IZMIR INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Department of Mechanical Engineering

ME 303 FLUID MECHANICS 2

Experiment #1:
Drag Coefficient of a Cylinder
HAKAN SALMAN
210203002
Group 2
Date of Submission
2.11.2017

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 3
2. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP ........................................................................................ 3
3. EXPERIMENTAL METHODOLOGY ..................................................................... 3
4. THEORY .................................................................................................................... 3
5. RESULTS ................................................................................................................... 4
6. CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................... 6
7. REFERENCES ........................................................................................................... 6

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 1.INTRODUCTION
Drag coefficient: a dimensionless coefficient used to calculate the friction or resistance
of an object in a fluid environment such as air or water. The low drag coefficient is used in the
drag equation to show that the object has less aerodynamic or hydrodynamic drag. The drag
coefficient is always related to a certain surface area. The purpose of this experiment is to
measure the drag forces on the cylinder. The relationship between the number of Reynolds
and the drag coefficient will be examined using an experimental method.

2. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
The materials used in this experiment;
1- The Drag force apparatus
2- Cylinder 1 D: 30.26 mm H: 46.41 mm
3- Cylinder 2 D: 20.04 mm H: 47.02 mm

Figure 2.1: Drag force apparatus

3.EXPERIMENTAL METHODOLOGY
The experiment was carried out twice with two different cylinders. In the first part, a
cylinder with the dimensions D: 30.26-L: 46.41 was used. It is placed in a drag force
apparatus with a scale inside the cylinder. The mass of the cylinder was then measured before
the machine was started. Then the machine was started and the cylinder mass was measured
again and the air flow was increased step by step and measured four times. The same
procedure was repeated by placing the cylinder D: 20.04 - L: 47.02.

4. THEORY
In the presence of a fluid around the stationary cylinder, a force called drag force is
applied on the fluid cylinder. This drag is caused by the frictional force between the fluid and
the cylinder and from the non-dispersive pressure which is even.
Bernolli Equation: The energy of a liquid in steady state is, in general, the potential
energy originating from the gravitational potential energy and the downward push of the

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liquid on itself. If the fluid is moving, there is kinetic energy generated from the velocity in
addition to the potential energy. [1]
Drag coefficient; is a dimensionless number used to model complex dependencies in
different ambient conditions and body shapes.[2]
Kinematic similarity; can be obtained when the velocity at any point in the flow model
is proportional to the prototype flow rate scale.[3]
Geometric similarity; the prototype is scaled and modeled with a fixed factor.[4]
Dynamic similarity; scale the forces on the model flow with a constant factor on the
prototype.
Reynolds number; is a dimensionless amount used to estimate the flow model. If the
Reynolds number is high, the flow tends to be laminate and is turbulent. Reynolds number is
used in many applications where fluids are present.

5.RESULTS

Equation 1: Drag coefficient

formula

Equation 2: Reynolds number

formula

P(dynamic)=P(arbox)-P(inlet)

U = (2*P(dynamic)/ )^(1/2)

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 P airbox mtotal
D (m) H (m) (mm) P0 (mm) U∞ (m/s) mcyl (g) (g) Fdrag (N) CD
148 146 5,765767 24,6 31,35 0,066218 2,403954
Cylinder 1
180 155 20,38506 24,6 59,39 0,34129 0,991212
0,03026 0,04641
200 161 25,46094 24,6 77,45 0,518459 0,965234
210 164 27,65165 24,6 87,25 0,614597 0,970098
Table 1 : Cylinder 1 calculated values

P airbox mtotal
D (m) H (m) (mm) P0 (mm) U∞ (m/s) mcyl (g) (g) Fdrag (N) CD
161 151 12,89265 49,4 64,48 0,147935 1,074122
Cylinder 2
178 158 18,23296 49,4 83,36 0,333148 1,209456
0,02004 0,04702
182 164 17,2973 49,4 89,94 0,397697 1,604219
210 170 25,78529 49,4 110 0,594486 1,079108
Table 2 : Cylinder 2 calculated values

Graph 1 : Drag coefficient respect to Reynolds number

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 Graph 2 : Drag coefficient respect to Dynamic pressure

6. CONCLUSION
In this experiment; dynamic pressure, drag force, drag coefficient and Reynold's
number. Our aim is to measure the drag force in different sizes of cylinder and different air
flows and to calculate it using the drag coefficient. Theoretically, as the drag coefficient
increases, the dynamic pressure and the reinold number decrease with respect to the equations
we use. Experimental values confirmed this.
Flow similarity applications are used when designing many living structures. For
example, while airplane design is being done, air resistance calculations are made through the
aircraft model. Moreover, models with geometric similarity method is used to study the action
on the water when building ships.

7. REFERENCES

 [1] Clancy, L.J. (1975). Aerodynamics. Pitman Publishing,

London. ISBN 0273011200.

 [2] Lamb, H. (1993). Hydrodynamics. Cambridge University

Press. ISBN 9780521458689.

[3] Crew, Henry (2008). The Principles of Mechanics. BiblioBazaar, LLC.

ss. 43. ISBN 0559368712.

 [4] Chanson, H. (2009). Applied Hydrodynamics: An Introduction to Ideal and Real

Fluid Flows. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 978-0-415-49271-3.

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