DEVELOPMENT OF FORCES

ON AIRFOILS
Leonardo da Vinci stated the cardinal principle of wind tunnel testing nearly 400 years before the Wright
brothers achieved powered flight. Near the beginning of the sixteenth century, da Vinci said: the action of the
air upon a body is the same whether the body moves in air, or whether the particles of air impinge with the same velocity
upon the quiescent body. This principle allows us to consider only relative motion of the airfoil and the air surrounding it.
We may use such terms as “airfoil passing through the air” and “air passing over the airfoil” interchangeably.

Pressure Disturbances on Airfoils: If an airfoil is subjected to a moving airflow, velocity and pressure changes take place
that create pressure disturbances in the airflow surrounding it. These disturbances originate at the airfoil surface and
propagate in all directions at the speed of sound. If the flight path velocity is subsonic, the pressure disturbances that are
moving ahead of the airfoil affect the airflow approaching the airfoil.
Velocity and Static Pressure Changes about an Airfoil: The air approaching the leading edge of an airfoil is
first slowed down and then speeds up again as it passes over or beneath the airfoil.

Figure compares two local velocities with the flight path

velocity V1 and with each other. As the velocity changes,
so does the dynamic pressure “q” and, according to
Bernoulli’s principle, so does the static pressure “P.” Air
near the stagnation point has slowed down, so the static
pressure in this region is higher than the ambient static
pressure.

Air that is passing above and below the airfoil, and thus has speeded up to a value higher than the flight path
velocity, will produce static pressures that are lower than ambient static pressure. So as “q” increases, “P”
static pressure decreases and a greater pressure differential is realized.
At a point near maximum thickness, maximum velocity and minimum static pressure will occur. Because
air has viscosity, some of its energy will be lost to friction and a “wake” of low-velocity, turbulent air exists
near the trailing edge, resulting in a small, high-pressure area.

Figure below shows a symmetrical airfoil (a) at zero AOA and the resulting pressure distribution & (b) at a
positive AOA and its pressure distribution. Arrows pointing away from the airfoil indicate static pressures
that are below ambient static pressure; arrows pointing toward the airfoil indicate pressures higher than
ambient.
AERODYNAMIC FORCE: Aerodynamic force (AF) is the resultant of all static pressures acting on an
airfoil in an airflow multiplied by the planform area that is affected by the pressure. The line of action of the
AF passes through the chord line at a point called the center of pressure (CP). It is convenient to consider that
the forces acting on an aircraft, or on an airfoil, do so in some rectangular coordinate system. One such
system could be defined by the longitudinal and vertical axes of an aircraft. Another could be defined by axes
parallel to and perpendicular to the earth’s surface. A third rectangular coordinate system is defined by the
relative wind direction and an axis perpendicular to it. This last system is chosen to define lift and drag forces.
Aerodynamic force (AF) is resolved into two components: one parallel to the relative wind, called drag (D),
and the other perpendicular to the relative wind, called lift (L). Figure below shows the resolution of AF into
its components L and D.
 Pressure Distribution on a Rotating
Cylinder:
A stationary (nonrotating) cylinder is located in
a wind tunnel as shown in Fig.

The cylinder is equipped with static pressure

taps. These measure the local static pressure
with respect to the ambient static pressure in
the test chamber.

