INFLUENCE OF AERODYNAMIC PARAMETERS IN THE DESIGN OF THE AIRCRAFT Divya.G.S (M.

E Aeronautical Engineering) Madras Institute of Technology,Chennai

Abstract:
This study gives the detailed insight on how the aerodynamic parameters influence the design of the aircraft. The aerodynamic parameters like drag co efficient, lift co efficient, lift to drag ratio, Aspect ratio, Drag polars etc greatly influence the stability and structural design of the aircraft so utmost care must be taken to determine these parameters. These aerodynamic parameters are determined from preliminary weight estimation and from historic values of certain parameters from the cluster diagram of similar kind of aircrafts.

Introduction:
Designing of the aircraft is a very interesting and innovative stream in aeronautical engineering in which all the concepts we have studied like aerodynamics, propulsion and structures are applied practically. Design of an aircraft consists of three stages of design like conceptual design, preliminary design and detailed design. Detailed design is done after the preliminary design is finalized and involves real time testing of the components. The design of the aircraft is started based on the mission requirements stated by the customers but bear in mind all the mission requirements cannot be satisfied without making any compromises in some of the requirements and the designers must be able to satisfy the customers by bringing the pros and cons of the design such that the main mission requirement is satisfied. Basically design of the aircraft is an iterative and laborious process as various requirements has to be satisfied to obtain acceptable values of aerodynamic and structural parameters. The design of the aircraft begins with collecting historical values of some required parameters from similar aircrafts and using these values the weight of the aircraft is estimated which is followed by the aerodynamic design of the aircraft which decides the geometrical parameters of the aircraft and includes calculations relating to aircraft performance and stability.

Aircraft Design:
The first and fore most step involved in the design of the aircraft is the collection of data about similar kind of aircrafts and plotting cluster diagram from which certain parameters like gross take off weight(Wto), Aspect ratio (AR), Range (R), Thrust to weight Ratio (T/W), Wing loading (W/S) and Fineness ratio (lf/df) are obtained. From the above data collected gross take off weight of the aircraft (Wto) is found by iteration which is preceded by the second weight estimation in which the weight of the power plant is taken into account and final gross take off weight of the aircraft is arrived and immense care must be taken as over estimation or under estimation of these values may result in unrealistic values in the future aerodynamic calculations involved. The next step involved in the design of the aircraft is the determination of geometrical parameters of the wing like wing plan form area (S), placement of the wings, angle of sweep (), length of the root chord (Cr) and the tip chord (Ct). Span of the wings (b) etc, followed by the selection of airfoil suitable for the mission specified and high lift devices. Followed by the determination of fuselage parameters, vertical tail and horizontal tail parameters. Each component weight is estimated separately and the balance diagram is constructed from which the c.g of the aircraft is calculated along with static margin and the movement of the c.g should be between 5% to 15%. Following the above, landing gear parameters are calculated followed by drag polar, v-n diagram, performance and stability calculations which completes the aerodynamic design of the aircraft. Structural design is carried out following the aerodynamic design as the structural design depends mostly on the aerodynamic design which was carried before.

Influence of gross take off weight ( Wto):

As the gross take off weight (Wto) increases design lift co efficient also increases which decides on the selection of the airfoil and this in turn also results in the increase of the mechanical complexity and the cost of high lift devices as more complicated high lift devices are required to obtain the required design lift co efficient of the aircraft. As the gross take off weight (Wto) the size of the tyres required to support the weight of the aircraft also increases which results in difficulty in accommodating the landing gear when

retracted. This in turns requires a larger plan form area (S) and (t/c)max of the airfoil which results in the increase of the parasite drag co efficient.

