MECH1907

Introduction to Aerospace Engineering

Rhea P. Liem
rpliem@ust.hk

Aerodynamics
September 23th and 26th 2016
Recap: Fluid Dynamics

1 Introduction to Fluid Dynamics

Types of flows
Control volume
Hydrostatics and buoyancy
2 Fundamental physical laws of thermodynamics
Conservation of mass – continuity equation
Conservation of momentum – Bernoulli’s equation
Conservation of energy – energy equation

1
Learning Objectives

1 Get familiar with wing and airfoil nomenclature

2 Understand the basic principle of lift
3 Understand the basic aerodynamic forces and moments of flight
4 ... and their coefficients CL , CD , CM
5 Understand some physical phenomena of flows, e.g., stall, flow separation,
vortex
6 Understand about drag components and drag polar
7 Get an overview of aerodynamic modeling

2
Wing and Airfoil
Airfoil: the cross-sectional area of an aircraft wing

3
Wing Planforms
The shape and layout of the wings.

4
Airfoil Nomenclature

Attributes of airfoil
Mean camber line: locus of points halfway between the upper and lower surfaces
of the airfoil
Leading edge: the most forward point of the mean camber line
Trailing edge: the most rearward point of the mean camber line
Chord line: straight line conecting the leading and trailing edges
Chord of the airfoil (c): length of the chord line
Camber: the maximum distance between the mean camber line and chord line
5
Basic aerodynamic forces acting on an aircraft

Lift

Thrust Drag

Weight

6
Aerodynamic Forces and Moments

Aerodynamic Forces
The fluid flowing about a body exerts a force ~f on each point of the body
surface
Normal component: pressure p
Tangential component: shear stress ⌧

Aerodynamic Moments
Due to the imbalance in resultant forces in di↵erent directions
Tends to rotate the wing

7
Forces Acting on the Airfoil

The resultant forces R can be resolved into two components:

Lift: component of force R perpendicular to the relative wind (V1 )
Drag: component of the aerodynamic force parallel to the relative wind, which
provides resistance to aircraft movement
These force components depend on the angle of attack of the airfoil, ↵.
8
Aerodynamically Induced Moments

The value depends on the center of moment

Typical center of moments used in aircraft, but not limited to: leading edge
(MLE ), quarter-chord (Mc/4 )
The moment depends on the angle of attack, ↵
Aerodynamic center: a point at which the moment is always the same,
independent of ↵
Mac = constant
9
Basic Principle of Lift

Newton’s Third Law:

“to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”

The action and reaction at the airfoil surface is felt as pressure di↵erence
1 Airfoil exerts a downward force to air, due to the positive camber and angle
of attack
! based on the continuity equation and Bernoulli’s principle
2 Air reacts by reducing pressure above the airfoil and increasing pressure
below
3 The pressure di↵erence results in a net upward force: LIFT

10
Aerodynamic Lift
Lift (L) is generated by the motion of an airplane through air

1 2
L= ⇢1 V 1 Scl
2
where:
⇢1 : density of air (function of flight altitude)
V1 : freestream velocity
S: planform area of the wing
cl : lift coefficient of the airfoil (dimensionless)

1 2
Expressing the dynamic pressure, ⇢1 V 1 , as q1 , we have:
2
L = q1 Scl

11
Drag and Moment Coefficients

Drag and moment can be expressed in a similar way as lift:

D = q1 Scd ,

where cd is a dimensionles drag coefficient and

M = q1 Sccm ,

where cm is a dimensionless moment coefficient. M is a force-length product.

The lift, drag, and moment coefficients are a function of angle of attack, Mach
number, and Reynolds number

cl = f1 (↵, M1 , Re) cd = f2 (↵, M1 , Re) cm = f3 (↵, M1 , Re)

12
Airfoil Data

Ways to predict the values of cl , cd , and cm :

1 Theoretical aerodynamics
By using the basic equations and concepts of physical science. Limitations:
Capabilities of numerical methods
Storage and speed capacity of current computers
Therefore, the calculations are typically done with simplifying
assumptions ! inaccurate predictions!
2 Experimental measurements
NACA (now NASA) systematically measured cl , cd , and cm for many airfoil
shapes in low-speed subsonic wind tunnels.

