MA6621 Aerodynamics Introduction

by

Daniel T.H. New

Assistant Professor
Division of Aerospace Engineering
School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Recommended textbooks

Aerodynamics for Engineers

4th Edition John Bertin
5th Edition John Bertin &
Russell Cummings
Pearson Higher Education

Fundamentals of Aerodynamics
4th and 5th Editions
John Anderson
McGraw-Hill

Lecture slides versus textbooks

Lecture slides are meant to be brief and straight to the important points
You need to read through the associated details inside the textbook
Just bring along the textbook and you have everything at your finger tips
(wherever you are!)
You can buy the textbooks at
NTU campus bookstore
Online bookstores (may be cheaper)
Better yet, you can borrow from the library or your seniors

What is Aerodynamics?
Simple question which means a great deal and different things to practicing
and research engineers
Aerodynamics is the study of forces and the resulting motion of objects
through air
Flying aircrafts
Flapping of flags on poles
Smoke dispersion from chimneys
Speeding cars, and many more
In this module, we will focus primarily on aerodynamics for use in the
aerospace engineering industry
Actual design and implementations
Research and development efforts

Aerodynamics = fluid dynamics?

Pretty much but while fluid dynamics encompass all fluids, aerodynamics
focus more on air flows
Other more specific differences:
Aerodynamics focus on the forces acting on bodies (i.e. lift and drag
forces)
Aerodynamics typically applied to external flows (i.e. aircrafts, cars)
Aerodynamics provide parameters for flight dynamics and control
Aerodynamics usually deal with fast moving air flows
However, much of the governing concepts between aerodynamics and fluid
dynamics are similar

A brief history of aerodynamics

*USAF Museum

*German Federal Archive

*Romanian Air Force

*Franck Cabrol

*Garfield F. Jones, U.S. Air Force

*U.S. Air Force

*Russian Air Force

Brief history of aviation

*Master SGT Andy Dunaway, USAF

*Rob Shenk

*NASA

Aerodynamic forces
Lift from wings

Thrust from
engine

Drag from air

friction and
separation

Weight from body,

engine & payload

Thrust propulsion
Lift and drag aerodynamics
Weight materials and structures
Coordinating & balancing all four flight mechanics & control

Brief revision
Commonly encountered variables and associated units
Phenomena

Common
Symbol

Unit type*

SI Unit

Imperial Unit

Density

M/L3

kg/m3

lbm/ft3

Pressure

M/LT2

Pa (N/m2)

psi (lbf/in2)

Force

ML/T2

Temperature

u,v,w

L/T

m/s

ft/s

Viscosity, dynamic

M/LT

Pa s

lbm s/ ft2

Viscosity, kinematic

L2/T

m2/s

ft2/s

Volume

L3

m3

in3

Velocity

N (kg m/s2)

* The symbols M, L, T and denote mass, length, time, and temperature resp.

lbf

Aircraft components

*Bertin J. J. Aerodynamics for Engineers

Typically, the fuselage is the main aircraft component, followed by

Wings (the most important component governing aerodynamics)
Engine nacelles
Stabilizers
Flight control devices flaps, ailerons, elevators, rudder, canards (not
shown here)

Brief revision

Streamlines:
Lines tangent to the local flow direction

Streaklines:
Line of all particles passing through one point
Pathlines:
Line showing the path of a single particle
*Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are identical for steady state flows

Brief revision
Bernoulli equation states that

1 2
p U gz constant
2
In flow situations where the change in elevation/height is small along a
streamline, the third term can be neglected
For instance, for a streamline along flow past an aerofoil:

gz small
1
p U2 constant
2

Brief revision
Aerodynamics involve air flows and hence, we need to understand the
basics of Fluid Mechanics, which govern all fluid flows (i.e. air, water etc)
Fluid mechanics, in turn, are governed by physical laws
Conservation of mass
Conservation of momentum
Conservation of energy
Distinctions must also be made between
Steady and unsteady flows (i.e. flow variables varying w.r.t. time)
Incompressible and compressible flows (i.e. density variations)
One, two or three-dimensional flows (i.e. flow changes w.r.t. directions)
Rotational or irrotational flows (i.e. angular deformation of fluids)

