Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Aerodynamics
The science of the laws relating to forces acting on bodies moving in the air. Aerodynamics is the study of the forces generated by the flow of air around a solid object.
Aerodynamic Forces
Lift Weight Thrust Drag
Lift
Artificial forces manipulated by pilot. Generated through the wings. Acts perpendicular to the relative wind and wingspan. Lift is exerted through the centre of pressure. Opposes weight: during level cruise, lift equals weight; during climb, lift is greater than weight; and during descent, weight is greater that lift.
Weight
Natural (uncontrollable) force generated by gravity (g force) that acts perpendicular to earths surface. Weight is exerted through the centre of gravity. Opposes lift (see above)
Thrust
Artificial force manipulated by pilot and generated through engine's that acts horizontally, parallel to flight path. Opposes drag: when airspeed constant, thrust equals drag; when airspeed accelerating, thrust is greater than drag; and when decelerating, drag is greater than thrust.
Drag
Natural resistance of aeroplane while moving through air, partially controlled by pilot. A horizontal force, parallel to flight path. Opposes thrust (see above).
Airfoils
A surface designed to produce an aerodynamic force at approximately right angles to its direction of motion. Usually a wind, tail plane or fin. Viewed as a cross-section: upper surface has more camber (curve) than lower surface. Chord line: straight line from leading edge to trailing edge.
Generating Lift
Bernoullis Theorem
Lift by pressure differential is based on the theory of Daniel Bernoulli: the faster a fluid flows (including air), the lower will be the pressure surrounding it.
Bernoullis Theorem
Given the difference of the camber of the upper and lower surfaces, the air passing over the foil has greater distance to travel than the air passing under the airfoil. The air passing over must therefore travel faster than the air passing under the foil. A low air-pressure region is created above the accelerated air flow. The foil is displaced toward the lower pressure (upward) above the wing.
Impact on an Airfoil
Ram Air
The pressure differential accounts for about 50% of the lift, while the remaining lift is generated by ram air. Air is rammed under the foil, creating downwash, and upward pressure (Isaac Newtons Third Law: the application of force causes an equal opposite force).
Angle of Attack
Lift varies with the angle of attack.
The angle of attack is the angle between the relative wind (parallel to flight path) and the chord line (line between leading and trailing edge).
Angle of Attack
Generally, the greater the angle of attack, the greater the lift. Lift increases because the distance the air must flow along the upper camber increases, and the ram air and downwash increase. An excessive angle of attack, referred to as the critical angle of attack, will produce a stall, where air-foil drag (induced drag) exceeds airfoil lift (usually 20).
Angle of Incidence
Drag
There are two types of drag: parasitic and induced.
Parasitic Drag
Parasitic drag is drag created by those parts of an aero plane that do not contribute to lifte.g., the tires, windshield, rivets, etc. There are three forms of parasitic drag: form drag, skin-friction drag, and interference drag.
Induced drag
Induced drag is created by those parts of the aero plane that creates liftthe wings and the horizontal tail surface. Induced drag is said to be the by-product of lift. The greater the angle of attack, the greater the induced drag. Induced drag does not increase with speed; instead, as speed decreases induced drag increases.
Induced drag
Boundary Layer
The boundary layer is a very thin layer of air lying over the surface of the wing Air has viscosity Wing moves forward through the air Boundary layer at first flows smoothly over the streamlined shape of the airfoil (laminar layer ) Boundary layer approaches the center of the wing it begins to lose speed due to skin friction and it becomes thicker and turbulent (turbulent
layer ).
Boundary Layer
Aileron Drag
A type of adverse or undesirable yaw is aileron drag; aileron drag is created when a pilot manipulates the ailerons when rolling into a turn. When the pilot induces a roll, one aileron is deflected upward so as to decrease the angle of attack associated with that portion of the wing, the same portion of the opposite wing is subject to an increase in the angle of attack as the aileron is deflected downward.
Stalls
Stalls occur at the critical angle of attack, at which point the airflow over the wing becomes chaotic and the wings can no longer produce sufficient lift to counteract weight. As the airfoil approaches the stalling speed, the point of transition, or separation point, moves forward enough to exceed the design factor of the wing.
Weight
Increased weight requires increased lift; therefore the critical angle of attack (stall) will occur at higher airspeeds. Stated another way, if two aircraft are traveling at the same airspeed, but one is heavier than the other, the angle of attack of the heavier aircraft is greater than the lighter aircraft and therefore that much closer to the critical angle of attack.
Centre of Gravity
Stalling speed increases as the aircraft C of G moves forward. As the C of G moves forward, the negative lift generated by the horizontal tail surface will have to be increased. Any increase in the negative lift produced by the tail will effectively increase the aerodynamic weight of the aircraftproducing the same effect as described above with respect to weight.
Turbulence
Upward vertical gusts abruptly increase the angle of attack beyond the stalling angle, irrespective of airspeed.
Turns
During a turn in level flight, greater lift is required to offset increased effective aerodynamic weight of the aircraft in the turn. Because the angle of attack of an aircraft must be increased to offset the increased aerodynamic weight (resultant force of a turn), the wing is closer to the critical angle of attack and therefore closer to a stall, despite a constant airspeed.
Turns
Turns
Flaps
Flaps are high lift devices which, in effect, increase the camber of the wing and, in some cases, as with the Fowler Flap, also increase the effective wing area. Their use gives better take-off performance and permits steeper approach angles and lower approach and landing speeds.
Flaps
Spins
Spinning is defined as autorotation that develops after an aggravated stall (a wing dropping during a stall). The downward moving wing has a higher angle of attack and more induced drag than the upward moving wing and therefore acquires a greater stalled condition. Spinning involves simultaneous roll, yaw and pitch as it develops a helical or corkscrew path nose down. An incipient spin is the autorotation prior to a vertical descent path, while a fully developed spin begins once the vertical helical or corkscrew path is achieved.
Wing Design
There are numerous wing-design features that affect performance: laminar versus conventional airfoils, angle of incidence, washout, stall strips, and airfoil variation. Laminar and conventional airfoils
Stall Strips
Stall strips are triangular strips placed on a portion of the leading edge of wing.
Stall Strips
Airfoil Variation
This involves span wise airfoil variation whereby a thin high-speed airfoil is designed near the roots, and a low-speed airfoil near the tips. The high-speed roots stall before the lowspeed tips.
Stability
Stability is defined as the tendency of an aircraft to return to, stay at, or move farther from its original attitude after it has been displaced. There is positive, neutral, and negative stability. Aeroplane movement is based on 3 axes: the vertical (normal) axis, the lateral axis, and the longitudinal axis.
Climbs
Climbs
Best Angle Climb (Vx)
The best angle climb speed provides the greatest gain in altitude over a given distance.
Thanks To All.