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1 Fluid Static and Dynamics: 1.1 The Atmosphere
1 Fluid Static and Dynamics: 1.1 The Atmosphere
1.1 TheAtmosphere
Sinceitisagivenfactthatallair-vehiclesoperateintheatmospherethatsurrounds
ourplanet(somenotableexceptionsincludesuchaircraftasthespaceshuttle)agood
understandingofitsproperties(andpeculiarities)isvitaltothedevelopmentofflight
mechanics.
Theatmosphereismadeupofvariouslayers;thetwolayersofgreatestimportanceto
theaeronauticalengineerarethetroposphereandstratosphere.Thesetwolayers
representthelowermostlayersofouratmosphereandalsotheregioninwhichmost
aircraftfly.
Thelowerofthesetworegionsthetroposphereisanareawherethetemperature
decreaseslinearlywithheight.Inthestratospherethevariationoftemperaturewith
heightisalmostnegligibleandmayberegardedasconstant.
Longtermobservationsandinternationalagreementhaveresultedinamodelofour
atmosphereknownastheInternationalStandardAtmosphere.Thismodelisaccepted
andappliedbyalmostallaircraftmanufacturers.Someimportantpropertiesofthe
standardatmosphereatsealevelare:
T
0
=288.15K
P
0
=101325Pa
g
0
=9.80665m/s
2
a
0
=340.294m/s
OtherpropertiesoftheISAarecoveredintheadditionalnotes.
Asafirststepitisnecessarytounderstandthegoverningequationsforastandard
atmosphere,theseequationscanthenbemodifiedtosuitourpurposeshereinSouth
Africa(whichseldomexperiencesanISAday).Thusthegoverningequationsare
summarisedby(seetheadditionalnotesforafullderivation)
Thehydrostaticequation:
g
dZ
dp
= (1-1)
WhereZisanarbitraryheight.Theperfectgaslawisgivenby:
RT p = (1-2)
Therelationshipofgeopotentialheight(H)togeometricheight(Z),
}
=
Z
SL
dZ g
g
H
0
1
(1-3)
Thetemperaturegradientwithrespecttogeopotentialaltitude(notethatasubscriptb
indicatespropertiesatthebaseofthelayer),
( ) T H H L T T
b b
+ + = (1-4)
(withT=0)
Whentheseequationsarecombinedandsomealgebraicmanipulations(seethe
additionalnotesfordetails)aremadethecontrollingequationsforaStandard
Atmosphereareasfollows:
Inthetroposphere
RL g
b b
T
T
p
p
0
|
|
.
|
\
|
= (1-5)
Inthestratosphere
( )
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
b
b
b
RT
H H g
p
p
0
exp (1-6)
Followingthistheidealgaslawcanbeappliedforallotherquantities.
ItmustbenotedthattheStandardatmosphereiscalculatedintermsofthe
geopotentialaltitude,whichbydefinitionisidenticaltothepressurealtitude(indicated
byH
p
)inastandardatmosphere.Itisforthisreasonthatallcalculationshenceforth
mustbemadewithrespecttothepressureheight.
Naturally,thechancesofactuallyencounteringadayinSouthAfricawherethe
temperatureatsealevelisexactly288.15Kareminiscule.Forthisreasonoff-standard
atmospheresweredeveloped(seetheadditionalclassnotesESDU77022)andareof
greatinteresttous.Thefundamentalpremiseoftheoff-standardatmosphereisthat
suchanatmosphereisonewhereinthepressureatanygivenpressureheightis
identicaltothepressureinastandardatmosphereatthatsamegeo-potentialaltitude
(bydefinition).
Inthetroposphere
( )
(
+ =
b
pb p
e pb p b
T
H H L
L
T
H H H H 1 log (1-7)
Inthestratosphere
( )
|
|
.
|
\
|
+ =
b
pb p b
T
T
H H H H 1 (1-8)
OncethevalueofH
p
isknownequations4and5(or6ifinthestratosphere)canbe
reappliedandsubsequentlytheidealgaslaw.
Whyhassuchagreatdealbeenmadeaboutsomethingasseeminglyinconsequential
asthebehaviourofanidealgas(i.e.theatmosphere)underacertainsetofconditions
(i.e.thestandardatmosphere).Oneofthemostimportantreasonsisbarometricor
pressurealtitude.Thisisthealtitude,whichismostcommonlyusedbyaviatorsand
measuredbyaircraft,whichthusfarhasbeengiventhesynonympressureheight.Itis
alsoimportanttoalwaysrememberthatitisthecurrentpressurethatdeterminesan
aircraftsperformancerelativetotheairandnotitsaltitude.
