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Prandtl Lifting Line Theory (for 3-D wings) Application to general high aspect ratio, unswept wings.
A simple solution for unswept three-dimensional win s can !e o!tained !y usin "randtl#s liftin line model. $or incompressi!le, in%iscid flow, the win is modeled as a sin le !ound %orte& line located at the 1'4 chord position and an associated shed %orte& sheet.

where

is the circulation (%orte& stren th), defined a function across the win span, V is free-stream %elocity,
b is win span, s is win semi-span and c is win chord and y is the distance across the span measured from the win root.

*he mappin of an le ( ) to semi-span ( s ) position is a ain done to ena!le the use of $ourier series and allows %ariation of the model to suit different eometries.

y = s cos
*he span-wise lift distri!ution is assumed to !e appro&imately elliptical with a small modifications due to win plan-form eometry. *he %orte& line stren th can thus !e modeled usin the followin $ourier series appro&imation,

 y = = 4 s V An sin n .
n= 1

*he re+uired stren th of the distri!ution coefficients (An) for a i%en eometry and set of free-stream conditions can !e calculated !y applyin a surface flow !oundary condition. *he e+uation used is !ased on the usual condition of ,ero flow normal to the surface.

Vn = 0
$or --. win s this condition is applied at se%eral span-wise locations. /y matchin flow and surface an les, the normal %elocity !oundary condition can !e restated as a re+uirement for the flow an les at the section to !e in !alance. 0nli1e 2-. section flow where flow an les are set !y freestream direction and surface an les only, in --. win flow an e&tra flow an le component is introduced !y the shed %ortices that are produced and trail !ehind the win . *his trailin %orte& sheet produces a downwash. $or a --. win , the local section flow an le must !e e+ual to the sum of the win #s an le of attac1, the section twist and the downwash induced flow an le.

2D = i t
where

i =
where

wi V

is the --. win an le of attac1, t is the win twist an le and wi is the %elocity induced !y trailin %orte& sheet.

*he downwash %elocity is caused !y the shed %orticies trailin !ehind the win . *he %orte& stren th in the trailin sheet will !e a function of the chan es in %orte& stren th alon the win span. *he mathematical function descri!in the %orte& sheet stren th is thus o!tained !y differentiatin the !ound %orte& distri!ution.

d = 4 s V n An cos n d
n =1

*hus the downwash at any span position on the win can !e found !y inte ratin the influence of indi%idual elements of the trailin sheet. 2ach sheet element !eha%es li1e 1'2 of an infinite %orte& line so

d wi =

d 4 r

where r is the distance across the span !etween the %orte& element and the point at which downwash is !ein calculated. r = ( y yi ). *he full downwash will !e,

1 1 wi = d . 4 s y y i
3n su!stitution of the mappin %aria!les and inte ration, the result is,

wi = V

n An sin n sin n= 1 .

Also, the 2-. section lift coefficient is a function of the local flow incidence and the !ound %orte& stren th at this span location. 4o that,

C l = a 0 2D 0 =

Vc

where a0 is the section lift slope (

dC l ), 0 is the section ,ero lift an le and c is the chord len th. d 2D

*his can !e rearran ed in terms of %orte& stren th,

1 a V c i t 0 2 0

and su!stitutin for %orte& stren th and induced an le produces the followin !oundary condition e+uation,

An sin n
n= 1

sin

n a0c 8s

a0c sin t0 8s

*his final !oundary e+uation contains all the un1nown coefficients of the win model#s %orte& distri!ution alon with the win #s eometry and the stream conditions. 5t can !e used to find coefficients A1, A2, A3, ... Assumin that hi her order coefficients !ecome increasin ly small and ma1e ne li i!le contri!ution to the result, one method of solution is to truncate the series at term A 6. /y applyin the !oundary condition at N span locations a set of simultaneous linear e+uations can !e constructed. *his set can !e sol%ed for coefficients A1 to AN. A cosine distri!ution of span-wise locations should !e used for the !oundary conditions to match the assumed win loadin distri!ution. 7learly the num!er of coefficients used will determine the accuracy of the solution. 5f the win loadin is hi hly non-elliptical then a lar er num!er of coefficients should !e included. *his occurs when analysin win s with part span flaps. *hese cause a discontinuity in the spawise loadin and hence re+uire a much lar er num!er of coefficients to accurately descri!e the distri!ution. 8here the the win loadin is symmetric a!out the win root, the contri!ution of e%en functions will !ecome ,ero. 7oefficients A2,A4,A6,... are all ,ero and can !e dropped from the analysis. 3nce the coefficients of the load distri!ution are 1nown the total lift of the win can !e found !y inte ration.

Lift = V . dy
s

which reduces to a lift coefficient of

C L = . AR . A1

where AR is the aspect ratio of the win

AR =

b2 4 s2 . = S S

A conse+uence of the downwash flow is that the direction of action of each section#s lift %ector is rotated relati%e to the free-stream direction. *he local lift %ectors are rotated !ac1ward and hence i%e rise to a lift induced dra . 8hile the o%erall o%ernin e+uations are potential flow and hence do not i%e rise to friction or pressure dra , this lift induced dra will !e a si nificant component of the o%erall dra of the win . *he downwash %elocity induced at any span location can !e calculated once the stren th of the win loadin is 1nown. *he %ariation in local flow an les can then !e found. /y inte ratin the component of section lift coefficient that acts parallel to the free-stream across the span, the induced dra coefficient can !e found.

D i = V sin i . dy
s

which produces the followin induced dra coefficient ,

C Di = . AR. n . A2 n
n= 1

6o information a!out pitchin moment coefficient can !e deduced from liftin line theory since the lift distri!ution is collapsed to a sin le line alon the 1'4 chord. All forces will !e centered at the 1'4 chord in this model irrespecti%e of aerofoil section eometry.

pecial !ase of Purely "lliptical #ing Loading

5f the win planform is elliptical, c =c 0 cos then it can !e shown that the win load distri!ution is also a purely elliptical function and all coefficients e&cept A 1 will %anish.

y = = 0 sin = 4 sV A1 sin
Also for simple strai ht, untwisted win s, this solution may !e used as a first appro&imation as for these eometries all other coefficients will !e much less than A1 and the loadin will !e appro&imately elliptical. 5n this case, a sin le eneral !oundary condition e+uation results containin only one un1nown, the %orte& line stren th at the win root.

0 = 4 sV A1

*he solution of the !oundary condition in this case leads to a constant downwash across the span and the followin simple answers for lift coefficient and induced dra coefficient.

d CL = d

a0 a0 , 1 . AR
,

0 (2-D section) = 0 (3-D wing)

C Di $eference

C2 L . = . AR

Houghton & Carruthers "Aerodynamics for Engineering Students", Arnold Ed 3 19 !.

oftware % Prandtl Lifting Line Progra&

*he followin computer pro ram allows the user to define win plan-forms (without sweep) and to define win root and win tip section properties.

*he pro ram assumes a linear %ariation of section properties !etween win root and tip and that the win loadin will !e symmetric a!out the win root. 4ection lift data in terms of a 0 , 0 , ie. C L 2D =a 0 2D 0 are re+uired for the win root and the win tip sections. *his information can !e o!tained from pu!lished 2-. e&perimental data or theoretical techni+ues such as thin aerofoil theory. *he pro ram uses the a!o%e liftin line e+uations to et solutions for lift coefficient %ersus an le of attac1 and induced dra coefficient %ersus lift coefficient 2. $or a i%en an le of attac1 the pro ram will display the resultin distri!ution of section lift coefficient across the span, the distri!ution of downwash at the win and a listin of the solution $ourier coefficients fo this an le. A flapped section can also !e input. *he percenta e of win span with flap must !e input to create a flapped win section. *he flap section properties are assumed to !e those entered for the win root section. *hese section properties will !e 1ept constant across the flapped portion of the span. *he section properties used out!oard of the flap will also !e constant and assumed to !e e+ual to those of the win tip.

4oftware : "randtl 9iftin 9ine 4ol%er for -. unswept win s

:eturn to *a!le of 7ontents