AUTONOMUS UNIVERSITY OF CHIHUAHUA

Student name: Jonathan Martinez Martinez

ID Number: 334420
Class: 6AE2
Teacher: Eloy Normando Marquez Gonzalez
Date: 14 February, 2021

FUNDAMENTALS OF AERODYNAMICS

Archimedes’ principle states that everybody immersed in a fluid experiences a vertical

and upward thrust equal to the weight of fluid dislodged. In this way, when a body is

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submerged in the fluid, a hydrostatic resulting from the pressures on the

surface of the body is generated, which always acts upwards through the center of
gravity of the body of the displaced fluid and of value equal to the weight of the fluid
displaced. The explanation of Archimedes' principle consists of:

FLUID STATICS
As the title suggest, to talk about Fluid Statics, we need to consider the case of no fluid
motion. Even though there is a no relative motion, a body immersed in a static fluid will
still experience a force.
To understand about this force, first we must consider an infinitesimally small fluid
element with sides of length dx , dy anddy . There are two types of forces acting on this
fluid element: pressure forces from the surrounding fluid exerted on the surface and the
gravity force due to the weight of the fluid inside the element.
The pressure on the bottom surface of the element p in the upward direction is a force
depending by the product of p and an area dxdy . As the surface of the top element is
in different location, its pressure will be slightly different from the pressure on the

bottom. Then the pressure exerted on the top surface will be p+ ( dpdy ) dy, and the
dp
pressure force on the top of the element will be p+
[ ( ) ][
dy
dy dxdz ] in the downward.

Figure 1. Forces on a fluid element in a stagnant fluid.

Net pressure force:

dp −dp
( ( ) )(
p ( dx dz ) − p+
dy
dy dx dz )=
dy
( dx dy dz )

The sum of the forces exerted on it must be zero:

dp=−gρdy

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It’s a differential equation which relates the changes of pressure in a fluid with a
change in vertical height dy.

Now, considering a body immersed in a fluid hence ρ can be a variable. Considering

again a rectangular body of unit width, length l , and height (h1 −h2 ).The vertical force F

on the body due to the pressure distribution over the surface is F=( p 2−p 1)l(1)

Hydrostatic equation between the top and bottom faces:

p2 h1

p2− p1=∫ dp=∫ ρ gdy

p1 h2

The weight of a small element of fluid of height dy and width and length of unity is

ρgdy (1)(1). In turn, the weight of a column of fluid with a base of unit area and a
height (h1 −h2 ) is

h1

∫ ρ gdy
h2

Moreover, if we place l of these fluid columns side by side, we would have a volume of
fluid equal to the volume of the body on the left, and the weight of this total volume of
fluid would be

h1

∫ ρ gdy
h2

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The well-known Archimedean principle has just been obtained. Which holds
that when a body is immersed in a fluid whose density is lower, the unsupported object
will accelerate upward and float; in the opposite case, that is to say if the density of the
submerged body is greater than that of the fluid, it will accelerate downwards and sink.
Although a rectangular body has been used to simplify the derivation, Archimedes'
principle is valid for bodies of any general shape. Archimedes' principle applies to both
gases and liquids and does not require that the density be constant.

TIPES OF FLOW

Aerodynamics has evolved into a study of numerous and distinct types of flow

Continuum Versus Free Molecule Flow

One important factor considered in determining the validity of continuum model is

molecular density. It is the distance between the molecules which is characterized by
mean free path λ . It is calculated by finding statistical average distance the molecules
travel between two successive collisions. If the mean free path is very small as
compared with some characteristic length in the flow domain then the gas can be
treated as a continuous medium. If the mean free path is large in comparison to some
characteristic length, the gas cannot be considered continuous and it should be
analyzed by the molecular theory. 

Inviscid Versus Viscous Flow

When two fluid layers move relative to each other, a friction force develops between
them and the slower layer tries to slow down the faster layer. This internal resistance to
flow is quantified by the fluid property viscosity, which is a measure of internal
stickiness of the fluid. Viscosity is caused by cohesive forces between the molecules in
liquids and by molecular collisions in gases. There is no fluid with zero viscosity, and
thus all fluid flows involve viscous effects to some degree. However, in many flows of
practical interest, there are regions where viscous forces are negligibly small compared
to inertial or pressure forces. Neglecting the viscous terms in such inviscid flow regions
greatly simplifies the analysis without much loss in accuracy. 

In contrast, a flow that is assumed to involve no friction, thermal conduction, or

diffusion is called an inviscid flow. Inviscid flows do not truly exist in nature. Therefore,

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a viscous flow is a flow where viscosity is important, while an inviscid flow is a

flow where viscosity is not important. 

Incompressible Versus Compressible Flows

A flow is classified as being compressible or incompressible depending on the level of

variation of density during flow. Incompressibility is an approximation and a flow is said
to be incompressible if the density remains nearly constant throughout. Truly
incompressible flow does not occur in nature. However, there are a number of
aerodynamic problems that can be modeled as being incompressible without any
detrimental loss of accuracy.

