AERODYNAMICS, STRUCTURES AND SYSTEMS

COMPUTER-BASED
AIRFOIL AND WING
AERODYNAMIC
ANALYSIS

ENGG07011- REPORT NOVEMBER 2017

COURSE COORDINATOR- MR SHAYLAAN AUZINE

G.B. CLAIR - B00340528

COMPUTER-BASED AIRFOIL AND WING AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS

Coursework Assessment Feedback

Module title: Aircraft Aerodynamics, Structuresand Systems
Course/ Year: Aircraft Engineering Session 2017-18
Year 1
Module code: ENGG07011 Word-count: 1500

CW Title Computer-based airfoil and wing aerodynamic analysis

Date due: 04 December 2017 Date submitted:
Student ID Number: B00340528

ASPECTSOF COMMENTS MARK MARK

COURSEWORK 1st marker 2nd
REPORT marker
Write-up: Introduction
(5%), structure (5%),
presentation (5%), and
referencing (5%)
(20%)
Computational
techniques/ tools:
description (10%), set-up
(5%), and post
processing (5%)
(20%)
Computational data:
Graphs (5%),
presentation (5%),
discussion/ analysis(10%)
(20%)
Evaluation of the
software, data and
application of data
(20%)
Page

ENGG07011- AERODYNAMICS, STRUCTURESANDSYSTEMS

G.B.CLAIR- B00340528
COMPUTER-BASED AIRFOIL AND WING AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS

Conclusion
(20%)
TOTALMARK(%)

FEEDBACK SUMMARYAND RECOMMENDATIONS

Page

ENGG07011- AERODYNAMICS, STRUCTURESANDSYSTEMS

G.B.CLAIR- B00340528
COMPUTER-BASED AIRFOIL AND WING AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS

TABLE OFCONTENTS

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………Page 4

o Purpose of the report

o Airfoil and lift generation
o Laminar and turbulent flow
o Continuity equation
o Bernoulli theorem and equation

XFLR5 platform………………………………………………………………………Page 5-6

o XFLR5 as an analysis tool and origins

o XFLR5 improvements
o Reliability of XFLR5
o Applications of XFLR5

NACA2428………………………………………………………………………………Page 7

o Meaning of NACA
o NACA 2428 digits explained
o NACA airfoil geometry description(figure 1)

Generating and explaining aerodynamic data…………………………………Page8-13

o NACA2428 desined by XFLR5(figure 2)

o NACA2428 aerodynamic analysis
o Interpretation of results

Conclusion

References

Nomenclature
Page

ENGG07011- AERODYNAMICS, STRUCTURESANDSYSTEMS

G.B.CLAIR- B00340528
 COMPUTER-BASED AIRFOIL AND WING AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS

INTRODUCTION

This report provides notes on aircraft lift characteristics and the methodology/techniques
to compute them. The aircraft wing is made up of airfoils and they generate the lift
required for an aircraft to fly, combined with thrust produced by the engine. However,
drag which opposes the movement of the aircraft is also produced. Aerodynamics is the
study of fluid flow over a body and their interaction, and helps to understand how lift and
drag are generated. For the aircraft, the level of interaction between the air flow and the
wing depends on the wing geometry and the type of flow streaming over it. The airfoil
design and shape result in the fact that air flows at a greater velocity above the airfoil
surface than the lower surface. As velocity is greater above the airfoil, the pressure is
lower than below the airfoil and thus, lift is generated.

The airflow is either a laminar or a turbulent flow. These are determined by the Reynolds
’number. For a laminar flow the Reynolds’number is less than 500000 and greater than
500000 for a turbulent flow. In a laminar flow, the air molecules follow a regular pattern
but not for the turbulent flow. Interaction with the airfoil or wing, changes the physical
properties of the airflow. This is explained by the Bernoulli’
s theorem and the Continuity
Equation. The Continuity equation relates the fact that when a fluid is passed through a
given body (duct/ airfoil or wing), its mass remains constant. For an uncompressible flow,
where density is constant, the velocity of flow is inversely proportional to the airfoil
boundary, that is, A 1 / A2 = V2 / V1. The Bernoulli’
s theorem relates the Continuity
equation to the principle of conservation of energy. In fact, it states that when a fluid is
passed through a given body (duct/ airfoil or wing), its total energy remains constant: ps+
=Pt otal = Constant.
The amount of lift and drag generated also depends on the angle of attack (α), and the
orientation of the airfoil or wing in the flow. The coefficient of lift, CL, increases linearly with
angle of attack (AoA) until a critical αis reached and the wing stalls. The CL reaches its maximum
and then drops as the angle of attack increasesfurther.
Page

