Aerodynamics of Airfoil & Wings

 As seen earlier, aircraft flight is an interplay of four basic

forces: thrust, weight, lift and drag.
 Two of the forces lift and drag are as a direct consequence of
motion of aircraft. This means an interaction between fluid and
solid results in lift and drag.
 Specific shape called airfoil ensures an optimum and correct
utilization of these forces.
 Movement of air over a stationary solid surface is same as
movement of solid surface through stationary atmosphere.
Former is used in wind tunnel experiments whereas latter is
used in actual flight conditions.
 Thrust is produced by an engine, which is controlled by the pilot
whereas the weight of aircraft can only vary due to fuel
consumption or deployment of payload (bomb, missile).
 Thrust is directly coupled with aircraft speed and thus to lift
and drag. Aerodynamic efficiency is thus the key factor.
Flow Characterization

 Two Non-Dimensional Numbers play critical role in Aeronautics. The

first one is called Reynolds Number and is defined as

Re = (  u L ) /
 It is a ratio of kinetic to viscous properties of the system with L
being the characteristic dimension. For high performance aircraft
this number is in excess of million. This number is used to classify
Laminar and Turbulent flow regions as well. Smaller the number
viscous effects will be dominating.
 Similarly Mach number is defined as a ratio of velocity to the local
speed of sound and in mathematical terms expressed as

M = u / a = u /   R T
 Flow is termed as subsonic or supersonic depending on M less or
greater than one.
Principles of Airfoil
 Airfoil operations were
originally explained with the
help of Bernoulli’s principle
which states that pressure
and velocity is inversely
related.
 Second principle was that of
equal transit time (Not
Quite Right). Thus by shape
if air has to travel more on
Airfoil Nomenclature
the upper surface than the
lower one, it will produce
suction on the top and
pressure on the lower
surface.
 The pressure difference
integrated over wing surface
will produce lift.
Inverted Flight: No Big Deal !
 Even though Bernoulli’s
principle is proved for the
incompressible flow and
apparatuses have been built
around this, equal transit
time does not have serious
scientific validity.
 This also does not explain
how the aerobatic aircrafts
can successfully fly in
inverted fashion where the
curvature would be opposite
of the conventional airfoil.
Inverted Flight: No Big Deal ! +

 By application of rudder and

aileron, one can enter in
inverted flight.
 The main wings are able to
produce sufficient quantity of
lift even in the inverted flight.
 This would be less than the
lift produced in the normal
flight.
 To keep the nose up attitude,
elevator is pushed down making
the tail to be pushed down.
Principles of Airfoil +
 More plausible explanation is
given in terms of shedding of
vortex left behind when wing
moves forward.Such a vortex
production is seen in actual
flight as shown.
 Such a vortex induces a
circulation which when
superimposed over the
incoming air velocity causes
higher upper surface velocity.
 Now one can use same
Bernoulli’s equation to arrive
at the force production due to
the pressure difference
across a surface.
Resultant Force
 The curvature that is provided
for the airfoil, creates typical
pressure distribution as shown
in the figure.
 The resultant of upper suction
surface and the lower pressure
surface is a single resultant
force.
 When this force is resolved,
force in normal perpendicular
direction is termed as lift,
whereas force along the
stream wise direction is
termed as drag force.
Principles of Airfoil +

Angle of
 Shape of airfoil changes
attack chord depending on the speed from
overall considerations.
 For supersonic flight, diamond
Relative Wind shape airfoil is adequate to
produce necessary lift without
enhancing adverse effects
such as increased drag.
 Conventional subsonic airfoil
would be a rounded one as
Supersonic Airfoil seen here.
Principles of Airfoil +
 Airfoil is characterized by
coeff. of lift cl v/s angle of
attack  curve.
 Lift depends on cl ( or angle
of attack ), density of
medium, surface area and
square of the velocity.
 Note that cl is positive even
for small negative values of
angle of attack .
 Also note that it drops
rapidly beyond particular
value of , phenomena that
is known as stall and which
should be carefully avoided.
Principles of Airfoil +
 Other crucial part of airfoil
is the production of drag
which must be overcome as
it is always in the direction
opposite to that of the
motion.
 There are two basic
components to drag: form or
profile drag and friction or
viscous drag.
 Former depends on the cross
section area, and the later
depends on surface area.
 As in previous case, coeff.
of drag v/s  shows sudden
increase in drag beyond
certain limit value of .
Principles of Airfoil +

