1003
-0.1072
0.0170
-0.0281 -0.0201
0.0389
0.0527
0.0969
0.1718
0.1938
0.4184
0.3699
0.7801
0.4948
0.9080
0.8928
0.9956
1.1938
0.9992
1.4948
0.9993
1.6709
0.9983

0.69
0.70
0.72
0.74
0.64
0.62
0.54
0.48
0.43
0.40
0.39
0.42
0.46
0.55
0.67
0.72
0.73
0.71
0.70
0.69

Re
Cd
8.65E+03
1.73E+04
4.33E+04
8.65E+04
2.42E+05
2.60E+05
3.03E+05
3.46E+05
3.89E+05
4.33E+05
5.19E+05
6.06E+05
6.92E+05
8.65E+05
1.30E+06
1.73E+06
4.33E+06
8.65E+06
1.73E+07
2.60E+07

1.20
1.20
1.20
1.20
1.20
1.19
1.16
1.05
0.80
0.46
0.39
0.42
0.46
0.55
0.67
0.72
0.73
0.71
0.70
0.69