This book provides a comprehensive and advanced knowledgebase for far-field theories of the aerodynamic force, serving not only as a compendium landmark for non-expert scholars (covering momentum and exergy methodologies, thermodynamic and vortical approaches, steady and unsteady formulations, etc.) but also as an impactful scientific reference for the new unified thermodynamic/vertical theory, which represents the core achievement of the work. The discipline of aerodynamic force analysis is usually discussed in dedicated chapters of classical fluid–mechanics textbooks, often with focus on specific approaches or methodologies only. Both experimental and numerical applications are addressed, and a wide variety of CFD test cases are analysed into details using cutting-edge methods. Furthermore, this book also addresses some open questions pertaining to current Lamb vector methods, and a novel formulation for thrust/drag bookkeeping is proposed for viscous unsteady flow. All contributions of the book, particularly the proposed unified theory, are pivotal advancements in the field of aircraft drag analysis. The proposed dissertation was reviewed by two independent referees, full professors from U.S. universities.

Both accepted the submitted manuscript in its original version, without requiring any modifications. In particular, one of them ranked the proposed work in the top 10% of approx. 70 Ph.D. theses he reviewed since 2010.

Dr. Mauro Minervino is currently established researcher at the fluid mechanics unit of the Italian Aerospace Research Centre, which he joined in 2011 as a member of the multi-disciplinary design and optimization team. After graduating cum laude in aerospace engineering at the University of Naples Federico II in 2008, his professional career started on the industrial side and includes a three-years experience in the high-technology research group of Piaggio Aero Industries. During the last decades, he was involved in several EC-funded research programs, also with leadership responsibilities. In 2017 and in 2019, he was awarded by the Association of European Research Establishments in Aeronautics (EREA) with the winner prize at the traditional annual best paper competition. He achieved with honours his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering at the University of Naples Federico II, where he is member of the Theoretical and Applied Aerodynamic Research Group (TAARG).