FLUID DYNAMICS

A. Vania,
Politecnico di Milano, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Milan, Italy
FLUID – BODIES INTERACTIONS 2

AERODYNAMIC AND HYDRODYNAMIC FORCES

 FLUID FORCES 3

Local force distribution ( p, τ )

Resultant forces: Drag & Lift forces

Examples of drag & lift forces

BOUNDARY LAYER 4

Boundary layer along the surface of a thin plate (rectilinear profile)

BOUNDARY LAYER 5
BOUNDARY LAYER 6
BOUNDARY LAYER 7

Equazione di Bernoulli

V2 p V2
p +ρ + ρ gh = 0 + + h=0
2 γ 2g
 BOUNDARY LAYER 8

Nel passaggio da A ad F è
soggetta alla medesima
distribuzione di pressione
della corrente ideale
esterna ma, a causa della
viscosità, ci sono perdite di
energia. La particella non
ha energia sufficiente per
vincere tutto il gradiente
avverso di pressione e
risalire fino al punto F sul
retro dell’oggetto.

A causa dell’attrito, la particella non riesce a viaggiare dal fronte al retro rimanendo aderente al
corpo. Il fluido avanza nella zona di gradiente fin che può, poi si stacca dalla superficie
(separazione). Nel punto di separazione (D) il gradiente di velocità alla parete è nullo. Oltre tale
punto, il flusso si inverte nello strato limite.
A causa della separazione, la pressione media nella parte posteriore del corpo è minore di
quella nella parte anteriore. Ciò causa un drag di pressione, che esiste anche per fluidi con
viscosità tendente a zero. Lo strato limite turbolento si stacca dopo, rispetto ad un laminare.
DRAG FORCE 9
DRAG FORCE 10
DRAG FORCE 11
 DRAG FORCE 12

Per corpi molto tozzi (come la lastra piana normale al flusso) si ha una separazione della vena
dal corpo indipendentemente dal fatto che lo strato limite sia laminare o turbolento. In questi
casi, il coefficiente CD dipende molto poco dal numero di Reynolds.
DRAG FORCE 13
DRAG FORCE 14
AIRFOIL PROFILES 15

Airfoil profiles

Drag and Lift forces vs. angle of attack

AIRFOIL PROFILES 16

From experiments conducted on wind tunnel models and on

full size airplanes, it has been determined that as air flows
along the surface of a wing at different angles of attack,
there are regions along the surface where the pressure is
negative, or less than atmospheric, and regions where the
pressure is positive, or greater than atmospheric. This
negative pressure on the upper surface creates a relatively
larger force on the wing than is caused by the positive
pressure resulting from the air striking the lower wing
surface. The figure shows the pressure distribution along an
airfoil at three different angles of attack.
In general, at high angles of attack the center of pressure
moves forward, while at low angles of attack the center of
pressure moves aft.
In the design of wing structures, this center of pressure
travel is very important, since it affects the position of the
airloads imposed on the wing structure in low angle-of-
attack conditions and high angle-of-attack conditions. The
airplane’s aerodynamic balance and controllability are
governed by changes in the center of pressure.

Pressure distribution
AIRFOIL PROFILES 17

The
Sincecenter
the center
of pressure
of gravity is isdetermined
fixed at one through
point, itcalculation
is evident
and
that wind
as thetunnel
angletests
of attack
by varying
increases,
the airfoil’s
the center angleofofliftattack
(CL)
through
moves ahead
normalofoperating
the centerextremes.
of gravity,As creating
the anglea force
of attack
which
is
tends
changed,
to raise so
the nose
are the of thevarious
airplanepressure
or tends to distribution
increase
characteristics.
the angle of attack still more. On the other hand, if the angle
of attack(+)
Positive is decreased,
and negative the(–)center
pressure of liftforces
(CL) moves aft and
are totaled for
tendsangle
each to decrease
of attacktheandangle a greater
the resultant force amount. It is seen
is obtained. The
then, that the ordinary airfoil is inherently
total resultant pressure is represented by the resultant forceunstable, and that
an auxiliary
vector showndevice, such as
in the upper the horizontal tail surface, must
figure.
be added
The point to
of make the airplane
application of thisbalance
force vectorlongitudinally.
is termed the
“center of pressure” (CP). For any given angle of attack,on
The balance of an airplane in flight depends, therefore, the
the relative
center position of
of pressure is the
the center
point of gravity
where the(CG) and the
resultant force
center of the
crosses pressure
chord(CP) line.of the
Thisairfoil.
pointExperience
is expressed has shownas a
that an airplane with the center of gravity
percentage of the chord of the airfoil. A center of pressure in the vicinity of 20
percent
at of the of
30 percent wing chord can
a 60-inch chordbe made
wouldtobebalance18 inches andaft fly of
satisfactorily.
the wing’s leading edge. It would appear then that if the
designer would place the wing so that its center of pressure
was at the airplane’s center of gravity, the airplane would
always balance. The difficulty arises, however, that the
location of the center of pressure changes with change in
the airfoil’s angle of attack.
In the airplane’s normal range of flight attitudes, if the angle
of attack is increased, the center of pressure moves
forward; and if decreased, it moves rearward.
LIFT COEFFICIENT 18

In this diagram, the black lines represent the flow

of a fluid around a two-dimensional airfoil shape.
The angle α is the angle of attack.

A typical lift coefficient curve

WINGLETS 19
VORTEX SHEDING 20

airflow F(t): periodic transverse force

Re ≅ 10 2 ÷ 10 3

Cooling towers Vortex shedding

Strouhal Number

fL f : frequency of the vortex shedding

St = L : geometrical parameter of the body
V V : flow velocity
 Vortex shedding on cooling towers 21

A cooling tower comes crashing to the ground The aftermath of the accident.
during high winds at Ferrybridge ‘C’ Power Three of the eight cooling towers were
Station in 1965 completely destroyed
VORTEX SHEDDING 22

VORTEX SHEDDING

Una coltre di nubi incontra un'isola: immagine ripresa il 15 settembre 1999

dal satellite Landsat 7 al largo delle coste cilene sopra le Isole Juan Fernandez
VORTEX SHEDDING 23

Periodic vortex shedding

CABLE VIBRATIONS 24
VIBRATION ABSORBERS

Millennium wheel (London)

FLATTER INSTABILITY 25

Tacoma bridge accident (November, 7°, 1940)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mclp9QmCGs
DRAG COEFFICIENT 26

smooth cylinder and sphere

Drag coefficient
Effect of a dimpled surface on the golf ball flight 27

Have you ever wondered why golf balls have a pattern of dimples on their
surface? The dimples are important for determining how air flows around the ball
when it is in flight. The dimple pattern, combined with the spin imparted to the
ball when hit by the club, greatly influence the ball's flight path. For example,
backspin generates lift, prolonging flight. When the ball is not hit squarely with
the club, varying degrees of sidespin are imparted to the ball. A clockwise
sidespin (viewed from the top) will cause the ball to veer right (or slice). A
counterclockwise sidespin will cause the ball to veer left (or hook).
This project attempts to answer the question, "Can an asymmetric dimple
pattern decrease hooks and slices?"

The goal of this project is to test whether an asymmetric dimple pattern on golf
balls can produce straighter flight.

Figure 1. The dimpled surface of a golf ball decreases the

drag force on the ball as it flies through the air (Scott, 2005).
Effect of a dimpled surface on the golf ball flight 28

How exactly does this work? In order to understand, we will need to take a
closer look at the pattern of airflow around a ball as it flies through the air.
Figure 2 compares the airflow pattern for a smooth ball (top) vs. a dimpled ball
(bottom), in horizontal flight (or in a wind tunnel). In the case of a ball with a
smooth surface, the airflow in the thin layer right next to the ball (called the
boundary layer) is very smooth. This type of flow is called laminar. For a ball with
a smooth surface, the boundary layer separates from the ball's surface quite
early, creating a wide, turbulent wake pattern behind the ball. The turbulent wake
exerts a drag force on the ball. When dimples are added to the surface of the
ball, they create turbulence within the boundary layer itself.
The turbulent boundary layer has more energy than the laminar boundary layer,
so it separates from the surface of the ball much later than the laminar boundary
layer flowing over the smooth ball (Figure 2, bottom). Since flow separation
occurs later, the turbulent wake behind the ball is narrower, resulting in less drag
force.
Asymmetric dimple patterns and golf ball flight 29

Figure 2. Comparison of the airflow over a

smooth ball vs. a ball with a dimpled
surface.
In the case of the smooth ball (top), the
boundary layer has a laminar flow pattern
which separates from the surface early,
creating a wide turbulent wake behind the
ball.
In the case of the dimpled ball, there is a
turbulent boundary layer which separates
from the surface later, creating a narrower
turbulent wake behind the ball.
The narrower wake results in less drag.
Thus, given the same initial launch force,
the dimpled ball travels further than the
smooth ball (Scott, 2005).

smooth surface of a golf ball : C D ≅ 0.51 dimpled surface of a golf ball : C D ≅ 0.25

ping pong ball : C D ≅ 0.50

Effect of a dimpled surface on the golf ball flight 30

To make things even more complicated, the club generally imparts a spin to the
ball. How does spin affect the flight of the ball? Let's consider the simplest case
first. If the club strikes the ball squarely, the spin that is induced is called
backspin (because the ball is spinning backwards, from the golfer's viewpoint).
To be more precise, backspin is a spin around the horizontal axis, in a clockwise
direction if viewed from the left-hand side (as in the figure below).

