Lifting Line Theory

Lifting Line Theory

Applies to large aspect ratio unswept wings at small angle of attack.
Developed by Prandtl and Lanchester during the early 20
th
century.
Relevance
Analytic results for simple wings
Basis of much of modern wing theory (e.g. helicopter rotor aerodynamic
analysis, extends to vortex lattice method,)
Basis of much of the qualitative understanding of induced drag and aspect
ratio
1875-1953
1868-1946

h
V
4

=
h
Biot Savart Law:
Velocity produced by a
semi-infinite segment of
a vortex filament
Thin-airfoil theory
C
l
=2(-
o
)
Large Aspect Ratio? Unswept?
O
u
t
w
a
s
h
Physics of an Unswept Wing
l,
y
p
u
<p
l
p
u
p
l
Downwash
I
n
w
a
s
h
s -s
Lift varies across span
Circulation is shed (Helmholz thm)
Vortical wake
Vortical wake induces
downwash on wing
changing angle of attack
just enough to produce
variation of lift across span
Simplest Possible Model
Section A-A

-w
l

d
i
c
= (y) Geometric angle of attack
= (y) Downwash angle
-w=-w (y) Downwash velocity
c=c (y) Chordlength
s Half span
l Lift per unit span
d
i
Drag per unit span
Induced drag
b
Total drag coeff
S V
L
C
L
2
2
1

S V
D
C
i
D
i
2
2
1

Total lift coeff

A
A
Wake model Section model
LLT The Wake Model

y
1
y
dy
1
Strength of
vortex shed at y
1
=
Assume role up of wake unimportant
Assume wake remains in a plane
parallel to the free stream
Model wake using single vortex sheet
starting at the quarter chord
Downwash at y due
to vortex shed at y
1
) ( 4
) (
1
1
1
y y
dy
dy
d
y dw
y

Downwash at y
due to entire wake

=
s
s
y
y y
dy
dy
d
y w
) ( 4
) (
1
1
1

s -s
LLT The Section Model

-w
l

d
i
=

= =

c V
V
c V
l
C
l
2
2
1
2
2
1

wc c V + =

) (
0
Sectional lift coefficient
Assume flow over each section 2D
and determined by downwash at
chord, and thin airfoil theory
So
Sectional forces


V l


w V d
i

s
s
dy V L

s
s
i
dy w D

=
s
s
L
dy
S V S V
L
C
2
2
2
1

=
s
s
i
D
dy w
S V S V
D
C
i
2 2
2
1
2

Total Forces
integrated over span
Total Coefficients
The Monoplane Equation
Wake model
Section model

=
s
s
y
y y
dy
dy
d
y w
) ( 4
) (
1
1
1

wc c V + =

) (
0
l,
y
s -s

+ =
s
s
y
y y
dy
dy
d
c
c V
1
1
0
1
4
) (
0

cos / = s y
Substitute for , and express
as a sine series in

=
odd n
n
n A s U
, 1
) sin( 4

+ =

sin
4
) sin( sin ) (
4
, 1
0
s
cn
n A
s
c
odd n
n
The Monoplane Eqn.
Results

=
s
s
y
y y
dy
dy
d
y w
) ( 4
) (
1
1
1

=
s
s
L
dy
S V
C
2

=
s
s
D
dy w
S V
C
i
2
2

=
odd n
n
n A s U
, 1
) sin( 4
Substituting
into
Lift increases with aspect ratio
For planar wings at least lift goes linearly with angle of attack and lift
curve slope increases with aspect ratio (to 2 at )
Drag decreases with aspect ratio and goes as the lift squared?
Downwash tends to be largest at the wing tips ?
Drag is minimum for a wing for which A
n
=0 for n3.
So,
gives
1
A AR C
L
=
) 1 (
2

