Project 3

Prepared By: Brian Harrison

15490536
ME 163 Fall 05
December 5, 2005
Introduction

This project required me to design an airfoil that met certain given specifications.

To do this, I was required to write code that calculated the coefficient of lift from the

profile using the vortex panel method. Then, I was to use finite wing analysis and thin

airfoil theory to calculate the coefficient of lift for the entire wing. The code for the finite

wing analysis and thin airfoil theory was provided for me. Finally, I was required to

calculate the stall angle for the wing that I designed using Thwaites’ method to find

separation points.

I ran into a couple of problems with this project and I was unable to meet all of

the above mentioned requirements.

The airfoil that I designed had to meet specifications at a high speed and a low

speed. I found a wing that came close to satisfying those specifications. However, in

order to meet the low speed requirements, I had to select a wing that isn’t entirely

subsonic at high speeds.

I also attempted to write code to perform Thwaites’ method, however I was

unable to get it to work. I attempted to write code that performed numerical integration

of Ue. That is the part of the code that I could not get to work. Because of this I was

unable to use Thwaites’ method to find the point of separation for the wing and therefore

the stall angle.

Procedure

I was to find a rectangular wing with the proper airfoil shape so that it met certain

specifications. We had to design the airfoil so that the airplane can cruise at mach .7 at

an altitude of 9100 meters. However, the airfoil also had to support the airplane at mach

1
.22 at sea level. The airplane has a mass of 38,000 kg with a wing area of 77.3 m^2. The

aircraft must be trimmed for straight and level flight in both conditions. It is also

important that the wing is completely subsonic.

I took the code from project 2 and modified it slightly so that it would calculate

the coefficient of lift from the profile of a wing. It did this by finding Cp, and then doing

a simple calculation to find Cl. Once I had this code modified, I tested it on a symmetric

wing (NACA 0012), and compared my results against the published data for that airfoil

shape. This gave me confidence that my vortex panel code was working correctly.

Then, I used the code provided to me for homework 4 to perform finite wing

analysis using thin airfoil theory. I made one slight change to the code so that k_0 was

based off of the coefficients of lift from the profile, instead of simply assuming that k_0

was 2*pi. The code for the finite wing analysis output the coefficient of lift for the entire

wing. Finally, I used the coefficient of lift of the wing to calculate the lift that the wing

produced. I then compared the lift that the wing produced to the weight of the aircraft.

Results

The first thing that I did with the vortex panel code was to test it on an airfoil

shape that had published data for its coefficient of lift. I compared the coefficient of lift

that my code calculated with these published values. I ran the code over a wide range of

angles of attack, from -16 to 20 degrees. The results are shown below, in Figure 1. The

line in the plot below follows the published lift curve for most angles. However, once the

angle of attack of the airfoil became greater than 16 degrees, the published data shows a

large falloff in the lift curve while the curve from my code does not. This shows that the

vortex panel method code cannot calculate the stall angle. However, since the code

2
produced the correct coefficient of lift for any angle of attack below 16 degrees, I feel

confident that it is working properly.

Figure 1. NACA 0012 Coefficient of Lift vs. Alpha.

Once I was confident that my vortex panel method code was working properly, I

used it along with the finite wing and thin airfoil code to find a wing that met our design

specifications. I used airfoil contours found online to perform this step of the project. I

first tested the NACA 63(3)-618 airfoil shape. This airfoil didn’t even come close to

providing the necessary lift. Next, I selected the NACA 2411. This airfoil shape, while

parts of it went supersonic, is close to meeting all specifications. Finally, I tested the

NAGA 6412 as the airfoil that met all specifications. Table 1 shows the force of the lift

for each specification for each wing.

3
 Airfoil Shape Angle of Attack and Mach
Number
α=12 α=4
M=.22 M=.7
NACA 63(3)- 29,369 48,258
618
NACA 2411 286,660 371,090

NACA 6412 288,770 373,620

Table 1. Calculated Lifts for each wing at both specified constants

The NACA 6412 airfoil profile comes the closest to meeting the requirement for

having the aircraft trimmed in for both conditions. However, it still doesn’t quite meet all

conditions. It does not produce enough lift for straight and level flight at M=.22. Also,

parts of the airflow around the wing become sonic at M=.7. However, all airfoils that I

tested had this same problem, and time constraints kept me from being able to modify the

NACA 6412 to eliminate this issues.