Influence of the wing parameters:

High aspect ratio of the wing results in low induced drag but reduces the Oswald efficiency factor (e) of the wing. The high AR of the wing also increases the weight of the wing which in turns increases the operating cost of the aircraft. The change in angle of attack ()to obtain the required Cl also depends upon the Aspect ratio of the wing. Induced drag which is produced as the result of finite wing span can be reduced by increasing the Aspect ratio of the wing which is given by the relation Cdi = Cl2/ AR The lift curve slope produced by the wing also depends upon the Aspect ratio in addition to the lift curve slope of the airfoil (a0 ). Cl = a0/ [1+(57.3*a0/ eAR) The weight of the wing (Wwing) increases with increase in the sweep angle and the plan form area (S) and it also depends upon the zero fuel weight of the aircraft Wwing = 0.0017 WMZF [ b/cos 1/2]0.75 [1+ { 6.3 cos 1/2/b}0.5 * (nult)0.55 [bS/trWMZF cos 1/2] where WMZF is the weight of the aircraft without fuel

Influence of aerodynamic parameters in performance:

While calculating the velocity required minimum power(VPr), it should be noted that VPr minimum increases with increase in the wing loading (W/S) and decreases with increase in parasite drag co efficient which in turn implies that with increase in parasite drag co efficient (Cd0)and this Cd0 again depends upon the plan form area of the wing more powerful engine is required for the operation of aircraft to overcome the drag. V min power = [ (2/)*(W/S)*(K/3*Cdo)^0.5]^0.5 K = 1/( e AR) Stalling speed (Vs) increases as Cl max decreases and there is a upper limit to the stalling speed of the aircraft. Vs = [{2*(W/S)}/*Cl max] So importance should be given in calculating the maximum lift co efficient.

Thrust required (Tr) by the aircraft is inversely proportional to the Cl/Cd and as the drag increases the thrust required by the aircraft increases so the fuel consumption required also increases which in turns affects the operating cost of aircraft. Tr = (Wto)/(Cl/Cd) Maximum velocity at which the aircraft can be flown increases with increase in thrust to weight ratio (T/W) and the wing loading (W/S) and these values should be such that the Vmax becomes very large and goes into transonic and supersonic regime which becomes unrealistic at times. Maximum climbing angle (max) depends on T/W and it is inversely proportional and it depends upon K and Cdo which in turn again depends upon Aspect ratio and the plan form area(S). Sin max = T/W (4*Cdo*K)^0.5 The velocity required to achieve the max depends upon the wing loading (W/S) of the aircraft and the maximum angle to climb V max = [2/*(k/Cdo)^0.5*(W/S)*cos max ]^0.5 The maximum rate of climb (R/C)max increases with (L/D)max increases and with Z decreases. (R/C)max = [(W/S)*Z/3**Cdo]^0.5 * (T/W)^1.5*[1- (Z/6) (1.5/(T/W)2(L/D)2Z ] Z = 1+[1+{3/(L/D)2*(T/W)2}] For gliding unpowered flight , the minimum gliding angle (min) depends on (L/D)max which in turn determines the maximum range to be covered during descent. Tan min = 1/(L/D)max h/R max = tan min The velocity required to obtain maximum lift to drag ratio depends again on the geometric parameters given by V(L/D)max = [2/*{(K/Cd0)^0.5}*(W/S)]^0.5 When calculating the range and endurance again we note it depends upon the (L/D) ratio and the gross take off weight . R = 2/c *[(2/*S)]^0.5* (Cl 0.5/Cd)*(Wto 0.5 Wf 0.5)

Where Wf is the final weight of the aircraft From the above relation it can be seen that Cl0.5/ Cd depends upon K and Cdo (Cl0.5/Cd)max = *(1/3*K*Cdo3)1/4 E = 1/c*(L/D)*ln (Wto/Wf) (L/D)max = (1/4*K*Cdo)^0.5 While calculating the take off distance and landing distance again the parameters (W/S), Lift, Drag plays an important role in obtaining a realistic values for the above. Construction of the flight envelope also depends upon max lift co efficient, max load factor and the wing loading of the aircraft to be designed.