+ =
AR
C
C
L
D
i

=
=
odd n
n
A A n
, 3
2
1
) / (

sin
) sin(
, 1

=
odd n
n
n nA
V
w

+ =

sin
4
) sin( sin ) (
4
, 1
0
s
cn
n A
s
c
odd n
n
Solution of monoplane equation

+ =

sin
4
) sin( sin ) (
4
, 1
0
s
cn
n A
s
c
odd n
n
y
s -s
0

cos / = s y
1. Decide on the number of terms N needed for the sine series for
2. Select N points across the half span, evenly spaced in
3. At each point evaluate c, ,
0
and thus the NxN matrix of terms that
multiplies the A
n
s and the N terms on the left hand side
4. Solve for the A
n
s by matrix division
5. Evaluate C
L
, C
Di
, w(y), and (y).
s=2. 8; %Hal f span ( di st ances nor mal i zed on r oot chor d)
al pha=5*pi / 180; %5 degr ees angl e of at t ack
al pha0=- 5. 4*pi / 180; %Zer o l i f t AoA=- 5. 4 deg. f or Cl ar k Y
N=20; %N=20 poi nt s acr oss hal f span
t h=[ 1: N] ' / N*pi / 2; %Col umn vect or of t het a' s
y=- cos( t h) *s; %Spanwi se posi t i on
c=ones( si ze( t h) ) ; %Rect angul ar wi ng, so c = c_r ever ywher e
n=1: 2: 2*N- 1; %Row vect or of odd i ndi ces
r es=pi *c/ 4/ s. *( al pha- al pha0) . *si n( t h) ; %N by 1 r esul t vect or
coef =si n( t h*n) . *( pi *c*n/ 4/ s+r epmat ( si n( t h) , 1, N) ) ; %N by N coef f i ci ent mat r i x
a=coef \ r es; %N by 1 sol ut i on vect or
gamma=4*si n( t h*n) *a; %Nor mal i zed on ui nf and s
w=- ( si n( t h*n) *( a. *n' ) ) . / si n( t h) ;
AR=2*s/ mean( c) ;
CL=AR*pi *a( 1) ;
CDi =CL^2/ pi / AR*( 1+n( 2: end) *( a( 2: end) . ^2/ a( 1) . ^2) ) ;
1. Decide on the number of terms N needed for the sine series for
2. Select N points across the half span, evenly spaced in
3. At each point evaluate c, ,
0
and thus the NxN matrix of terms that
multiplies the A
n
s and the N terms on the left hand side
4. Solve for the A
n
s by matrix division
5. Evaluate C
L
, C
Di
, w(y), and (y).

+ =

sin
4
) sin( sin ) (
4
, 1
0
s
cn
n A
s
c
odd n
n
1
A AR C
L
=
) 1 (
2

+ =
AR
C
C
L
D
i

=
odd n
n
n A s U
, 1
) sin( 4
llt.m
Example
-1 -0.9 -0.8 -0.7 -0.6 -0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2

/
V

s
C
L
=0.80783, C
Di
=0.038738
-1 -0.9 -0.8 -0.7 -0.6 -0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0
-0.2
-0.15
-0.1
-0.05
0
y/s
-
w
/
V

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

0
0.05
0.1
x/c
y
/
c

o
-5.4
o
Determine aerodynamic characteristics
of our rectangular Clark Y wing
Our AR=5.6 Rectangular Clark Y Wing
Drag Polar
AR
C
C
L
D

2
=
Curve for minimum
drag (elliptical wing)
Note that friction drag coefficient of 0.01 added to C
Di
If we pretend wing is elliptical
-1 -0.9 -0.8 -0.7 -0.6 -0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2

/
V

s
C
L
=0.80783, C
Di
=0.038738
-1 -0.9 -0.8 -0.7 -0.6 -0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0
-0.2
-0.15
-0.1
-0.05
0
y/s
-
w
/
V

041 . 0
856 . 0
2
) ( 2
2
0
= =
=
+

=
AR
C
C
AR
AR
C
L
D
L
i

AR=5.6, =5
o
,
0
=-5.6
o
Thus, an elliptical lift distribution can often be a good approximation!
The Elliptic Wing
The minimum drag occurs for a wing for which A
n
=0 for n3. For this wing:
( ) s y / cos =
1
4
2
2
1
=

s
y
s A V
) sin( 4 ) sin( 4
1
, 1
sA U n A s U
odd n
n

= =

1
, 1
sin
) sin(
A
n nA
V
w
odd n
n
= =

wc c V + =

) (
0

1 0
) ( A V V
c



=
If the wing is untwisted, the chordlength is
proportional to circulation and thus also has
an elliptical form
Lift distribution has an elliptical shape.
Downwash velocity is constant across span
1.
2.
3.
Spitfire
Note that the chordlengths are all lined up along the quarter chord line so
the actual wing shape is not an ellipse
Further results
1
A AR C
L
=
AR
C
C
L
D
i

2
=
1
A
V
w
=

But what is A
1
?
s A V
s s A V
r
r
1
2
2
1
4 1
0
4

= =

1 0
) ( A V V
c
r
r



=
Planform area of elliptic wing is
r
sc S
2
1
=
Now
and
Substituting and solving for A
1
gives
) 2 /( ) ( 2
0 1
+ = AR A
And thus
2
) ( 2
2
) ( 2
0 0
+

=
+

AR V
w
AR
AR
C
L

confirming our earlier presumption about aspect ratio effects on C
L
Not done yet
AR
C
C
L
D
i

2
=
Consider two elliptical wings with the same section but different AR
producing the same lift coefficient:
2
) ( 2
0
+

=
AR
AR
C
L

=
+
=
+
=
B A
L
B A
B
B L
B
A
A L
A
AR AR
C
AR
AR C
AR
AR C
1 1
2
) 2 (
2
) 2 (
0 0

Similarly, we can show the two drag coefficients are related as:

=
B A
L
DiB DiA
AR AR
C
C C
1 1
2

Geometrically Similar Wings

These results work quite well even for non-elliptical wings:

=
B A
L
B A
AR AR
C 1 1

=
B A
L
D D
AR AR
C
C C
iB iA
1 1
2

Prandtls Classic
Rectangular Wing
Data for Different
Aspect Ratios
Prandtls
rescaling using
LLT result to
AR=5