Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1897152 Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena 2008 9 Pages PDF
Abstract

We show that the issue of the drag exerted by an incompressible fluid on a body in uniform motion has played a major role in the early development of fluid dynamics. In 1745 Euler came close, technically, to proving the vanishing of the drag for a body of arbitrary shape; for this he exploited and significantly extended the existing ideas on decomposing the flow into thin fillets; he did not however have a correct picture of the global structure of the flow around a body. Borda in 1766 showed that the principle of live forces implied the vanishing of the drag and should thus be inapplicable to the problem. After having at first refused the possibility of a vanishing drag, d’Alembert in 1768 established the paradox, but only for bodies with a head–tail symmetry. A full understanding of the paradox, as due to the neglect of viscous forces, had to wait until the work of Saint-Venant in 1846.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Mathematics Applied Mathematics
Authors
, , ,