For the last part of this project, I was supposed to use Thwaites’ method to

determine the stall angle. I attempted to do this with a MATLAB code that would

perform the necessary calculations. However, one of the calculations that I needed to

code was numerical integration. I was unable to get this part of the code to work, and

therefore was unable to use Thwaites’ method to calculate the stall angle.

4
Conclusion

Based on the calculated data, the best airfoil shape that I tested was the NACA

6412. However, this wing does not meet all design specifications, and therefore more

testing is required. Further testing should use either increased camber, or thickness, or

possibly both.

References

NASG Airfoil Contour Data. http://www.nasg.com/afdb/list-airfoil-e.phtml. 12/4/05.

UIUC Airfoil Coordinates Database. http://www.ae.uiuc.edu/m-

selig/ads/coord_database.html. 12/4/05.

Abbott & Doenhoff, “Theory of Wing Sections.” Dover.

Kuethe & Chow, “Foundations of Aerodynamics.” Wiley.

5
 Appendix

Matlab Code:

%project2.m

clear all;

input=load('NACA6412.txt');
N=(length(input));

M=N-1;

mach=.7;
gmma=0272-.1874;
alpha=-4*(pi/180);
input=flipud(input);

for k=1:N
xb(k)=input(k,1);
yb(k)=input(k,2);
end

%xb=linspace(0,1,64);
%yb=spline(x,[-.1194 y -.2611], xb);

plot(xb,yb)

%length_of_panel=[];
%
% for r=1:M
% xq(r)=[input(r,1)];
% yq(r)=[input(r,2)];
% length_of_panel(r)=[sqrt((xq(r)-xq(r+1))^2 + (yq(r)-yq(r+1))^2)];
% end

X=[];
Y=[];
S=[];
theta=[];

for q=1:M
X=[X;.5*(xb(q)+xb(q+1))];
Y=[Y;.5*(yb(q)+yb(q+1))];
S=[S;sqrt((xb(q+1)-xb(q))^2+(yb(q+1)-yb(q))^2)];

A1
 theta=[theta;atan2((yb(q+1)-yb(q)),(xb(q+1)-xb(q)))];
end

for i=1:M
for j=1:M
if i==j
CN1(i,j)=-1;
CN2(i,j)=1;
CT1(i,j)=pi/2;
CT2(i,j)=pi/2;
else
A=-(X(i)-xb(j))*cos(theta(j))-(Y(i)-yb(j))*sin(theta(j));
B=(X(i)-xb(j))^2+(Y(i)-yb(j))^2;
C=sin(theta(i)-theta(j));
D=cos(theta(i)-theta(j));
E=(X(i)-xb(j))*sin(theta(j))-(Y(i)-yb(j))*cos(theta(j));
F=log(1+(((S(j)^2)+2*A*S(j))/B));
G=atan2(E*S(j),(B+A*S(j)));
P=(X(i)-xb(j))*sin(theta(i)-2*theta(j))+(Y(i)-yb(j))*cos(theta(i)-2*theta(j));
Q=(X(i)-xb(j))*cos(theta(i)-2*theta(j))-(Y(i)-yb(j))*sin(theta(i)-2*theta(j));
CN2(i,j)=D+0.5*Q*F/S(j)-(A*C+D*E)*G/S(j);
CN1(i,j)=0.5*D*F+C*G-CN2(i,j);
CT2(i,j)=C+0.5*P*F/S(j)+(A*D-C*E)*G/S(j);
CT1(i,j)=0.5*C*F-D*G-CT2(i,j);
end
end
end
%CN1, CN2, CT1, CT2
%------------------

for i=1:M
AN(i,1)=CN1(i,1);
AN(i,M+1)=CN2(i,M);
AT(i,1)=CT1(i,1);
AT(i,M+1)=CT2(i,M);
RHS(i)=sin(theta(i)-alpha);
for j=2:M
AN(i,j)=CN1(i,j)+CN2(i,j-1);
AT(i,j)=CT1(i,j)+CT2(i,j-1);
end
end
AN(M+1,1)=1;
AN(M+1,M+1)=1;
for j=2:M
AN(M+1,j)=0;
end

A2
RHS(M+1)=0;

gam=cramer(AN,RHS',N);