When the tunnel is started, the airflow approaches the cylinder from the left as shown by the relative wind vector.
Arrows pointing toward the cylinder show pressures that are higher (+) than ambient static pressure; arrows pointing
away from the cylinder show pressures that are less (−) than ambient static pressure.
Figure (a) shows that the upward forces are resisted by the downward forces and no net vertical force (lift)
is developed by the cylinder. Now consider if the wind tunnel is stopped, and the cylinder begins to rotate in a
motionless fluid.We begin to see the factors of viscosity and friction at work. The more viscous the fluid, the more it
is resistant to flow, and since air has viscosity properties it will resist flow. Similar to a wing, the surface of the
cylinder has some “roughness” to it, so as the cylinder turns some molecules stick to the surface. The closer to the
surface of the cylinder (airfoil), the greater the possibility the molecules are drawn in a clockwise direction by
viscosity, so now substituting air we see the velocity increase in the direction of rotation above the cylinder. This
circular movement of the air is called circulation.
Finally let us consider a rotating cylinder in a moving fluid as the cylinder continues rotating in the clockwise
direction when the wind tunnel is once again started (Fig.b). The air passing over the top of the cylinder will
be speeded up by circulation, while the air passing over the bottom of the cylinder will be retarded.
According to Bernoulli’s equation, the static pressure on the top will be reduced and the static pressure on the
bottom will be increased, similar to an airfoil with a positive angle of attack. The new pressure distribution
will be as shown in Fig.b, where a low-pressure area produces an upward force. This is called the Magnus
effect, named after Gustav Magnus, who discovered it in 1852.
Consider the pressure distribution about a symmetrical airfoil at zero angle of attack (AOA) (Fig.a). The
large arrows show the sum of the low pressures on the top and bottom of the airfoil. They are at the center
of pressure (CP) of their respective surfaces. The CP on the top of the airfoil and the CP on the bottom are
located at the same point on the chord line. The large arrows indicate that the entire pressure on the top and
bottom surfaces is acting at the CP. Because these two forces are equal and opposite in direction, no net lift
is generated. Note also that the lines of action of these forces coincide, so there is no unbalance of moments
about any point on the airfoil.
Figure (b) shows the pressure distribution about a symmetrical airfoil at a positive angle of attack (AOA).
There is now an unbalance in the upper surface and lower surface lift vectors, and positive lift is being
developed. However, the two lift vectors still have the same line of action, passing through the CP. There can
be no moment developed about the CP. We can conclude that symmetrical airfoils do not generate pitching
moments at any AOA. It is also true that the CP does not move with a change in AOA for a symmetric airfoil.
Now consider a cambered airfoil operating at an AOA where it is developing no net lift (Fig.a).
Upper- surface lift and lower-surface lift are numerically equal, but their lines of action do not coincide. A
nose-down pitching moment develops from this situation.

When the cambered airfoil develops positive lift (Fig.b), the nose-down pitching moment still exists. By
reversing the camber it is possible to create an airfoil that has a nose-up pitching moment. Delta-wing aircraft
have a reversed camber trailing edge to control the pitching moments.
AERODYNAMIC CENTER:
For cambered airfoils the CP moves along the chord line when the AOA changes. As the AOA increases, the
CP moves forward and vice versa. This movement makes calculations involving stability and stress analysis
very difficult. There is a point on a cambered airfoil where the pitching moment is a constant with changing
AOA, if the velocity is constant. This point is called the aerodynamic center (AC).

The AC, unlike the CP, does not move with changes in AOA. If we consider the lift and drag forces as acting
at the AC, the calculations will be greatly simplified. The location of the AC varies slightly, depending on
airfoil shape. Subsonically, it is between 23 and 27% of the chord back from the leading edge.
Supersonically, the AC shifts to the 50% chord.

In summary, the pitching moment at the AC does not change when the angle of attack changes (at constant
velocity) and all changes in lift effectively occur at the AC. As an airfoil experiences greater velocity
its AC commonly moves towards the trailing edge, with the AC near 25% chord subsonically and at 50%
supersonically.
Summary : The distribution of pressure over a surface is the source of the aerodynamic moments as well as
the aerodynamic forces. The upper surface has pressures distributed which produce the upper surface lift; the
lower surface has pressures distributed which produce the lower surface lift. Of course, the net lift produced
by the airfoil is difference between the lifts on the upper and lower surfaces. The point along the chord where
the distributed lift is effectively concentrated is termed the “center of pressure, CP”

Another aerodynamic reference point is the “aerodynamic center, AC” The aerodynamic center is defined as
the point along the chord where all changes in lift effectively take place. To visualize the existence of such a
point, notice the change in pressure distribution with angle of attack for the symmetrical airfoil of figure.
When at zero lift, the upper and lower surface lifts are equal and located at the same point. With an increase
in angle of attack, the upper surface lift increases while the lower surface lift decreases. The change
of lift has taken place with no change in the center of pressure-a characteristic of symmetrical airfoils.