Influence of Aerodynamic parameters on stability:

To ensure the longitudinal stability of the aircraft the derivative Cm/Cl must be negative. Cm/ Cl = (Xc.g X a.c)/ C +(Cm/Cl)fuselage at*Vht*ht/aw (1 /) / = 2*Cl w/(*AR) (Cm/Cl)fuselage = Kf*wf2*lf/(Sw*C*Clw) Where Kf is the constant (0.012) which again depicts the importance of carefully evaluating the aerodynamic co efficients. In evaluating the stick fixed and stick free maneuver point also wing loading, tail arm and the elevator effectiveness factor comes into play which depends upon the plan form area of the control surface. To ensure directional stability of the aircraft the derivative Cn/ should be negative and the contribution to this derivative comes from wing, fuselage and nacelle etc which all depends upon the aerodynamic parameters of the respective components. For detailed list of formulae refer to PERKINS AND HAGE and the same thing applies to lateral stability also.

When considering the dynamic stability of the aircraft the co efficients of the quartic equation depends on the aerodynamic parameters like lift co efficient, drag co efficient moment co efficient and similar kinds of derivatives. For detailed list of formulae refer to PERKINS AND HAGE.

Influence of aerodynamic parameters in structural design:

In identifying the loads acting on the wing and its weight distribution the (t/c)max of the airfoil selected comes in to play as the weight carried by the wing depends upon the chord and the thickness of the airfoil. Similarly the fuel weight distribution of the wing also depends on the same and these are very useful parameters in plotting the shear force and the bending moment diagram depending upon the spar design is carried out for the wings. The same principle applies well for the fuselage design of the aircraft.

Conclusion:
From the above discussion it is clearly shown that the aerodynamic parameters must be calculated with acceptable accuracy and this depends mainly on the gross weight estimated in the first and foremost which must be done carefully as slight variation may have significant impact on the aerodynamic parameters calculated which is the basis for performance, stability and structural design of the aircraft.

References:
1. Jasdeep Singh, Notes on Weight Estimation, 2006. 2. ,Mohamed Sadaraey, Drag force and its Coefficients 3. Daniel P.Raymer, Aircraft Design: A conceptual Approach,AIAA Education Series,1992

4. Egbert Torenbeek, Synthesis Of Subsonic Aircraft Design, Delft University Press.1979. 5. Lloyd R.Jenkinson, Civil Jet Aircraft Design, Arnold Publications, 1999. 6. Stansford University Online notes. 7. Online notes by Prof. Tulapurkara. 8. Dr.Jan Roskam, Airplane Design Volume 1-7, Roskam Aviation and Engineering corporation,1985 9. ,John.D.Anderson Aircraft performance and Design,,Tata Mcgraw Hill publications 10. Perkins and Hage, Airplane Stability and Control, John Wiley &Sons publications.

Nomenclature:
a0 aw at B AR C Cr Ct Cm Cl Cd Clw Cn Cdo Cdi D E E H L lf df n ult S (t/c)max Vs V Vht wf Wto Wf Xc.g X ac 1/2 Lift curve slope of the airfoil Lift curve slope of the wing Lift curve slope of the tail Span of the wing Aspect Ratio of the wing Mean Aerodynamic chord Length of the root chord Length of the tip chord Pitching moment co efficient Lift co efficient Drag co efficient Lift curve slope of the wing Yawing moment coefficient Parasite drag co efficient Induced Drag co efficient Drag Oswald s efficiency factor Endurance Height of the aircraft from the ground Lift Length of the fuselage Diameter of the fuselage Ultimate load factor Plan form area of the wing Maximum thickness to chord ratio Stalling velocity Velocity Tail volume co efficient Width of the fuselage Gross take off weight Final weight Position of centre of gravity of aircraft Position of aerodynamic centre of aircraft Downwash Angle of attack Density of the air Angle of sweep at half chord