13
Airfoil Data for NACA 2415

14
Variation of cl with ↵

dcl
Lift slope: : constant over a large range of ↵.
d↵
Zero-lift angle of attack: ↵L=0
15
Factors that A↵ect Lift: Camber, ↵
Zero angle of attack, zero camber (symmetric airfoil)
No air is deflected down ! no air pushing the wing up ! no lift
Positive angle of attack, zero camber (symmetric airfoil)
The wing pushes the air down ! the air pushes the wing up ! produces lift
Positive angle of attack, positive camber (asymmetric airfoil)
Produces lift

16
Stall and Flow Separation
Beyond ↵max : CL decreases as ↵ increases

17
What physically happens to the air flow around the wing
during stall?

dp
Above the airfoil, there is a positive pressure gradient in the direction of V1
dx
Boundary layer velocity profile + friction forces ! insufficient kinetic energy to
overcome the pressure increases

) the fluid elements stop somewhere downstream and reverse the direction of flows
locally, causing FLOW SEPARATION

Consequences
Lift decreases and drag increases substantially
) can cause a free fall
18
Infinite Versus Finite Wings
Infinite wing Finite wing

19
Infinite Versus Finite Wings

For the infinite wing, the flow only varies in the x and y directions, thus
the flow is two-dimensional.
For the finite wing, we have a finite distance between the two wing tips
(wingspan b) and planform area S. The flow about this a finite wing is
three-dimensional.

The aerodynamic coefficients for a finite wing are designated by capital letters
CL , CD , and CM .

20
Aspect Ratio
Let’s define:
b: span of the wings (the length for one wing = b/2 or mid-span)
S: planform area (include both wings)
b2
Aspect ratio = AR =
S

Area (S)
In general:
2
AR = bS

Span (b)

Area (S)
Chord (c)

For rectangular wing:

2
b2
AR = bS = bc = bc

Span (b)

21
E↵ects of Finite Aspect Ratio
At the wingtip, the pressure di↵erence between the upper and lower surfaces of
the wing goes to zero, and the flow rolls up into a vortex.

22
Finite Wings
Origin of wing-tip vortices on a finite wing: there is a “leak” from the high- to
the low-pressure sides. The (vortex) trails downstream of the wing.

23
E↵ects of Vortex on CL and CD
The wingtip vortices tend to drag the surrounding air around with them, which
induces a small velocity component in the downward direction at the wing
(downwash).

Consequences
A smaller angle of attack
Increase the drag

CL < cl and CD > cd

24
Wingtip Vortices Cause Induced Drag, Di
The vortices tilt the resultant force vector on the wing backward.

This will reduce overall lift and cause induced drag Di = D D1 .

25
Origin of Induced Drag

Geometric angle of attack ↵

Induced angle of attack ↵i , due to the downwash
E↵ective angle of attack ↵e↵
↵e↵ = ↵ ↵i
26
Design Improvements to Reduce Vortex-Induced Drag
Winglet, Boeing 747

Blended winglet, Boeing 737

27
Design Improvements to Reduce Vortex-Induced Lift
Wingtip fence, Airbus 319

Raked wingtip, Boeing 787 Dreamliner

28
Future Aircraft Design
Closed-wing configuration

Joined-wing configuration

29
Calculating the Induced Drag Coefficient, CDi
CL2
CDi =
⇡AR
This is the induced drag coefficient for aircraft wings with an elliptical lift distribution.

A famous example of aircraft with

an elliptical wing planform: the
British Spitfire of World War II.

