Aspects of Aircraft Design and Control

Olivier Cleynen February 2014 v1.4

Lecture 1
Lift and Drag

Nobody will fly for a thousand years!

Wilbur Wright, 1901
 ~ foreword ~

The present notes serve as a support for

in-class work, not the opposite!
Refer to the introductory course notes for
explanations.
These notes are used as a succinct introduction
to selected topics. They are purposefully
incomplete and must not be used for real-life
applications.
 Feedback is always appreciated:

olivier.cleynen ariadacapo.net

These course documents can be found at:

http://aircraft.ariadacapo.net/
 This document is published
under a Creative Commons license.

Some photos and illustrations have their author and

specific license indicated on the bottom of the page.

All other content is 2011-2013 CC by-sa Olivier Cleynen.

You are encouraged to copy, modify,
and re-use this content under specific conditions:
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1. Basic concepts in mechanics
energy
time t
force F
distance d
 Weight

mg

2
g = 9,81 m.s
Work

F d

[J]
 Power

[W]or[hp]

Fd
= F V
t
 Power
Power and fuel economy are two different things!
A more powerful car usually raises your fuel
consumption
A more powerful aircraft usually does not
Aircraft are usually extremely powerful (100)
~ 50 khp machine

CC by-sa Vincent Edlinger

 Work
The work spent and the work received are often very
different

Preceived = F V aircraft

P spent = F V air
PD (US Army: Travis Zielinski)
2. Power and speed
on the ground
CC by W:Passiondutrain
Forces on a train

CC-0 Olivier Cleynen

No friction

F=0
Voyager

PD [NASA]
 Solid Friction

(rolling friction/resistance)

(dry metal friction)

F=k
CC-0 Olivier Cleynen
CC-0 Olivier Cleynen
If F = k
Friction with flexible materials

F=kV
CC by-sa Tennen-Gas
If F = k V
Fluid Friction

F = k V
CC by-sa W:MorganaF1
If F = k V
If F = k F
 Power spent to drive a train
No friction?
infinite max. speed
Solid friction?
there exists a max. speed
Fuel burn per km does not depend on speed
Fluid friction?
Any 40% speed increase doubles fuel burn per km
 Power and fuel economy

are determined
by the speed dependence of drag

D = f (V )
CC-0 Olivier Cleynen
CC-0 Olivier Cleynen
CC by-sa Vincent Edlinger
CC by-sa Vincent Edlinger
3. Aircraft forces
Aircraft forces
Weight

CC by-sa Vincent Edlinger

Weight

MTOW

MLW

OWE

weight control of primary importance

Aerodynamic reaction force

depends on a very large number of factors!

CC by-sa Vincent Edlinger
Thrust

power

energy expense

...but related to both

Lift and Drag

~ blessing and curse ~

Lift and Drag

Directions relative to speed, not fuselage

An arbitrary (not physical) distinction

CC by-sa Yuriy Lapitskiy
Finesse [the lift-to-drag ratio]

L
f
D

measures how vertical the reaction force is

varies according to flight conditions...

 Finesse (the lift-to-drag ratio)
finesse is often used to mean maximum finesse
Finesse varies extensively during a flight, and aircraft
rarely fly at fmax

fmax is usually 10 on a jet fighter, 20 on a modern

airliner or private aircraft, 40 for a competition
sailplane
4. Quantifying aircraft forces
Experimenting: measuring lift
Experimenting: measuring lift
Experimenting: measuring lift
Experimenting: measuring lift
 Lift
Increases with speed squared
Varies linearly with angle of attack
(only in a certain range!)
Experimenting: measuring drag
Experimenting: measuring drag
 Drag
A strange behavior indeed!
Increases with speed squared
Increases with inverse of speed squared, too...
At a given lift and altitude, drag will increase if you
fly too slow. ( train!)
5. Lift and drag coefficients
 How can we compare
the ability to generate lift

for two wings of different shape and size ?

 Wings generate lift

by imparting downward velocity on the air

A crude description of lift generation

CC-0 Olivier Cleynen

A crude description of lift generation

CC-0 Olivier Cleynen

An idealized description of downwash
A crude description of lift generation

CC-0 Olivier Cleynen

A crude description of lift generation

CC-0 Olivier Cleynen

An idealized description of downwash

CC-0 Olivier Cleynen

How does an aircraft generate a force on air ?

Given a steady mass flow:

d
F net = ( m v ) = m v
dt
mass flux change in velocity
What flight parameters affect mass flux m ?
Proportional to air density
Proportional to aircraft size (surface)
Proportional to aircraft speed
Depends on aircraft geometry

1
m = S V aircraft g geometry
2
 What flight parameters
affect downwash velocity v d ?

Proportional aircraft speed

Depends on aircraft geometry
Depends on aircraft attitude

v d = V aircraft g geometry (2) gangle

Quantifying lift:

L = m v d

1 2
= S V aircraft g geometry g geometry(2 ) g angle
2

g geometry & angle C L

CL defined as the part of lift attributed to wing geometry

The lift coefficient

L
CL
1 2
SV
2

The wings figure of merit

influence of the wing geometry
And thus:

1 2
L = S V CL
2

How much lift is being generated, independently of flight

conditions and aircraft size
 For a given CL (given flow pattern):
L
CL
1 2
Double the density? SV
2

lift doubled
Double the wing surface?
lift doubled
Double the velocity?
lift quadrupled
 For a given L (given aircraft)
High speed, high density, high surface?
you want low CL

Low speed, low density, low surface?

you want high CL
CC by-sa Vincent Edlinger
CC by-sa Vincent Edlinger
CC by-sa Vincent Edlinger
CC by-sa Vincent Edlinger
 L
CL
1 2
SV
2
 The lift coefficient
Wing capability for generating lift,
independently of main conditions
Controlled mainly with two parameters:
Angle of attack
Wing shape (esp. camber)
Defined arbitrarily (but meaningfully)
Dimensionless number (has no units)
for a very effective wing, [-1 to 3]
Predicting the lift coefficient on a given wing

CL = k 1 k 2

C L = C L , 0

Extraordinary wing shapes have different behavior

Linear aerodynamics: CL, is constant
Only true when the wing isnt stalled!
The drag coefficient

D
CD
1 2
SV
2

The unwanted, non-dimensionalized behavior

of a given wing
Predicting the drag coefficient on a given wing

2
C D = C D0 K C L

C D0 Lift-independent drag (viscous)

2
KC L Induced drag (lift-induced)
This equation only works in ideal conditions,
i.e. high Re, low M, linear aerodynamics
6. Basic flight mechanics
 D
CD
1
S V2
2
 Lift and Drag
The equations we wrote have amazing
consequences.
Small wings, low density will increase your speed
without an energy cost...
but you need higher power.
Play around with the above notions and equations...
 Beware:
The equations we wrote have limited validity...
Mach number dependence
Reynolds number dependence
No account for stall
Never trust equations that fall from the sky.
 Project 1
Flight speed range
CC by-sa Alan Radecki
Eclipse 500: the $1,5m jet

CC by-sa Alan Radecki

CC by-sa JetRequest.com
CC by-sa Josh Hallett
CC by-sa Josh Hallett
CC by-sa Josh Hallett
Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610F (Eclipse 500)
$150k D=37cm W= 120kg BPR=1,8 T=4kN

CC by-sa Josh Hallett

 Project 1
is about putting together the concepts we
explored today (in particular, drag)
You are working for an aircraft manufacturer
Data from a wind tunnel model series of tests is
passed on to you what do you think?
 Project 1: tasks
Choose a wing area that meets the design
specifications ;
Calculate the minimum and maximum flight speeds
at low altitude ;
Calculate the aircrafts finesse and its optimal flight
conditions.
 Tools and help
Use whatever software you wish (or none)
Books, websites etc. in English are okay, but must be
quoted.
 Length
Reports: 8 pages max (no longer!)
Presentations: 15 minutes max, plus questions
 How to Get the Project Done
This is not a riddle that must be solved...
the solution is not hidden in the appendix
Try to imagine the result first...
Think about the data you need, then look for it
Key to a successful project:

Get a rough idea

of what the result looks like

as early as you can