 Lift and Drag being desirable

& undesirable characteristic
respectively, it makes sense to
devise a composite ratio L/D
(cl / cd ) to characterize the
airfoil.
 Such a ratio will be different
for different airfoils and the
aerodynamic efficiency of the
airfoil will be decided by this
ratio-higher the ratio, better
it would be. Some typical
values of L/D and other
important number T/W are
shown in next table.
Drag and Shape

 Since reducing drag for normal

flying conditions is the key
objective, shape of the body
is important.
 As can be seen blunt objects
offer more resistance to the
flow compared to slender or
aerodynamically shaped simple
objects.
 Combination and orientation of
different cross sections and
varied dimensions make it
necessary to study the
complete aircraft model.
Drag Dependence

 Practical shapes are studied

for accurate estimation of
drag. These are studied by
placing small scale models
fabricated with similarity rule
in the wind-tunnel.
 Precise characterization of the
working medium as well as the
model and the flow condition is
essential.
 Development of non-
dimensional parameters permit
one to upgrade to the actual
flight conditions.
Stall is the last word.

 Actual conditions in terms of

flight maneuvers are best
characterized by changes in
angle of attack or camber of
the airfoil achieved with the
help of deflection or
extension of flaps.
 Beyond particular angle of
attack, the flow looses
aerodynamic characteristics
as the flow leaves the solid
surface or detaches.
 When such a situation arises
the solid body in the flow
path becomes irrelevant and
stall occurs (no lift).
Big or Small Makes difference in Drag

 For a particular component of

drag the frontal area is
important. Drag increases
rapidly as the flow velocity
increases close to M~1.
 Thus for fast moving military
aircraft, slender bodies are
preferred to reduce the drag
resistance from pressure or
wake.
 Friction drag on the other
hand refers to the length over
which air is contact with the
solid surface.
Cheating Airfoil – Swept Back Wing

 Mcr is the critical Mach number

M Mcr = 0.7 beyond which the drag increases
much more rapidly which is
undesirable.
 Airfoil sees only the normal
component of velocity for the
purpose of drag.
Mcr = 0.808
 Thus by using swept back wing,
Critical Mach number is increased
30 0 Swept Wing by 1/cos(30) to Mcr = 0.808 and
drag divergence is delayed.
 In reality the flow becomes
three dimensional and thus
Mcr = 0.7
complex. However most modern
Airfoil aircrafts use swept wings.
SWEPT WING
Swept Back at Supersonic Speed

For Supersonic speed swept wing provide advantage. If Mach cone

with vertex angle  ensures that the leading edge of the wing always
remains inside, the flow component normal to the leading edge will be
subsonic resulting in less wave drag. This is shown in figure on left.
Figure on right indicates that there is a possibility of a very strong
oblique shock which is irreversible dissipative loss as the Mach cone
does not engulf the leading edge of the wing. This is costly from the
drag and thus power requirement point of view.
Principles of Airfoil +

L/D T/W

Birds/Insects ~ 20 ~ 0.2 - 0.3

Gliders ~ 20-35 0

Aircraft ~ 15-20 ~ 0.2 - 0.3

(commercial)
~ 4-10 (military)
~ 1.2 - 6
Ideal Aerofoil

• High maximum value of lift coefficient which will reduce the landing
speed and enhance the safety of aircraft.
• Good Lift to Drag Ratio. This does not occur at minimum drag or
maximum lift coefficient. One must operate at this angle to ensure
minimum resistance for given weight. Higher the value of this lower
would be the resistance.
• High maximum value of ( CL 3/2 / Cd ). For L,  , S remaining
constant, v is inversely proportional to  Cl. D varies inversely to
(L/D), power required to propel the airplane is DV, or proportional
to Cl 3/2 / Cd. By comparing various airfoils on this ratio one can
select the best airfoil.
• Low minimum drag coefficient is critical for high speed aircrafts.
• A small movement of centre of pressure would yield stable
operations.
Spinning Around
 The characteristics of the
airfoil are experimentally
determined with the help of
Simplest wind-tunnel wind-tunnel testing.
 Relative motion between the
model and the medium such
as air is created and force
components are measured.
 Controlled operating
conditions are varied so that
large volume of data is
generated.
 Scaling laws for model are
formulated as only small size
objects can be effectively
tested under these
controlled environment.
Wind Tunnels
 Wind-tunnels can generate data for various airfoils. Academic
wind-tunnels have certain limitations in terms of size and
speed. Additionally including complicated shapes or full scale
objects is virtually impossible.
 NASA has generated volumes of data on standard airfoil
sections and such a catalogue is available in open literature.
 In this process of large collection, airfoil nomenclature has also
been developed. Thus for example NACA 4412 implies
 maximum camber of 4% of chord

 Position of max camber 40% of chord

 Maximum thickness 12% of chord

 NASA has a large wind-tunnel facility which can house B-707

type of aircraft.
 Another important aspect is wind-tunnel capable of conducting
high altitude tests as aircraft operates around 10-15 km where
air quality (pressure, density etc) is quite different.
NASA Wind Tunnel
 The NASA facility such as
shown here is indeed unique.
 It requires lot of power, it is
huge and is indeed costly.
 Considerable amount of
experimental work has been
replaced by other similar tools
such as CFD analysis.
 CFD analysis for real life
simplified 3-D bodies is still in
infant stage.
 Integrated shapes such as
wing, body, engine shapes are
rather difficult to solve with
CFD analysis and wind tunnels
still have a upper hand.
More Lift Needed !

 Slots, flaps and slats could be

used for altering the lift and
drag, for changing stalling
angle and to change the trim.
 Flaps work on the principles of
changed camber and have been
in use since WWI.
 Slots help in Boundary Layer
Control. These can also delay
the stall and depending on the
configuration increase the
drag.
 These devices are operated
only for a short duration.
Slats
 Small and auxiliary airfoil
could be placed in front of the
main airfoil with suitable gap
or slot in between the two.
This increases the lift
coefficient by as much as
60%.
 It also increases the stalling
angle. Which is advantageous
at the time of landing.
 Stall is caused by breakdown
of flow. When the airflow is
through the slot, it keeps the
flow smooth following the
airfoil contour exercising
boundary layer control.
By How Much ??
Cl max= 4.0 @ 28
Wing + Flap +Slot
Cl max= 3.2 @ 24
Wing + Flap

Cl max= 2.4 @ 22
Wing + Slot

Cl max= 1.6 @ 15

Plain Wing

-10
Maximum Lift Coefficient for Airfoil

Configuration Million Re Maximum CL

Single Element Airfoil 0.05 1.2

Single Element Airfoil 0.5 --

Single Element Airfoil 3.0 --

Typical Examples over the Years

Aircraft Wing Configuration CL

Boeing B-52 (1947) Slat + Fowler Flap 1.8

Boeing 727 (1963) Slat + Single Flap 2.45

Boeing 767 (1981) Slat + Triple Flap 2.79

V/STOL Aircrafts

Powered System CL Range

Internally Blown Flaps 4 ~ 9

Upper Surface Blowing 4 ~ 8

Externally Blown Flap 5 ~ 7

Augmenter Flap 4 ~ 7

Vectored Thrust 1 ~ 3
 Successive stacking of airfoils of
different chord allows one to
construct a wing surface. Practical
wing comprises of number of
Airfoils to Wings additional features.
LE and TE devices such as slats and
flaps are temporary control measures
to increase lift during critical
maneuvers.
Winglets ensure spillage of flow in
the lateral direction and thereby
improving the effectiveness of wings.
Vortex generators are small plates
about an inch deep standing on edge
in a row span wise along the wing.
They are placed at an angle of attack
and (like a wing airfoil section)
generate vortices. These tend to
prevent or delay the breakaway of
the boundary layer by re-energizing
it. They are lighter and simpler than
the suction boundary layer control
system described above.
Air Spill at the Wing Tips

 Air-flow over and under the

wing surface creates regions
of differential pressure. Since
the wing surface is not infinite
in length at the edges and tips
air tries to take natural
course with a movement from
high pressure to low pressure
region.
 High pressure air from under
the wing spills over towards
low pressure air on the top
surface of the wing from the
tip.
Wing Tip Vortices

 The portion near the tip would

be less effective as an airfoil
due to the pressure
equalization.
 If one can keep the
percentage area affected to a
smaller value as in case of a
long and narrower wing, the
damaging effect could be
minimized.
 Wing tip vortices are
unavoidable but the influence
could be minimized by changing
the Aspect Ratio.
  Aspect Ratio of Rectangular
shape is ratio of span to chord.
Aspect Ratio Since the plan form is rarely
rectangular it is alternately
defined as ratio of (Span)2/Area.
 Effect of increasing Aspect Ratio
is to reduce the Induced Drag
which is caused by lift or by the
change in direction of flow.
 Efficient airfoils would have
higher Aspect Ratio with a
consequence of increased range.
 Wing structure is of cantilever
type without external bracing.
Thus very long wings would not
only droop under the weight but
also would require heavier bracing
at the root attachment with
fuselage.
  In a narrow thin region close to
Wing BL flow of fluid over solid surface is
sluggish due to viscosity (friction).
 Fluid velocity will be same as the
solid surface velocity (no slip) and
gradually increases to the free
stream inviscid velocity some
distance from the surface.
 If the flow is streamlined then it
is referred to as laminar which
transits into turbulent.
 Turbulent boundary layer results
in increased skin friction drag and
thus undesirable.
 Attempts are made to keep the
flow laminar by shape of by
suction of the boundary layer.
  Root section of wing is inboard
section and has to be strong to
Tapered Wing ensure satisfactory load
transfer to the strong central
part viz. fuselage.
 Weight saving is very critical in
aircraft operations. In tapering
the wing in any one dimension
one can achieve this objective.
 Taper results in higher value of
CL max and lower values of CD.
Also L/D ratios would
simultaneously improve. For
Thickness tapered plan form CP
is less sensitive to change in
angle of attack. It is sensitive
if the wing is tapered in plan
form. Taper in both, results
best aerodynamic performance.
Mono v/s Biplane

 Though currently not a favored

configuration, earlier designers
felt that biplanes will be able
to provide more lift than the
monoplanes.
 Increased Drag due to inter-
plane interference as well as
the drag wires and struts were
cause of concern.
 However lack of knowledge
about deep airfoil sections as
well development of material
and manufacturing technique
delayed the development of
Monoplane.
Delta Wing

 Delta Wing combines wing and

horizontal tail. This is
attractive for military
aircrafts which invariably fly
at supersonic speeds. Concorde
also uses Delta Wing.
 If area of wing has to remain
same, the additional surface
by joining the two surfaces will
result in shorter wing span.
 The wing can accommodate
more amount of fuel necessary
for the flight.
Novelty

Big wings won’t go fast & smaller one won’t go slow. Current solution
provides movable wing system that alters wing shape & not area. In
Variable wing, low drag fixed wing is designed for high speed
minimizing power requirements at cruise. At takeoff, the skin is fully
deployed to maximize lift & at cruise it is fully retracted, leaving
fixed wing clean and drag free. Such novel concept can find
applications in inner city noise sensitive airports. Also increased lift
permits lower takeoff speeds-reducing runway length requirements &
permitting steeper climb angles.
Conclusion

 Wings with Airfoil shape is the single-most important component

that distinguishes aircraft from other transport devices. The
forces produced by the typical shape is used for various purpose
from controlling to force generation against gravity (lift).
 Even though drag in general is considered as a negative component
of this force generation, it is an essential part as it is also used
for controlling the motion of aircraft especially during landing when
deceleration is most important.
 It is again emphasized that these forces are active only when there
is a relative motion between solid body & air that is flowing over it.
 FOILSIM software is available on the net which demonstrates
interactively the airfoil characteristics. One can vary airfoil
parameters such as camber, thickness, angle of attack, airspeed
and obtain important information regarding lift, drag, pressure
distribution etc.