PRELIMINARY AERODYNAMIC DESIGN

Unit-3
 Aircraft Design

Aerodynamics Structures Propulsion Flight Dynamics

Conceptual Design

Preliminary Design Design Process Flow

Detailed Design
Design groups’ unique visions
and interests:

(a) Structural group

(b) Manufacturing group
(c) Aerodynamics group
(d) Propulsion group
(e) Weight group
(f) Stability and control group
DESIGN REQUIREMENTS

 Performance Requirements  Crashworthiness Requirements
 Stability Requirements  Supportability And Serviceability

 Handling Requirements Requirements
 Operational Requirements  Sustainability Requirements

 Affordability Requirements  Disposability Requirements

 Reliability Requirements  Marketability Requirements

 Maintainability Requirements  Environmental Requirements

 Producibility Requirements  Detectability Requirements

 Evaluability Requirements  Standards Requirements

 Usability Requirements  Legal Requirements.

 Safety (Airworthiness For Aircraft)

Requirements
 AIRCRAFT MAJOR COMPONENTS AND DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
AIRFOIL GEOMETRY
 AIRFOIL LIFT AND DRAG
 An airfoil generates lift by changing the velocity of the
air passing and under itself. The airfoil angle of attack
and/or camber causes the air over the top of the wing to
travel faster than the air beneath the wing.
 Bernoulli's equation shows that higher velocities produce
lower pressures, so the upper surface of the airfoil tends
to be pulled upward by lower-than-ambient pressures
while the lower surface of the airfoil tends to be pushed
upward by higher-than-ambient pressures.
 The integrated differences in pressure between the top
and bottom of the airfoil generate the net lifting force.
 The upper surface of the wing contributes about two-
thirds of the total lift.
PITCHING MOMENT
 Pitching moment is measured about some reference point, typically at the quarter-chord
point (25% of the chord length back from the leading edge).
 The pitching moment is almost independent of angle of attack about the quarter-chord
for most airfoils at subsonic speeds.
 Airfoil characteristics are strongly affected by the "Reynolds number"
 The early airfoils were developed mostly by trial and error.
 In the 1930's, the NACA developed a widely-used family of mathematically defined airfoils called the
"four-digit" airfoils.
 In these, the first digit defined the percent camber, the second defined the location of the maximum
camber, and the last two digits defined the airfoil maximum thickness in percent of chord.
 CHARACTERISTIC GRAPHS OF AN AIRFOIL
 There are several graphs that illustrate the characteristics of each airfoil when compared to other
airfoils in the wing airfoil selection process.
 These are mainly the variations of non-dimensionalized lift, drag, and pitching moment relative with
angle of attack.
 Two aerodynamic forces and one aerodynamic pitching moment are usually non-dimensionalized by
dividing them to appropriate parameters as follows

Where,
l, d  and m are lift, drag, and pitching moment of a two dimensional airfoil.
The area (C·1) is assumed to be the airfoil chord times the unit span (b = 1)
 We can evaluate the performance and characteristics of an airfoil by looking at the following graphs:

1. The variations of lift coefficient versus the angle of attack.

2. The variations of pitching moment coefficient about a quarter-chord versus the angle of attack.
3. The variations of pitching moment coefficient about the aerodynamic center versus the lift coefficient.
4. The variations of the drag coefficient versus the lift coefficient.
5.  The variations of the lift-to-drag ratio versus the angle of attack
 THE GRAPH OF LIFT COEFFICIENT (CL) VERSUS ANGLE OF
ATTACK
 The typical variations of lift coefficient versus angle of attack for a positive-cambered airfoil.
 Seven significant features of this graph are:
 stall angle (αs)
 maximum lift coefficient (Clmax)
 zero lift angle of attack (αo)
 ideal lift coefficient (C li)
 angle of attack corresponding to ideal lift coefficient (αCli)
 lift coefficient at zero angle of attack (Clo)
 lift curve slope (Clα).
 These are critical to identify the performance of an airfoil.
THE VARIATIONS OF LIFT COEFFICIENT VERSUS ANGLE OF
ATTACK
 STALL ANGLE
 The stall angle (αs) is the angle of attack at which the airfoil stalls (the lift coefficient
will no longer increase with increasing angle of attack).
 The maximum lift coefficient that corresponds to the stall angle is the maximum angle
of attack.
 The stall angle is related directly to flight safety, since the aircraft will lose the balance
of forces in a cruising flight.
 If the stall is not controlled properly, the aircraft may enter a spin and eventually crash.

 In general, the higher the stall angle, the safer the aircraft

 The typical stall angles for the majority of airfoils are between 12 and 16 deg.

 Therefore an airfoil with a higher stall angle is more desirable.

 MAXIMUM LIFT COEFFICIENT
 The maximum lift coefficient (Clmax)is the maximum capacity of an airfoil to produce
non-dimensional lift (the capacity of an aircraft to lift a load).
 The maximum lift coefficient usually occurs at the stall angle.

 The stall speed(Vs) is inversely a function of the maximum lift coefficient thus the
higher(Clmax)results in a safer flight.
 Therefore, the higher maximum lift coefficient is desired in an airfoil selection
process.
 ZERO LIFT ANGLE OF ATTACK
 The zero lift angle of attack (αo) is the airfoil angle of attack at which the lift
coefficient is zero.
 A typical number for αo is around 2 deg when no high-lift device (HLD)is employed.

 If HLD is employed (such as 40 deg of flap down),the αo increases to about−12 deg.