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Induced Drag Coefficient for General Aircraft

CL2
CDi =
⇡eAR

where e is a span efficiency factor.

e = 1 for elliptical planforms
e < 1 for all other planforms, for typical subsonic aircraft, 0.85 < e < 0.95

So how to minimize induced drag? And what are the constraints?

31
Drag
Resistance caused by the air flow to the moving vehicle, e.g., airplane
! depends on the shape, viscosity, velocity, ...
1 2
D= ⇢1 V 1 SCD
2
where:
CD : drag coefficient (dimensionless)
Other variables are as previously defined

Aerodynamic efficiency
Defined as the lift-to-drag ratio
L CL
=
D CD
One typical objective function (to be maximized) in an aircraft design optimization

32
Drag Components

Total drag = parasite drag + wave drag + induced drag

Parasite and wave drag components are independent of lift.

Parasite drag
Pressure drag due to separation
It is a dominant source of drag in high-speed flight
CDf : viscous drag/skin friction drag
It is important when the size of the “vehicle” and speed are small, e.g., insect-size
aircraft, MAV.

Wave drag
Drag due to the presence of shock waves, only for transonic and supersonic flow.

33
Drag Component That is Dependent of Lift

Induced drag
The largest cause of drag in low-speed flight

CL2
CDi =
⇡eAR

Drag polar
CD can then generally be expressed as:

CD = CD,0 + KCL2 ,

where CD,0 is the zero-lift drag coefficient, and KCL2 is the drag due to lift.

34
Drag Polar

There exists a speed that corresponds to the minimum drag.

35
Example – CL and CD Calculation

Consider a flying wing (e.g., the Northrop YB-49) with a wing area of 206 m2
and an aspect ratio of 10, a span e↵ectiveness factor of 0.95, and a weight
7.5 ⇥ 105 N. The atmospheric density ⇢1 = 0.909 kg/m3 , and the flight velocity
is 100 m/s.

Calculate the total drag on the aircraft at level flight (where L = W ). Assume
the zero-lift drag coefficient CD,0 = 0.006.
36
Example – CL and CD Calculation

An aircraft with mass 5461 kg, wing planform area = 29.17 m2 , wingspan 12.49
m. The maximum velocity at an altitude of 6 km is 684 km/h, and the
atmospheric density is ⇢1 = 0.66011 kg/m3 . The total wing drag coefficient is
0.00757.

Calculate the zero-lift drag coefficient for the wing, assume e = 0.9.

37
Computing aerodynamic forces from pressure distribution
Z
We can then integrate p dS over the airfoil surface, to calculate the net resultant
force ! resolve into LIFT and DRAG

Pressure distribution over the surface of an airfoil is typically expressed in terms of the
dimensionless coefficient of pressure,
p p1 p p1
CP ⌘ = 1
q1 ⇢ V2
2 1 1

Recall Bernoulli’s equation

1 1
p1 + ⇢V12 = p2 + ⇢V22 = constant = p0
2 2
where:
p0 : stagnation pressure
p: static pressure
1
⇢V 2 : dynamic pressure (q)
2

38
Example – Coefficient of Pressure

An airplane is flying at a velocity of 100 m/s at a standard altitude of 3 km

(where p1 = 7.0121 ⇥ 104 N/m2 and ⇢1 = 0.90926 kg/m3 ). The pressure
coefficient at a point on the fuselage is 2.2.

What is the pressure at this point?

39
Aerodynamic models: di↵erent levels of fidelity
IV. RANS (1990’s)

cy
cur a

Dec
+ Viscous

r eas
d ac

ing
y an
III. Euler (1980’s)

com
lex it

+ Rotation

puta
omp

tion
II. Nonlinear potential (1970’s)
ng c

al co
easi

+ Nonlinear

st
Incr

I. Linear potential (1960’s)

Inviscid, irrotational linear

CFD: Computational fluid dynamics

40
Aerodynamic analysis with CFD

41