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Flight Thrust, Power, and Energy Relations: Lab 1 Lecture Notes
Flight Thrust, Power, and Energy Relations: Lab 1 Lecture Notes
5 Feb 09
T
Tc
Pprop
Pshaft
Eshaft
R
prop
v
i
Re
c
cd
propeller thrust
thrust coefficient
propulsive thrust power ( T V )
motor shaft power
motor shaft energy expended
propeller radius
overall propeller efficiency
profile propeller efficiency (viscous loss)
Froude propeller efficiency (inviscid loss)
chord Reynolds number
wing-airfoil profile lift coefficient
wing-airfoil profile drag coefficient
air density
Thrust Power
Generation of thrust in flight requires the expenditure of power. For a propeller or a jetengine fan, the shaft power and the thrust are related by the definition of propeller efficiency.
TV
Pprop
prop
Pshaft
Pshaft
(1)
The prop is the product of a viscous profile efficiency v which accounts for the viscous profile
drag on the blades, and an inviscid Froude efficiency i which accounts for the kinetic energy
lost in the accelerated propwash.
prop = v i
(2)
1 + 1 + Tc
T
1 2
V R2
2
(3)
Tc
(4)
Tc 1 , i 1 : Pshaft
Tc 1 , i 1 : Pshaft
Both Tc and i are seen to strongly depend on the thrust and flight speed, and also on the
propeller radius. In contrast, v does not vary much and is often considered a constant.
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Level-Flight Relations
In level flight we have W = L, which gives the velocity in terms of aircraft parameters.
1 2
V S CL
2
!1/2
2W
=
S CL
W = L =
V
(7)
(8)
In steady level flight we also have T = D, in which case the thrust and the propulsive thrust
power can then be given as follows.
T = D =
Pprop = T V = DV
1 2
CD
V S CD = W
2
CL
1 3
=
V S CD =
2
2W 3
S
(9)
!1/2
CD
3/2
CL
(10)
In the level-flight case we can also express the thrust coefficient and hence the prop Froude
efficiency in an alternative and somewhat more convenient manner.
Tc =
T
1
V 2
2
R2
D
S
=
CD
R2
R2
1
V 2
2
(11)
Drag Breakdown
To obtain the required thrust or propulsive power via (9) or (10), we need the overall aircraft
drag coefficient CD , which is broken down into three basic components.
CD =
CDA0
CL2
+ cd (CL , Re) +
S
AR
(12)
The first term gives the combined drag of all the non-wing components, such as the fuselage,
tail, landing gear, etc. The second term is the wing profile drag, estimated from the wings
2D airfoil cd (c , Re) data, and by assuming that the typical wing airfoil operates at c CL .
The last term is the induced drag coefficient CDi , which depends on CL and the aspect ratio
of the wing.
AR =
b2
S
(13)
Figure 1 shows the three CD components versus CL for a typical 1.5 m span light RC sport
aircraft.
For a typical operating point at CL = 1.0 (low speed) and CL = 0.3 (high speed), indicated by
the symbols in Figure 1, the three components contribute roughly the following percentages
to the total drag:
CL
CDA0 /S
cd
CL2 /AR
CD
1.0
0.3
1.0
0.3
0.0167
0.0167
18 %
39 %
0.0335
0.0220
37 %
52 %
0.0406
0.0037
45 %
9%
0.0909
0.0424
100 %
100 %
1.6
1.4
CDAo/S
cd
CDi
CD
1.2
CL
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
0.00
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
CD
0.10
0.12
0.14
0.16
Figure 1: Drag polar and drag polar components for electric sport aircraft. AR = 9.0
10
Pprop [W]
10
12
14
V [m/s]
d
V
(14)
Eshaft = Pshaft t =
Td
prop
(15)
Combining the relations and assumptions above, we have the following summary relations
Eshaft
Pshaft
CD
1 1 1
S
+
CD (We + Wp ) d
=
1+
2
v 2 2
R
CL
2(We + Wp )3
1 1 1
S
+
C
=
1+
D
v 2 2
R2
S
where
CD =
!1/2
CD
3/2
CL
C2 S
CDA0
+ cd (CL , Re) + L 2
S
b
(16)
(17)
(18)
The auxilliary CD expression (18) is the same as (12), restated here for convenience.
Parameter Coupling and Design Optimization
Any change in the aircraft variables which permits a reduction of Eshaft as given by equation
(16), with a fixed Wp , will give a reduction in energy or fuel consumption. However, its
essential to realize that most of the variables and parameters in equations (16) and (18) are
coupled in an actual design application, so the effect of changing one will have multiple side
effects, with the net effect being nonobvious.
One example which might appear if one attempts to reduce Eshaft by increasing the wing
area S. One immediately-apparent benefit of a larger S is:
Pro: Reduction of the first CDA0 term in (18)
There are also obvious drawbacks:
Con: Increase in the first propeller loss term in (16)
Con: Increase in the last induced drag term in (18)
Furthermore, there will likely be additional drawbacks which are not explicitly apparent:
Con: Increase in the empty weight We because of more wing material, etc.
Other Pros and Cons may be present in addition to those listed above, depending on the
situation.
Much of the activity which occurs during aircraft design and sizing consists of identifying
and quantifying such couplings. Knowing the couplings then allows suitable tradeoffs to
be performed, in order to find the best set of design parameters to maximize the design
objective. Once a good or optimum design has been reached, all its competing tradeoffs are
in balance, so that there are no more easy design changes which can be made without
adversely affecting something else.
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