CP_crit=(2/(gmma*mach^2)*((((2+(gmma-1)*mach^2)/(gmma+1))^(gmma/(gmma-1)))-
1));

for i=1:M
V(i)=cos(theta(i)-alpha);
for j=1:N
V(i)=V(i)+AT(i,j)*gam(j);
CP(i)=1-V(i)^2;
CP_i(i)=CP(i)/sqrt(1-mach^2);
if CP_i(i)<CP_crit
subsonic(i)=1;
else
subsonic(i)=0;
end
end
end

V;,CP;

sonic=sum(subsonic)

C_l=0;
C_d=0;

for n=1:M-1
C_l=C_l+CP_i(n)*cos(theta(n)-alpha)*S(n);
%C_d=C_d+CP_i(n)*sin(theta(n)-alpha);
end

C_l=-C_l
C_d=-C_d;

%function cramer.m

function x=cramer(A,B,N)

x=zeros(N,1);
for i=1:N
AI=A;
AI(:,i)=B;

A3
 detAI=det(AI);
detA=det(A);

x(i,1)=detAI/detA;
end

return

% ME 163 Homework 4
% Author: Gregory J. McCauley
% Last Modified: December 03, 2005

% Set number of tabular and plot points

numSample = 10;
numPlot = 100;

% Calculate and set profile characteristics

alpha_1 = 8;
c_l_1 = 2.3153;

alpha_2 = -4;
c_l_2 = .3035;

k_0 = (c_l_1 - c_l_2)/(pi/180 * (alpha_1 - alpha_2));

alpha_L0 = 180/pi * (pi/180 * alpha_1 - c_l_1/k_0);

%k_0 = 2 * pi;

% Set span
b = 24;

% Set root and tip chord lengths

% NOTE: Depending on the chord profile, tip chord may not be used
c_r = 3.22;
c_t = 3.22;

% Set root and tip absolute angles of attack

% NOTE: Depending on the chord profile, tip angle may not be used
alpha_r = pi/180 * 4;
alpha_t = pi/180 * 4;

% Set up names and chord functions for wing planforms

planform = {
'Rectangular', @(z) (ones(size(z)) * c_r);

A4
 'Tapered', @(z) (c_r - 2 * (c_r - c_t) * z/b);
'Elliptical', @(z) (c_r * sqrt(1 - (2 * z/b).^2))
};

% Prompt user for chord description

fprintf('\n\tThe available planforms are:\n');
for i = 1:size(planform, 1)
fprintf('\t\t%d - %s\n', i, planform{i, 1});
end
fprintf('\tWhich planform [1-%d] would you like to use? ', i);
choice = input('');

planformString = [planform{choice, 1} ' Planform'];

titleString = [planformString ' with '];
chordFcn = planform{choice, 2};

% Set up names and twist functions

twist = {
'Zero', @(z) (ones(size(z)) * alpha_r);
'Linear', @(z) (alpha_r - 2 * (alpha_r - alpha_t) * z/b);
'Elliptical', @(z) ((alpha_r - alpha_t) * sqrt(1 - (2 * z/b).^2) + alpha_t)
};

% Prompt user for alpha description

fprintf('\n\tThe available twist distributions are:\n');
for i = 1:size(planform, 1)
fprintf('\t\t%d - %s\n', i, twist{i, 1});
end
fprintf('\tWhich twist distribution [1-%d] would you like to use? ', i);
choice = input('');

if (choice ~= 1)
titleString = [titleString num2str((alpha_t - alpha_r)*180/pi) ' Degree '];
end

titleString = [titleString twist{choice, 1} ' Twist'];

alphaFcn = twist{choice, 2};

% Calculate and print the profile characteristics at node points

theta = linspace(0, pi/2, (numSample + 1))';
z = b/2 * cos(theta);

chord = chordFcn(z);
thickness = chord * 0.12;
alpha = alphaFcn(z);

A5
% Print titleString
fprintf('\n\n\n\t%s\n', titleString);

% Print coordinate information

fprintf('\n\t2*z/b\t\tc\t\t\talpha_a\t\tt\n');
fprintf('\t%5.4f\t\t%5.4f\t\t%5.4f\t\t%5.4f\n', [cos(theta), chord, alpha, thickness]');

