Drag equation using wind to create 3d graph (Again)

[geoff.miles]

Hey guys, I am back again with a drag related question, earlier I posted a thread asking how I could incorporate wind into a drag equation of sorts to create a 3d graph that shows the trajectory of a projectile.

The help I received helped me add head winds and tail winds, however I am now having problems adding side winds.

I know this will only be easy using a sphere because the cross-sectional area will be the same from any angle.

For some reason when I change the wind speed the graph completely flops sides. For example if I have a wind striking my projectile from the right, or from a 90 degree angle, at 15mph (6.7056m/s) it will show the projectile being pushed 4m to the left, however if you change the speed to 12mph it shows the projectile being pushed 2m to the right.

I don't know what to do from here. If you would like to see how the graph acts first had you can download my spreadsheet here:
http://www.2shared.com/fadmin/48841342/b473610/Drag_Spread_Sheet_Final2.ods.html

NOTE: you need openoffice to open this file, it may not work in excel because of the difference in the in-cell programing

 

[eljose79]

Hello,

Thank you for providing the link to your spreadsheet. I took a look at it and it seems like you are on the right track with incorporating wind into your drag equation. However, I noticed that you are only considering the drag force in the x and y direction, but not in the z direction. This could be causing the inconsistency in your results when changing the wind speed.

To accurately incorporate side winds, you will need to consider the drag force in all three dimensions. This means adding a component for the z direction in your drag equation and taking into account the cross-sectional area of the projectile in that direction.

Additionally, it may be helpful to use a more precise drag equation that takes into account the shape and orientation of the projectile, as well as the Reynolds number. This will give you more accurate results in your 3D graph.

I hope this helps and good luck with your project! Let me know if you have any further questions.