HIGH SPEED FLIGHT NOTES

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4.5 Factors Affecting Airflow

Air Inlet Ducts

The air inlet duct of an engine is commonly considered as being part of the airframe. However,
its design and function is extremely important for the proper operation of a high performance
turbine engine. The requirements for an inlet duct are:

the provision of airflow as required by the compressor during different aircraft attitudes
and airspeeds
the provision of this airflow at a speed corresponding to compressor performance
the establishment of airflow that is undisturbed and uniform in speed and pressure
across the compressor diameter
the increase of air pressure with minimum temperature increase
the supply of air with minimum losses of dynamic energy in the inlet duct.

Supersonic Inlet Ducts

Refer to Figure 15.

The air approaching a turbine engine compressor must always be at a speed below the speed
of sound to prevent a high-speed stall of the compressor blades. When the aircraft is flying at
supersonic speed the inlet air must be slowed to subsonic speed before it reaches the
compressor. This can be done by using a convergent/divergent (or: CD) inlet duct.

Air enters the convergent portion of the duct at supersonic speed, and the velocity decreases
until the narrowest part of the duct is reached. At this point, the air velocity has been reduced to
the speed of sound and a normal shock wave forms. Beyond this point the duct becomes wider
again. The air which passed through the shock wave is now flowing at subsonic speed and is
further slowing down as it flows through the divergent portion of the duct.

Refer to Figure 16.

By the time the air reaches the compressor its speed is well below the speed of sound and the
pressure has been increased.

Variable Air Inlets

Refer to Figure 17.

Aircraft that operate at subsonic and supersonic speed normally have variable inlet ducts that
change their shape as the airspeed changes. This is either done by lowering and raising a
wedge or by moving a tapered plug in and out of the duct. Variable air inlets are usually
controlled automatically by the engine control unit.
HIGH SPEED FLIGHT NOTES
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4.6 Design Measures to Increase the Critical Mach Number

Refer to Figure 18.

The critical Mach number Mcrit is one of the most important factors regarding the design of fast
subsonic aircraft. The highest achievable cruise speed is the speed nearest Mach 1 without
formation of shock waves.

An increase of the critical Mach number Mcrit on a wing can be achieved by:

a decrease in airfoil thickness
a decrease in airfoil camber
a shift of the location of maximum thickness towards the trailing edge
(or a combination of the above measures)
the use of swept-back wings.

Supercritical Laminar Airfoils

In order to increase the critical Mach number and to delay the generation of shock waves,
specially shaped transonic airfoils (called supercritical laminar airfoils) have been developed.
Compared with a conventional airfoil, the overall thickness of the transonic foil is reduced, its
upper camber is less curved and the location of maximum thickness is further aft.

As a result, the shock wave on the upper surface forms at a higher speed is further aft and the
pressure increase is not as abrupt. This causes the typical compression effects such as the
drag increase, high speed buffeting and flow separation to take place at speeds beyond Mach
critical which is then called supercritical airspeed.

Effects of Sweepback on Mcrit

Refer to Figure 19.

Designers commonly use swept-back wings and control surfaces to increase the critical Mach
number and to prevent drag rise and control problems. The air flowing over a swept-back wing
has to be divided into speed vectors, whereas only the vector flowing perpendicular to the
leading edge is responsible for the formation of shock waves.

By sweeping the wing back at an angle, for example 45, when flying at the speed of sound (i.e.
at Mach 1) the air flowing directly across the wing perpendicular to the leading edge is only
moving at a speed of Mach 0.7.

Besides the increase of the critical Mach number the sweepback has the additional advantage
of reducing the total drag in the transonic speed range.
HIGH SPEED FLIGHT NOTES
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Refer to Figure 18.

As can be seen from Figure 18, the greater the angle of sweepback the lower the total drag will
be. Similar effects can be seen if the straight and swept wing are compared against drag and lift
coefficients with increasing Mach numbers.

A major disadvantage of the swept wing is its performance at low speeds such as takeoff or
landing. To improve the low side of the speed envelope, fast aircraft with highly swept wings
usually feature additional lift systems such as slats and flaps, boundary layer control devices or
even variable wing geometry.