Picturethissituation,anairlinerisen-routetoalandingatCapeTowninternational
anditisadarkandstormynight.Thealtitudegiventothepilotisthatmadebythe
pressure-sensingaltimeter.Thisdevicewillread0m(i.e.sealevel)whenthepressure
is101325.Unfortunatelyforourintrepidaviatoralow-pressurecelliscurrentlyover
thepeninsulaandthereadingatsealevelisinfact95000Pa.Thusacorrectionneeds
tobemadeifthepassengersaretogettheirmoneysworth.Similarsituationsoccur
whenahigher(orlower)temperatureresultsinatmosphericconditionsdifferentto
thoseencounteredinastandardatmosphere.Thesedifferencesmustbetakeninto
accountifoneistocorrectlypredicttheperformanceofanaircraft;theapplicationof
theoff-standardatmospheremakesprovisionforthis.
Oneofmanyapplicationswherethestandardatmospherecomesinhandywillbe
reviewednext.
Thefollowingdatawastakenfrommeteorologicalballoons(bothGPSandRadar
aidedballoons)torecordatmosphericdatapriorandaftertherecentflight-testingofa
largeinternationalprojectattheOverbergTestRange.
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
220
230
240
250
260
270
280
290
300
310
TemperatureComparisons
GeometricAltitude[m]
T
[
K
]
2003/02/0414h43SAST
2003/02/1315h03SAST
2003/02/1317h33SAST
ISAT+13
o
C
Figure1-1ISAtemperaturefitstorealdata.
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
x10
4
PressureComparisons
GeometricAltitude[m]
P
[
P
a
]
2003/02/0414h43SAST
2003/02/1315h03SAST
2003/02/1317h33SAST
ISAT+13
o
C
Figure1-2ISApressurefitstorealdata.
[
K
g
/
m
3
]
2003/02/0414h43SAST
2003/02/1315h03SAST
2003/02/1317h33SAST
ISAT+13
o
C
Figure1-3ISAdensityfitstorealdata.
[
m
/
s
]
2003/02/0414h43SAST
2003/02/1315h03SAST
2003/02/1317h33SAST
ISAT+13
o
C
Figure1-4ISAspeedofsoundfitstorealdata.
1.2 SpeedMeasurements,CompressibiltyandFluidFlow
Asapreludetothissectionontheapplicationoffluidmechanicstothefieldofflight
mechanicssomefundamentalaspectsfromthecourseonfluidmechanicscanbe
repeatedhere.
Firstlywewillexaminesomeoftheequationsgoverningthebehaviourofa
compressiblefluid(liketheatmosphere),theseequationswillbeusedthroughoutand
aregenerallyapplicable.
1.2.1 Continuity
Foraone-dimensionalflowofacompressiblefluidthefollowingexpressionforthe
massflowrateisalwaystrue:
AV m = (1-9)
1.2.2 EnergyEquation
Foraone-dimensionalflowofacompressiblefluidwithnoenergyaddedbetweenthe
entryandexitofthecontrolvolumeunderconsideration,thefollowingholds:
g
V
h Q
g
V
h
H
2 2
2
2
2
2
1
1
+ = + + (1-10)
1.2.3 ImpulseMomentum
ForasteadycompressibleflowtheapplicationofNewtonslawtoafluidyields
1 1 1 2 2 2
V Q V Q F = (1-11)
1.2.4 EulerEquation
Alongastreamline,foraone-dimensionalflowofacompressiblefluid
0 = +VdV
dp
(1-12)
Thislastequationwillbeexaminedinsomemoredetailinthesectiontocome.
Inadditiontothesefewfundamentalsoffluidmechanicssomeresultsfromthestudy
ofsimilitudeinfluidmechanicsarealsopertinent.
1.2.5 MachNumber
Themachnumberofafluidisameasureofthecompressibilityofthatfluidatthat
point.Itcanalsobeseenastheratiooftheinertialforcespersistinginthefluidtothe
elasticforceswithinthefluid.TheMachnumberisdefinedastheratioofthespeedof
sound(a)tothevelocityofthefluid(V),i.e.
a
V
M = (1-13)
Wherethespeedofsoundisgivenby:
RT a = (1-14)
1.2.6 ReynoldsNumber
Thisdimensionlessratioquantifiestheratiooftheinertialforcestotheviscousforces
(orshearstresses)andisgivenby:
Vl
R
e
= (1-15)
Thesefundamentalscannowfinallybeputtosomepracticaluseinthefieldofflight
mechanics.Thefirstapplicationtobeexaminedisthemeasurementofspeed.
