Trefftz Plane Analysis of Induced Drag Consider an inviscid, incompressible potential flow around a body (say a wing).

We define a control volume surrounding the body as follows

Trefftz plane ST (part of S )

body z Sbody y x, V
8

S
8

Upstream flow is V and is in x direction. Thus, drag is the force in x direction. Apply integral momentum in x to find induced drag.

S body + S

uu ndS = pndS
S body + S

First, on the body u n = 0 , so:

uu ndS = pndS
S S body + S

Next, also on the body,

S body

pndS =

force of body acting on fluid

We are interested in the exact opposite, i.e. the force acting on the body. In x , this is the drag, in z this is the lift, and in y this is a yaw or side force:

Trefftz Plane Analysis of Induced Drag

S body

pndS = Di Yj Lk

Di + Yj + Lk = pndS u u ndS
S S

Now, lets pull out the drag:

D = pn i dS u u n dS
S S

The next piece is to apply Bernoulli to eliminate the pressure:

p = p +

1 1 V2 (u 2 + v 2 + w 2 ) 2 2

1 1 D = p + V2 (u 2 + v 2 + w 2 )n i dS u u n dS 2 2 S S

But,

( p
S

1 1 V2 )n idS = ( p + V2 ) 2 2

n idS
S = 0 for a closed surface

1 D = (u 2 + v 2 + w 2 )n i dS u u n dS 2 S S
Next, we divide the velocity into a freestream and a perturbation:
u = V + u v= v w= w

where u, v, w are perturbation velocities (not necessarily small).

Substitution gives:
D= 1 (V2 + 2Vu + u 2 + v 2 + w2 )n idS (V + u )u ndS 2 S S

But, we note that

V u n dS = V u n dS = 0 from conservation of mass

S S

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Trefftz Plane Analysis of Induced Drag

D = V u n i dS +
S

1 (u 2 + v 2 + w 2 )n i dS u u ndS 2 S S

If we take the control volume boundary far away from the wing, then the velocity perturbations go to zero except downstream. Downstream the presence of trailing vortices will create non-zero perturbations (more on this in a bit).

So, u, v, w 0 except on S T .
D = V udS + 2 (u
ST ST

) + v 2 + w2 )dS u ( V + u dS
ST

D=

1 (v 2 + w2 u 2 )dS 2 ST

The final step is to note that far downstream the x velocity perturbation must die away (in inviscid flow). The reason is that the trailing vortices, which far downstream must be in the x direction, cannot induce an x component of velocity. So, this brings us to the final answer D=

1 (v 2 + w 2 )dS 2 ST

In other words, the induced drag is the kinetic energy which is transferred into the crossflow (i.e. the trailing vortices)!

16.100 2002