Mach Number Regimes

The Mach number is a measure of relative speed that is defined as the quotient
between the speed of an object and the speed of sound in the medium in which said
object is moving. It is a dimensionless number normally used to describe the speed of
airplanes. Mach 1 equals the speed of sound, Mach 2 is twice the speed of sound, etc.
The usefulness of the Mach number is that it allows expressing the speed of an object

km m
not in absolute or , but taking the speed of sound as a reference, something
h s
interesting from the moment the speed of sound changes depending on the conditions
of the atmosphere. For example, the higher the height above sea level or the lower the
temperature of the atmosphere, the lower the speed of sound. In this way, it is not
necessary to know the speed of sound to know if an airplane flying at a given speed
has exceeded it: it is enough to know its Mach number. Normally, flight speeds are
classified according to their Mach number in:

Subsonic flow M <1

Transonic flow 1< M <1
Supersonic flow M >¿ everywhere
Hypersonic flow M >5

It’s important to know that free-flowing Mach number M ∞less than 1 does not mean
fully subsonic flow over the body. When expanding over an aerodynamic shape, the
flow velocity increases above the free flow value, and if M ∞is close enough to 1, the

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local Mach number can become supersonic in certain regions of the flow. This
gives rise to an empirical rule that M ∞ <0.8 for subsonic flow over thin bodies. For thin

bodies, M ∞must be even lower to ensure fully subsonic flow. So, the Mac numbers for
slim bodies are as follows:

Subsonic flow M ∞ <0.8

Transonic flow 0.8< M ∞ <1.2
Supersonic flow M ∞ >¿ 1.2
Hypersonic flow M ∞ >5

BOUNDARY LAYERS

In general, when a fluid flow over a stationary surface, the fluid touching the surface is
stopped by shear stress in the wall, τ , exists at any point in a flow where there is a
velocity gradient across streamlines.
The region where the flow adjusts from zero velocity at the wall to a maximum in the
main stream of the flow is called the boundary layer.
Aerodynamic flows have treated the region away from the body as an inviscid flow, and
the thin region immediately adjacent to the body surface as a viscous flow, where these
dissipative effects are included. The thin viscous region adjacent to the body is called
the boundary layer. We are going to classify air flow into two types. Laminar flow,
where we can consider that the air particles move in uniform and parallel layers. And
the second type is the turbulent flow in which we consider that the air particles move in
a disorganized way both in direction and in speed. And with those previous concepts
we can concentrate on the definition of the boundary layers.
Let's imagine a surface at rest and a fluid that flows through the upper side. When the
air flows over the surface of the wing the fluid that is in direct contact with the surface
will remain adhered to it and due to the friction generated by the sliding between the air
layers. The layers closest to the surface will have a lower speed than the immediate
upper layers until reaching a point at which the fluid reaches the speed of the current of
free air. The boundary layer is defined as the area between the wing's surface and the
point where the air reaches the speed of the airflow. This layer has a very small
thickness.
At the points close to the leading edge of the wing, the boundary layer is laminar.
However, as we moved away from the leading edge, the forces of Friction between the

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layers causes them to lose energy causing the thickness of the boundary layer
to increase little by little to the point at which the air begins to suffer disturbances. The
laminar boundary layer becomes a layer turbulent boundary. This point is called the
transition point. At this point, the airflow begins to separate from the wing surface,
preventing lift from being generated effectively and therefore we must always ensure
that this transition point is as far back as possible.

AERODYNAMIC COEFFICIENTS

The nondimensional coefficients are important to obtain a feeling for typical values of
the aerodynamic coefficients. A low drag coefficient implies that the streamline shape
of the vehicle's body is such as to enable it to move easily through the surrounding
viscous air with the minimum of resistance. A high drag coefficient is caused by poor
streamlining of the body profile so that there is a high air resistance when the vehicle is
in motion.

One of these numbers is the Reynolds number which measures the ratio of inertial
forces to viscous forces and describes the degree of laminar or turbulent flow. The
systems that operate at the same Reynolds number will have the same flow
characteristics even if the fluid, speed and characteristic lengths vary.

It’s important to remember that Pressure Drag is caused by the air particles being more
compressed on the front-facing surfaces and more spaced out on the back surfaces.
This is caused when the layers of air separate away from the surface and begin to
swirl, called turbulent flow. Now we have the skin Friction Drag, which is caused by the
friction of a fluid against the surface of an object that is moving through it. It is directly
proportional to the area of the surface in contact with the fluid and increases with the
square of the velocity. This, lead us the definition of two generic body shapes in
aerodynamics:

Blunt body = a body where most of the drag is pressure drag

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Streamlined body = a body where most of the drag is skin friction drag

Figure 1.2 The breakdown of various sources of drag

CONCLUSION

Once knowing all the details of the topics addressed in this essay, it is possible to have
a more exact vision of the behavior of fluids in airfoils. Mastery of such concepts is of
utmost importance for the study of aerodynamics. For this, Archimedes' theorem was
analyzed in detail, deducing the formula from the beginning in order to show the origin

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and purpose of each variable involved. A rectangular body was used, but the
principle holds by bodies of any shape. In turn, it is emphasized that Archimedes'
principle holds for either gases or liquids and does not require that the density be
constant. Likewise, a body will experience a buoyant force much times greater in water
than in air. For naval vehicles the buoyant force is important while for airplanes it is
negligible.

Complementing the aforementioned information, the types of flow were addressed,

mentioning them in a classification based on their most important characteristics.
Subsequently, the importance of the Mach number and its direct relationship with the
understandability of a gas for subsequent classification was highlighted. If you are
looking for a complete understanding of the behavior of flow in airfoils, you have to
know in detail how the fluid behaves along it and for this the introduction of boundary
layers is necessary.

Finally, the aerodynamic coefficients were introduced as the main language of

applications in aerodynamics. It is important to have an idea of the typical values of the
aerodynamic coefficients. The purpose was to begin to provide a feel, at least for some
common aerodynamic body shapes. Having a realistic idea of these figures is part of
our technical maturity.

Full mastery of such knowledge is of vital importance for the application of

aerodynamics to the practical evaluation of the aerodynamic characteristics of real
configurations.

Evidences of your 6 simulations

Airfoils to analyze

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Air conditions of Chihuahua 

Air conditions of Mazatlan

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