Development of a MATLAB code for the numerical determination of projected drag area for complex 3D objects

• Main Author: Sivakumar, Nishaanth
• Other Authors: Sellakkutti Rajendran
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/177432
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The drag force plays a crucial role in determining an aircraft’s efficiency and overall performance. Projected drag area is a critical parameter that impacts the value of the drag force. This projected drag area cannot easily be computed analytically for complex 3D objects such as aircrafts and cars. Projected drag area is essential in many mechanical and aerospace engineering simulations and analysis tasks. The purpose of this Final Year Project (FYP) is to develop a computer code for the numerical determination of projected drag area for complex 3D objects using vector algebra. The code is designed to automate the process of calculating the projected drag area. The computer code is developed in MATLAB. The code utilises the inputs of coordinate data from ANSYS Mechanical APDL, where the complex 3D objects are discretised into smaller elements forming a finite element mesh. The nodal coordinate of the finite element meshes are then used for cross product computations to obtain the projected drag area. The developed computer code is tested and validated through several benchmark problems. The results demonstrate the accuracy of the code. Overall, the developed computer code provides a powerful tool for the numerical determination of projected drag area for complex 3D objects. This has numerous applications in various engineering fields such as computational fluid dynamics, aerodynamics, and vehicle design and optimisation.