1.3 VelocityMeasurements
Eulersequation,repeatedhereforconvenience,isapplicabletoanystreamlineina
fluid:
0 = +VdV
dp
Iftheflowunderconsiderationisincompressible(i.e.=constant),thenitcanbe
seenthat,
constant
2
1
2
= + V p (1-16)
Thisequationiscommonlyencounteredthroughoutflightmechanics,thefirsttermis
oftencalledthestaticpressurewhilethesecondtermisthedynamicpressure.
Ifthefluidisindeedcompressible(inourcase,theair,thisisatMachnumbershigher
than0.6),andoneassumesthatchangesindensityandpressurefollowanisentropic
processthenonecanseethat,
constant
1 2
1
2
=
+
p
V (1-17)
Or,alternatively,
constant
1 2
1
2
2
=
a
V (1-18)
ThesetwoformsofEulersequation(OftenrenamedtoBernoullisequation)cannow
beusedtodeterminethevelocityoftheairflow,firstlyatlowMachnumberswhen
theairisincompressible,
( )
p p
V
0
2
(1-19)
Atspeedswherethefluidbecomescompressible(M>0.6),thefollowingholds
( )
(
(
|
.
|
\
|
+ =
1
2
1
1
2
1
2
2
0
M
M q
p p
(1-20)
Itisveryimportanttonotethatthequsedaboveisq
,whichisdefinedas,
2 2
2
1
2
1
pM q or V q = = (1-21)
Wherethevaluesusedabovearefree-streamvalues.Notethatwhencompressibility
isimportantqp
0
p.Theseequationsarenowusedtoderivesomespeedmeasures.
1.3.1 TrueAirspeed
Thetermp
0
pinequation1-20canbecalledthecompressibledynamic(orimpact)
pressure.Itisthisdifferencethatismeasuredbyapitottubeinsertedintotheflow.
Thismeasurementalongwiththemeasurementoftemperaturecanbeusedto
determinethetruevelocityoftheflow,asfollows:
(
(
(
|
|
.
|
\
|
+
1 1
1
2
1
0
2
2
p
p p a
V
T
(1-22)
1.3.2 CalibratedAirspeed
Veryoftenaircraftperformanceandotherparametersarespecifiedaccordingtosea-
levelparameters.Thisisespeciallytrueofspeedrelatedparameters.Forthisreason
thecalibratedairspeedisveryoftencalculated.Thecalibratedairspeedcanbeseenas
acalibrationoftheairspeedusingsea-level(SL)values,andisgivenby:
2
1
1
0
2
1 1
1
2
(
(
(
|
|
.
|
\
|
+
SL
SL
CAS
p
p p a
V (1-23)
Notethatp
0
pisstillthecompressibledynamicpressuremeasuredbythepitottube.
1.3.3 IndicatedAirspeed
Insomecasesadistinctionismadebetweentheairspeedasindicateddirectlybythe
pitottubeandthecalibratedairspeedwhichistheindicatedairspeed(ascalculatedin
1-23)butwithsomecorrectionsmadetotakeaccountofplacementandcalibration
errors.Inthiscasenodistinctionismadeandwewillsaythat,
IAS CAS
V V (1-24)
1.3.4 EquivalentAirspeed
Ifcompressibilitycanbeneglected(i.e.atM<0.6)thenaslightlysimplercalculation
canbeusedtodeterminetheequivalentairspeed:
( )
2
1
0
2
(
=
SL
e
p p
V
(1-25)
Insummaryitcanthusbeseenthat:
Atstandardsea-levelconditionsandlowMachnumbersV
TAS
=V
CAS
V
e
,
AsaltitudeincreasesV
TAS
>V
CAS
,
AsMachnumberincreasesV
CAS
V
e
.
1.4 Assignment.
WriteaMATLABsub-routinethatwillallowcalculationsofbothstandardandoff
standardatmospheres.Ideallythisroutineshouldacceptgeometricaltitudeasan
input,convertthistogeopotentialandfinallytopressurealtitude.Otherparameters
suchasPressure,Temperature,DensityandtheSpeedofSoundshouldalsobe
outputs.
Onagivendayataflighttestitisnotedthatthetemperatureatgroundlevelisquitea
bithigherthanexpected.Ifitisassumedthattheatmosphereofthedayisgivenbyan
off-standardatmosphereofDT=10.Determinetheconditionsat10000mgeometric
altitude.Usingthisinformationdetermineatwhatspeedthepilotneedstoflyto
achieveMach0.9.