Conservation of mass
Consider a flow through a expansion:

Inlet velocity, u1
Inlet density, 1

Outlet velocity, u2
Outlet density, 2
*Anderson J. D. Fundamental of Aerodynamics

Inlet area, A1

Outlet area, A2

Conservation of mass (i.e. continuity equation) essentially states that fluid

mass entering the inlet must equal to the fluid mass exiting the outlet
Mathematically, we can write for an incompressible flow:

1u1 A1 2u2 A2
Since 1 = 2 for incompressible flow:

Mass flux (typically kg/s)

A1
u2 u1
A2

Conservation of mass
To consider the conservation of mass in more non-simplistic terms:
Consider a small control element of size x by y through which fluid flows,
with flow velocities into and out of the element as shown in the figure
above. Assuming a 2D, incompressible flow,

Volume flow rate into control volume = volume flow rate out of control volume
u

uy vx u x y v y x
x
y

u v

0
x y

Conservation of mass
On the other hand, for a compressible flow where density varies:

Inlet velocity, u1
Inlet density, 1

Outlet velocity, u2
Outlet density, 2
*Anderson J. D. Fundamental of Aerodynamics

Inlet area, A1

Outlet area, A2

1 2

A1 1
u2 u1
A2 2

Conservation of energy
For fluid flows, one of the simplest equations encapsulating the concept of
energy conservation can be found in the Bernoulli equation
Consider fluid flow through a contraction:

No flow losses
Inviscid fluids
Incompressible
No gravity effects

Bernoulli equation states that along a streamline:

1
P u 2 constant
2

1
1
P1 u12 P2 u22
2
2

Since u2 > u1 from mass conservation consideration:

P2 P1

Boundary layers
Boundary layers are formed adjacent to surfaces/solid boundaries due to
fluid viscosity
Due to no-slip condition, fluid velocity is zero at the wall but increases
gradually to the free-stream velocity as the distance from the surface
increases

The state and characteristics of the boundary layer determine the

subsequent behaviour of the wakes and flow separation

Boundary layers
Laminar boundary layers
More prone to flow separation
Lower wall shear stress
Turbulent boundary layers
More resilient towards flow separation
Higher wall shear stress

*Y. Nakayama, Tokai University

Turbulent flows
Fluid flows can be classified into laminar or turbulent flows

(a) Laminar flow

(b) Transitional flow

(c) Turbulent flow

Laminar flows
Stable
Well-understood theoretically and analytically
Can sometimes be treated as 2D flow behaviour
Turbulent flows
Chaotic
Flow variables (i.e. velocity, pressure) fluctuate about some mean
values
3D flow behaviour

Reynolds number
To determine whether the flow is laminar or turbulent, one uses the
Reynolds number
Reynolds number ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces

UL UL
Re

:
:
Dynamic Kinematic
viscosity viscosity

For pipe flows, laminar flow if Re < 2300

For flat plates, laminar flow is Re < 2.5 x 106

L : Characteristic length

Generation of lift

*EADS Airbus

Large surface area of an aircraft wing is important towards producing

sufficient lift for flight
But the shape of the wing cross-section is the basis upon which lift is
produced in the first place
To understand lift, one must first appreciate how lift is generated by wing
cross-sections

Aerofoil terminology

*Bertin J. J. Aerodynamics for Engineers

Chord line straight line joining the leading and trailing edges
Mean camber line locus of points midway between the upper and lower
aerofoil surfaces
Thickness distance between the upper and lower surfaces
Note that the maximum thickness and thickness distribution affect the
shape of the aerofoil, other than the camber
The aerofoil shape should aim to produce as low a pressure as possible
along the upper surface, relative to that along the lower surface

Angle of attack (AOA)

*Bertin J. J. Aerodynamics for Engineers

Angle of attack is the angle between the aerofoil chord line and the free
stream direction
Lift and drag directions are perpendicular and parallel to the freestream
direction
The resultant force acting on the aerofoil will be the vector summation of
the force and drag forces

How is lift generated by aerofoils?

Theory A higher flow velocity and hence lower pressure along upper
surface
Bernoulli equation:
1
p0 ps u2
2

Consider the path of the fluid flow along the upper surface of the aerofoil:
Larger distance along the aerofoil upper surface
Lower pressure
Along the lower surface of the aerofoil:
Shorter distance along the aerofoil lower surface
Higher pressure
Net upwards-acting pressure lift!