% Plot planform and twist distributions

theta = linspace(0, pi/2, numPlot);
z = cos(theta);

figure;
plot(z, chordFcn(z * b/2));
title(['Chord Distribution for a ' titleString]);
xlabel('z/(b/2)');
ylabel('c');

figure;
plot(z, 0.12 * chordFcn(z * b/2));
title(['Maximal Thickness for a ' titleString]);
xlabel('z/(b/2)');
ylabel('t');

figure;
plot(z, alphaFcn(z * b/2));
title(['Absolute Angle of Attack Distribution for a ' titleString]);
xlabel('z/(b/2)');
ylabel('\alpha_a');

[fourierCoefficients, C_L, C_D_i, C_D_iPercent] = finiteWing(chordFcn, alphaFcn, k_0,

c_r, b);

title(['Non-dimensional Circulation Distribution for a ' titleString]);

legend(planformString, 'Elliptical Planform');

% Program: finiteWing.m
% Author: Gregory J. McCauley
% Last Modified: December 03, 2005
%
% Calculate the odd Fourier coefficients for a symmetric wing described by
% a chord and absolute angle of attack distribution along the half wing
%
% Input Variables:
%
% chordFcn
% Type: Function handle

A6
% Description: Points to the function which describes the chord length
% for the half wing as a function of the spanwise
% coordinate
%
% alphaFcn
% Type: Function handle
% Description: Points to the function which describes the absolute
% angle of attack for the half wing as a function of
% the spanwise coordinate
%
% k_0
% Type: Number
% Description: Lift curve slope of the wing profile
%
% c_r
% Type: Number
% Description: Root chord length of the wing
%
% b
% Type: Number
% Description: Span of the wing
%
%
%
% Output Variables:
%
% fourierCoefficients
% Type: Number Array
% Description: Values of the odd Fourier coefficients for the
% decomposition
%
% C_L
% Type: Number
% Description: Lift coefficient
%
% C_D_i
% Type: Number
% Description: Induced drag coefficient
%
% C_D_iPercent
% Type: Number
% Description: Comparison of induced drag to that of an elliptical wing

function [fourierCoefficients, C_L, C_D_i, C_D_iPercent] = finiteWing(chordFcn,

alphaFcn, k_0, c_r, b)

A7
% Determine wing area
S = 2 * quad(chordFcn, 0, b/2);

% Set accuracy flag

accurate = false;

% Set initial guess for number of odd Fourier coefficients

% necessary for A_n to be less than one percent of A_1
%
% NOTE: For speed, an expected overestimate is initially used
%
% Due to the matrix solution, little penalty should be
% incurred by this overestimate
numFourier = 10;

while (accurate ~= true)

% Create point set for linear algebraic problem
% NOTE: A column vector is created to ease replication
theta = linspace(0, pi/2, (numFourier + 1));
theta = theta(2:end)';

coordinate = b/2 * cos(theta);

% Determine the chord and angle of attack at the given positions

chord = chordFcn(coordinate);
alpha = alphaFcn(coordinate);

% Create odd Fourier coefficient vector and matrix

fourierNums = 2 * [1:numFourier] - 1;
fourierOddMat = repmat(fourierNums, numFourier, 1);

% Create sine matrix [sine(n * theta)]

sinMat = sin(fourierOddMat .* repmat(theta, 1, numFourier));

% Create coefficient submatrices

C1Mat = repmat(1./(k_0 .* chord), 1, numFourier);
C2Mat = 1/(4 * b) * fourierOddMat .* repmat(1./sin(theta), 1, numFourier);

% Create coefficient matrix

M = k_0 * c_r * (C1Mat + C2Mat) .* sinMat;

% Calculate odd Fouier coefficients

fourierCoefficients = M\alpha;

% Calculate how many coefficients necessary for A_n to be

% less than one percent of A_1

A8
 limit = min(find(abs(fourierCoefficients) < abs(fourierCoefficients(1) * 0.01)));

% Increase number of odd Fourier coefficients calculated

% if accuracy is not achieved.
if (isempty(limit))
numFourier = numFourier + 5;
else
accurate = true;
end
end

% Calculate the lift and induced drag

C_L = (k_0 * c_r * pi * b)/(4 * S) * fourierCoefficients(1);
C_D_i = (k_0^2 * c_r^2 * pi)/(16 * S) * fourierNums * fourierCoefficients.^2;

% Calculate the induced drag percentage compared to the elliptical wing

C_D_iPercent = (1 + (fourierNums(2:end) *
fourierCoefficients(2:end).^2)/fourierCoefficients(1)^2) * 100;

% Print the results

printFiniteWingResults(fourierNums, fourierCoefficients, limit, C_L, C_D_i,
C_D_iPercent);

% Graph the resulting gamma distribution vs. that of the elliptical wing
graphFiniteWingResults(fourierNums, fourierCoefficients);

end

function printFiniteWingResults(fourierNums, fourierCoefficients, limit, C_L, C_D_i,

C_D_iPercent);

% Print all Fourier coefficients calculated

fprintf('\n\tFourier Coefficients\n');
fprintf('\t%d\t\t%12.11f\n', [fourierNums', fourierCoefficients]');

% Print number of odd Fourier coefficients necessary for A_n

% to be less than one percent of A_1
fprintf('\n\tNumber of odd Fourier coefficients necessary for 1%% of A_1: %d\n', (limit
- 1));

% Print lift and drag coefficients

fprintf('\n\tLift coefficient: %8.7f\n', C_L);
fprintf('\tInduced drag coefficient: %8.7f\n', C_D_i);

A9
 % Print induced drag ratio
fprintf('\n\tThe induced drag is %4.2f percent of the elliptical distribution\n\n',
C_D_iPercent);

end

function graphFiniteWingResults(fourierNums, fourierCoefficients)

% Set number of points to use for plotting

numPlot = 100;

% Create coordinates for plotting

theta = linspace(0, pi/2, numPlot)';
z = cos(theta);

% Create matrices to solve for value of Fourier transform at given

% coordinates
fourierNumsMat = repmat(fourierNums, numPlot, 1);
thetaMat = repmat(theta, 1, length(fourierNums));
fourierCoefficientsMat = repmat(fourierCoefficients, 1, numPlot)';

% Determine gamma distributions

Gamma = sum(fourierCoefficientsMat .* sin(fourierNumsMat .* thetaMat),
2)./(fourierCoefficients' * sin(fourierNums * pi/2)');
Gamma_elliptical = sqrt(1 - z.^2);

% Render plot
figure;
plot(z, Gamma, z, Gamma_elliptical, '-.');
xlabel('z/(b/2)');
ylabel('\Gamma/\Gamma_s');

end

A10
Example Output of Running Code:

EDU>> project2

sonic =

70

C_l =

2.3153

EDU>> project2

sonic =

77

C_l =

0.3035

EDU>> clear all

EDU>> ME163Homework4

The available planforms are:

1 - Rectangular
2 - Tapered
3 - Elliptical
Which planform [1-3] would you like to use? 1

The available twist distributions are:

1 - Zero
2 - Linear
3 - Elliptical
Which twist distribution [1-3] would you like to use? 1

Rectangular Planform with Zero Twist

2*z/b c alpha_a t
1.0000 3.2200 0.0698 0.3864
0.9877 3.2200 0.0698 0.3864

A11
 0.9511 3.2200 0.0698 0.3864
0.8910 3.2200 0.0698 0.3864
0.8090 3.2200 0.0698 0.3864
0.7071 3.2200 0.0698 0.3864
0.5878 3.2200 0.0698 0.3864
0.4540 3.2200 0.0698 0.3864
0.3090 3.2200 0.0698 0.3864
0.1564 3.2200 0.0698 0.3864
0.0000 3.2200 0.0698 0.3864

Fourier Coefficients
1 0.06059014237
3 0.00651025006
5 0.00126914165
7 0.00034958633
9 0.00012469123
11 0.00005311927
13 0.00002520673
15 0.00001243589
17 0.00000571313
19 0.00000159886

Number of odd Fourier coefficients necessary for 1% of A_1: 3

Lift coefficient: 0.4571072

Induced drag coefficient: 0.0092546

The induced drag is 103.71 percent of the elliptical distribution

EDU>> LIFT=.5*1.226*((.22*340)^2)*.4571072*77.3

LIFT =

1.2119e+05

EDU>> LIFT=.5*.467*((.7*304)^2)*.4571072*77.3

LIFT =

3.7362e+05

EDU>>

A12