MAE3303

Aerodynamics of
Compressible Flow
Syllabus

Introduction to
Aerodynamics

Type of Flows

Incompressible flow
low-speed flow,

where the fluid velocity is much less that its speed of sound.

Compressible flow
high-speed flow,

where the fluid speed is comparable to its speed of sound.

Compressibility of a fluid
is the fractional change in volume of the fluid element
per unit change in pressure.

Bulk Modulus

In general, the compressibility of gases is

several orders of magnitude larger than that
of liquid.

V-dv P+dp

Density change versus pressure

change

If the fluid is liquid, density changes will be small.

For a low-speed gas flow, pressure changes are small.

Gas flows
can be classified with respect to the flow Mach number
Mach number

Density changes will be more than 5% if M>0.3 for air.

Effects of compressibility
Probably the two most important and
distinctive effects of compressibility on flow are

Flow Regions
Subsonic flow (M<1 everywhere)
Transonic flow (mixed regions
where M < 1 and M> 1)
Supersonic flow (M>1 everywhere)
Hypersonic flow (M>5)

Aerodynamic Forces and Moments on an Airfoil

What is an airfoil?

Airfoil Nomenclature

An airfoil can be defined with mean camber line and thickness distribution
Mean camber line:
Thickness

Airfoil Nomenclature

Leading and trailing edges:

Chord Line:
Camber (Maximum Camber):

Geometric Angle of attack (Angle of Attack):

Aerodynamic Forces and Moments on Airfoil

No matter how complex the body shape may be, the aerodynamic forces and
moments on the body are due entirely to two basic sources:
Pressure distribution over the body surface
Shear stress distribution over the body surface

Aerodynamic Forces and Moments

Resultant force and moment

Body-oriented force components: Normal force N and Axial force A.

Flight path-oriented force components: Lift L and Drag D.

Aerodynamic Forces and Moments

y
Two-dimensional body ---Airfoil

p ds

dx = ds cos

ds

pl and pu

dy = ds sin

su

ds

and

Sign convention for

V1

Chord Line

sl

Aerodynamic Forces and Moments

y

p ds

dx = ds cos

Two-dimensional body ---Airfoil

ds

pl, and pu
and

dy = ds sin

su

ds

V1

Chord Line

sl

Aerodynamic Forces and Moments

The aerodynamic moment (pitching moment), M, depends on the moment center.
- Moment about the leading edge

y
p ds
ds

su

ds

Chord Line

sl

V1

Sign convention for M

Dimensionless Aerodynamic Forces and Moments

Reference Quantities:
Let and U be the density and velocity, respectively in the free-stream.
Freestream dynamic pressure

Also, define S as a reference area and as a reference length.

Dimensionless Aerodynamic Forces and Moments

For a two dimensional body, such as an airfoil section, the forces and moments
are for unit span section, S = c(1) = c,

Coefficients are denoted by lowercase letters.

The dimensionless pressure and shear stress are defined as follows,
Pressure coefficient

Skin friction coefficient

Dimensionless Aerodynamic Forces and Moments

NACA0012, M=0.345, =3.93, Re=3.245x105

Dimensionless Aerodynamic Forces and Moments

x
=

x
c

N0
cn 1
2
2 1 U 1 c

1
A
ca 1
c
=
2 ca

U
c
2 1 1

Z c
0

dyu
Cp,u
dx

dyl
Cp,l
dx

dx +

(cf,u + cf,l ) dx
0

Dimensionless Aerodynamic Forces and Moments

Dimensionless Aerodynamic Forces and Moments

Neglecting the shear stress contribution, at small angle of attack

Load distribution

Example Problem: Calculation of aerodynamic coefficients

Consider an airfoil with chord length c and the running distance x measured along
the chord. The leading edge is located at x/c = 0 and the trailing edge at x/c =1.
The pressure coefficient variation over the upper and lower surfaces are given,
respectively, as

Calculate the normal force coefficient.

Example Problem: Calculation of aerodynamic coefficients

For the airfoil section shown, compute the coefficients of lift, drag and pitching
moment about the leading edge for angle of attack of 100

Air

Center of Pressure
Force-and-Moment

Single Force

Aerodynamic Forces and Moments