- Drag crisis
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In fluid dynamics, drag crisis is a phenomenon in which drag coefficient drops off suddenly as Reynolds number increases. This has been well studied for round bodies like spheres and cylinders. The drag coefficient of a sphere will change rapidly from about 0.5 to 0.2 at a Reynolds number in the range of 300000. This corresponds to the point where the flow pattern changes, leaving a narrower turbulent wake. The behaviour is highly dependent on small differences in the condition of the surface of the sphere.
External links
- "Simulating Drag Crisis for a Sphere Using Skin Friction Boundary Conditions". http://www.nada.kth.se/~jhoffman/archive/papers/eccomas06.pdf. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
- "Flow past a cylinder: Shear layer instability and drag crisis". http://home.iitk.ac.in/~smittal/publi_&_present/sm_journals/drag_crisis.pdf. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
Categories:- Fluid dynamics
- Physics stubs
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