How is lift generated by aerofoils?

Theory B Newton Theory, whereby lift is the reaction to the downward
flow of the deflected airflow, and acts upwards as a result

*Bertin J. J. Aerodynamics for Engineers

Action equal and opposite reaction

How is lift generated by aerofoils?

Theory C Bernoulli Theory, where the displacement of the wing quenches
the streamtube on the upper surface and accelerates the flow

*Bertin J. J. Aerodynamics for Engineers

This creates lower pressure along the upper aerofoil surface

Aerofoil stall
Air flow

(a) AOA=2

(b) AOA=5
Mild flow
separation

(c) AOA=10
Significant flow
separation

*H. Ito, Meiji University

(d) AOA= just below 15

(e) AOA= just above 15

As the AOA increases, both lift and drag increase until some critical AOA
Beyond the critical AOA, flow separation occurs when the flow cannot
follow (i.e. remain attached to) the aerofoil surface

Pressure, lift and drag coefficients

Pressure, lift and drag coefficients are dimensionless values (i.e. no units)
which are used to characterize flight performances of aerofoils/wings
These values are only dependent upon the configuration geometry and
angle of attack
This is very useful when testing models in laboratories to predict lift and
drag performance of actual large-scale aerofoils, wings or aircrafts
Before any of these coefficients can be determined, the pressure
distribution around the object must first be measured or computed

Pressure coefficient
Pressure coefficient can be determined for every point where pressure is
known by using
p p
Cp
1
U2
2
For aerofoils, the pressure coefficient is plotted w.r.t. to the nondimensionalized chord length as shown in the figure below:

Lift coefficient
On the other hand, lift coefficient can be calculated using
FL
CL
1
A U2
2
Note that A is the wing area
The lift coefficient can also be determined from the area enclosed by the
pressure coefficient distribution graph. For example:

Drag coefficient
Lastly, drag coefficient is defined as
CD

FD
1
A U2
2

Note the similar non-dimensionalizing

terms used in lift and drag coefficients
Non-dimensionalized terms are used in
fluid mechanics and aerodynamics due
to similarity considerations
Reynolds number, Mach number etc

Lift-to-drag ratio
To make engineering evaluations of aircraft even simpler, lift-to-drag ratios
are often used
Lift-to-drag ratio is a measure of the efficiency of an aircraft and defined as:
L/D

C L FL

C D FD

Clearly, achieving high L/D ratios are desirable for any aircraft designers
L/D15

L/D7

Cessna 150
*Adrian Pingstone

Douglas DC-3
*Flygande Veteranerna

L/D17

Airbus A318
*Adrian Pingstone

Lift-to-drag ratio
L/D19

L/D17

L/D37
Boeing 747
*Adrian Pingstone

Boeing 767
*Adrian Pingstone

Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer

*Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co.

L/D60

L/D9
Sailplane ASH-25
*Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co.

Lockheed F104 Starfighter

*Marshall S.L.A.

Lift curves

*Anderson J. D. Fundamental of Aerodynamics

Lift coefficients are usually determined for various angles of attack and
plotted as shown above
The graph allows intuitive and easy appreciation of the aerofoil/wing
performance
Note that the lift curve does not intersect the origin (i.e. lift coefficient not
zero at zero angle of attack)

Wings with finite span

Aerofoils cannot be infinitely long
Lengths of real wings directly affect
the lift and drag characteristics
Longer wings usually produce both
higher lift and drag
Finite wings are characterized by their
aspect ratio:

b2
AR
A
For rectangular wings

b2
AR
l
*Anderson J. D. Fundamental of Aerodynamics

Aerodynamics investigations
Experimental

Testing and measurements in wind or water tunnels

Hot-wire anemometry (HWA)
Laser Doppler anemometry (LDA)
Particle image velocimetry (PIV)
Pressure probes
Flow visualization

Computational
Numerical simulations of governing equations, subjected to flow and
boundary conditions
Direct numerical simulations (DNS)
Large eddy simulations (LES)
Detached eddy simulations (DES)
Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS)