Aerodynamic Center1 Suppose we have the forces and moments specified about some reference location for the

aircraft, and we want to restate them about some new origin. ~L N~ ~L N~

Mref

Mnew

xref

xnew

M ref = Pitching moment about xref

M new = Pitching moment about xnew xref = Original reference location xnew = New origin

N = Normal force L for small A = Axial force D for small

Assuming there is no change in the z location of the two points:

M ref = ( xnew xref ) L + M new

Or, in coefficient form:

Cm ref

x x ref = new c N mean a .c.

CL + CM new

The Aerodynamic Center is defined as that location xac about which the pitching moment doesnt change with angle of attack. How do we find it?
1

Anderson 1.6 & 4.3

Aerodynamic Center

Let xnew = xac Using above: ( x xref ) CM ref = ac CL + CM ac c Differential with respect to :
x xref CL CM ac = ac + c By definition: CM ac =0 Solving for the above CM ref

xac xref c xac xref c

CM ref CL = , or = xref CM ref c CL

Example: Consider our AVL calculations for the F-16C xref = 0 - Moment given about LE

Compute

CM ref CL

for small range of angle of attack by numerical

differences. I picked = 30 to = 30 . x This gave ac 2.89 . c x CM Plotting CM vs about ac shows 0. c

CM 0 @ xac = 2.89 , but also that CM = 0 . The location about which CM = 0 is called the center of pressure.
Note that according to the AVL predictions, not only is

16.100 2002

Aerodynamic Center

Center of pressure is that location where the resultant forces act and about which the aerodynamic moment is zero. Changing new to cp and ref to NOSE to correspond to AVL:

CM NOSE c So if: CM NOSE xcp

xcp xNOSE C L + C M cp c CM NOSE CL

, CL CL this will be true. This means that

CM NOSE

CM 0 at CL = 0 .

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Cm vs Alpha for F16C from AVL (M=0)

1.5

0.5

0 -5 -0.5 0 5 10 15 20

-10

Cm

-1

Xref = 0 Xref = Xac = 2.89

-1.5

-2

-2.5

-3

-3.5 Alpha

Wind Tunnel Test Aerodynamic Center Characteristics for Washout and Rigid Wings (Altitude = 10,000 ft.)

50

45

40

35 Rigid Wing Washout Wing

A.C. (% MAC)

30

25

20

15 0.7 0.8 0.9 Mach Number 1 1.1 1.2 1.3

0.5

0.6