Let's consider the effect that backspin will have on airflow over the ball.
Since the surface of the ball is now moving in a clockwise direction, the airflow
over the top of the ball will be sped up, and the airflow over the bottom of the ball
will be slowed down. This has the effect of decreasing the pressure above the
ball, and increasing the pressure below the ball. In other words, a spinning ball
acts like an airplane wing and creates lift.
Effect of a dimpled surface on the golf ball flight 31

Figure 3 shows how backspin affects the airflow over a golf ball in a wind tunnel.
The smoke lines in Figure 3 show the airflow pattern. Notice how the flow pattern
behind the ball is warped downward. This is the same type of pattern you would
see for an airfoil at an angle to the wind tunnel air flow (like an airplane wing at
takeoff when the plane starts climbing). The spin rate used in Figure 3 was less
than the average spin for a golf ball hit by a club. The lift effect with real-world
spin rates would be even greater.

Figure 3. Spinning golf ball in a wind tunnel.

The smoke lines show the pattern of airflow
over a golf ball with backspin. The air moves
faster over the top of the ball, and more
slowly over the bottom of the ball. The flow
field is curved downward, indicating that the
spinning ball is generating lift (F.N.M.
Brown, in Veilleux and Simonds, 2004).
Effect of a dimpled surface on the golf ball flight 32

What if you don't hit the ball squarely? For example, say the club face is angled
outward (away from the golfer's body) as it strikes the ball. Then the induced
spin will have a component about the vertical axis. In this case, the spin would
be clockwise, as viewed from above. The spin would result in an aerodynamic
force pushing the ball off to the right, away from a straight flight path. In addition,
the initial launch angle would be off to the right instead of straight ahead.
These two combine to create what golfers call a slice. Instead of sailing straight
down the fairway, the ball curves off to the right, perhaps into the rough, or trees,
or (in the worst case) off to an adjacent fairway !
If the club face is angled inward (toward the golfer's body) as it strikes the ball,
then the ball tails off in the opposite direction. Golfers call this a hook.
VIEW FROM ABOVE Left

Right
Without spin With spin
EFFECT OF THE SURFACE ROUGHNESS 33

Smooth surface Rough surface

The drag force is caused by friction effects and pressure effects

The rough surface causes a light increase of the friction effects and a more important
decrease of the pressure effects: therefore, the drag force decrease
MAGNUS EFFECT 34

Magnus effect used for sailing vessels

See: Roberto Carlos’ free kick (Brasil vs. France – 2008)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWkuOY-XNt8
PARAGLIDER AERODYNAMICS 35

3d CAD drawing of a paraglider showing the upper

surface in green, the lower surface in blue and the
Take/off from a ramp leading edge openings in pink. Only the left half of
the suspension cone is shown

Forward displacement

w Descent
ve flo
relati
 PARAGLIDER AERODYNAMICS 36

Aerodynamic coefficients (Drag and Lift) vs. angle of attack Lift / Drag ratio vs.
Aerodynamic efficiency (Lift / Drag) vs. angle of attack angle of attack

The Lift / Drag ratio is over 10. Therefore, the forward

displacement (horizontal) is significantly higher than the
downward displacement (descent)
AIRFOIL AERODYNAMICS 37

AIRFLOW VS. ANGLE OF ATTACK

AIRFOIL vs. BLUFF BODY AERODYNAMICS 38

LOW SEPARATION AND VORTEX SHEDDING

Bluff body Airfoil

STRUCTURES SUBJECTED TO FLUID FORCES 39

Millennium bridge (London)

GOLF BALL FLIGHT 40

For information on golf ball aerodynamics, try these resources:

Portz, S., date unknown. "Why Does a Golf Ball Slice or Draw?" Physlink.com [accessed
April 11, 2007] http://www.physlink.com/education/AskExperts/ae423.cfm.
Scott, J., 2005. "Golf Ball Dimples and Drag," Aerospaceweb.org [accessed April 11, 2007]
http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/aerodynamics/q0215.shtml.
Cislunar Aerospace, 1996. "Aerodynamics in Sports Equipment: Why Does a Golf Ball
Have Dimples?" Cislunar Aerospace, Inc. [accessed April 11, 2007]
http://www.fi.edu/wright/again/wings.avkids.com/wings.avkids.com/Book/Sports/instructor/g
olf-01.html.
Veilleux, T. and V. Simonds, 2004. "How Do Dimples in Golf Balls Affect Their Flight?"
Scientific American, Ask the Experts [accessed April 11, 2007
http://www.sciam.com/askexpert _question.cfm?articleID=000BB2B1-AD6A-1FF0-
AD6A83414B7F0000
 41

• .