 The design objective is to have a higher αo
 IDEAL LIFT COEFFICIENT (CLI)
 The ideal lift coefficient(Cli) is the lift coefficient at which the drag coefficient does
not vary significantly with the slight variations of the angle of attack.
 The ideal lift coefficient usually corresponds to the minimum drag coefficient.

 This is critical in airfoil selection, since a lower drag coefficient means a lower flight
cost.
 The typical value of ideal lift coefficient for a GA aircraft is about 0.1–0.4, and for a
supersonic aircraft about 0.01–0.05.
 ANGLE OF ATTACK CORRESPONDING TO THE IDEAL
LIFT COEFFICIENT
 The wing setting angle is often selected to be the same as this angle, since it
will result in a minimum drag.
 In contrast, the minimum drag corresponds to minimum engine thrust, which
means minimum flight cost.
 The typical value of  αCli is around 2–5 deg.
 LIFT COEFFICIENT AT ZERO ANGLE OF ATTACK (C LO)

 The Clo is the lift coefficient when the angle of attack is zero.
 The higher Clo can produce a positive lift even at zero angle of attack. Thus, the higher
Clo is the better
 LIFT CURVE SLOPE
  The lift curve slope is the slope of variation of lift coefficient with respect to
the change in the angle of attack, and its unit is 1/deg or 1/rad.
 The main function of an airfoil is to produce lift, the higher the slope, the
better the airfoil.
 The typical value of lift curve slope of a 2D airfoil is around 2π (or 6.28) per
radian (about 0.1 per deg)
 SHAPE OF THE LIFT CURVE
 Airfoil characteristic is the shape of the lift curve at and beyond the stall angle of attack (stall behavior).
 An airfoil with a gentle drop in lift after the stall, rather than an abrupt or sharp rapid lift loss, leads to a
safer stall from which the pilot can more easily recover
PITCHING MOMENT VS ANGLE OF ATTACK
 The typical variations of pitching moment co efficient about a quarter chord
point versus the angle of attack for a positive cambered airfoil is usually
negative
 Negative slope is desirable, it stabilizes the flight if the angle of attack is
disturbed by a gust(sudden airflow).
 The negative Cm is sometimes referred to as nose – down pitching moment.

 The design objective is to have Cm close to zero as far as possible

VARIATIONS OF DRAG COEFFICIENT AS A FUNCTION OF LIFT COEFFICIENT
 The lowest point of this graph is called the minimum
drag coefficient (Cdmin). The corresponding lift
coefficient to the minimum drag coefficient is called
Clmin.
 A line drawn through the origin and tangent to the
graph locates a point that denotes the minimum
slope.
 This point is also of great importance, since it
indicates the flight situation where the maximum Cl-
to-Cd ratio is generated.
 The variation of the drag coefficient as a function of
lift coefficient maybe modeled mathematically by
the following second-order equation.
 Where K is called the section drag factor.
 The parameter K can be determined by selecting a point on the graph (Cl1andCd1).

 The unique aspect of the bucket is that the CdMin will not vary for a limited range of Cl.
 This is very significant, since it implies that the pilot can stay at the lowest drag point
while changing the angle of attack
 The middle point of the bucket is called the ideal lift coefficient (C li), while the highest
Cl in the bucket region is referred to as the design lift coefficient (Cld)
 The design lift coefficient occurs at the point whose C d/ Cl is minimum or Cl / Cd is
maximum
 VARIATIONS OF LIFT-TO-DRAG RATIO (CL/CD) AS A FUNCTION OF ANGLE OF ATTACK

 This graph has one maximum point where the value of the lift-to-drag ratio is
the highest at this point. The angle of attack corresponding to this point is an
optimum candidate for a loitering flight (αl)
 AIRFOIL SELECTION CRITERIA
 The airfoil with the highest maximum lift coefficient (Clmax).
 The airfoil with the proper ideal or design lift coefficient (C ld or Cli)

 The airfoil with the lowest minimum drag coefficient (Cdmin).

 The airfoil with the highest lift-to-drag ratio ((Cl/ Cd)max)

 The airfoil with the highest lift curve slope (Clαmax)

 The airfoil with the lowest (closest to zero; negative or positive) pitching
moment coefficient (Cm)
 The proper stall quality in the stall region.

 The airfoil must be structurally reinforceable. The airfoil should not be so thin
that spars cannot be placed inside.
 The airfoil must be such that the cross-section is manufacturable.

 The cost requirements must be considered.

 Other design requirements must be considered.

NACA AIRFOILS
 National Advisory committee for Aeronautics

NACA SERIES
 Four digit(NACA 2415)
 First digit describing maximum camber as percentage of the chord.
 Second digit describing the distance of maximum camber from the airfoil leading
edge in tenths of the chord.
 Last two digits describing maximum thickness of the airfoil as percent of the chord.
 For example, the NACA 2412 airfoil has a maximum camber of 2% located 40%
(0.4 chords) from the leading edge with a maximum thickness of 12% of the chord
 Six digit(NACA 633-218)
 FIVE DIGIT(NACA 23018)
 A single digit representing the theoretical optimal lift coefficient at ideal angle
of attack CLI = 0.15 L (this is not the same as the lift coefficient CL),
 A single digit for the x coordinate of the point of maximum camber (max.
camber at x = 0.05 P),
 A single digit indicating whether the camber is simple (S = 0) or reflex (S = 1),

 The maximum thickness in percent of chord, as in a four-digit NACA airfoil

code.