ENGG07011- AERODYNAMICS, STRUCTURESANDSYSTEMS

G.B.CLAIR- B00340528
 COMPUTER-BASED AIRFOIL AND WING AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS

XFLR5 Platform

The XFLR5 is an analysistool for airfoil, wings and airplanes operating at low Reynolds’
numbers.
It was developed to provide a friendly interface for Xfoil. It is not fully reliable software, can
provide inaccuracies and is mainly for personal use and as a hobby. Somehow, XFLR5 has been
tested against other software and published experimental results and this has proved that the
XFLR5 is trustworthy enough.

XFLR5 has been improved with time and results obtained on this platform are relatively similar
to other reliable software. Wing analysis capabilities have been added as well as the latest
version of XFLR5 has been developed specifically for Windows. Another version known as
QFLR5 has also been developed but this version does not offer any other functionality than the
original code and was therefore released asthe XFLR5 v5.

XFLR5 has various applications, among which:

· Foil direct analysis
· The wing, plane and body design and analysis
· Two direct design modes which are convenient to compare foils, and to design new foils
with the use of B-Splines
.
XFLR5, thus, has the capability of analyzing, designing and generating an airfoil. It has the ability
to compute and calculate the coefficient of lift and drag in relation to Reynolds’number and
AoA.
Page

ENGG07011- AERODYNAMICS, STRUCTURESANDSYSTEMS

G.B.CLAIR- B00340528
 COMPUTER-BASED AIRFOIL AND WING AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS

XFLR5 is rather easy to run and use and requires no previous or special experience. It has been
derived from the previous Xfoil code but with better adaptations for Windows interface. XFLR5
also provides the same options for foil modification as the original XFoil code. These are:

−local and global refinement

−modification of the thickness, camber, maximum thickness and maximum camber positions.

The modification of these parameters will cause a new foil to be generated.

Whenever a foil is modified, deleted or overwritten, all its associated results are deleted to
ensure consistency.

Page

ENGG07011- AERODYNAMICS, STRUCTURESANDSYSTEMS

G.B.CLAIR- B00340528
 COMPUTER-BASED AIRFOIL AND WING AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS

NACA 2428

NACA airfoils have been developed by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
(NACA). The numbers in the designation are as the following: the first digit gives the
maximum camber in percentage of chord, the second digit is the location of the
maximum camber in tenths of chord, measured from the leading edge. The last two
digits give the maximum thickness in percentage of chord. For example, the NACA 2428
airfoil has a maximum camber of 2% of the chord length (or 0.02c) and is located at 0.4c
(4/10ths of chord line) from the leading edge. The maximum thickness is 28% of the
chord length (or 0.28c).

Figure 1 below shows the details and nomenclature for the NACA airfoil.

Figure 1.NACA airfoil geometry description

Page

ENGG07011- AERODYNAMICS, STRUCTURESANDSYSTEMS

G.B.CLAIR- B00340528
 COMPUTER-BASED AIRFOIL AND WING AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS

Generating and explaining aerodynamic data

Figure 2 below shows the NACA2428 airfoil which is a 4-digit series and symmetrical
airfoil, generates less lift than a cambered airfoil. It has been generated on XFLR5 using
the direct foil design for NACA foils. This gives the result as shown below.

Figure 2. NACA2428 as designed by XFLR5

After the NACA2428 airfoil has been designed on XFLR5, further aerodynamic results
may be obtained. These include analyzing the coefficient of lift and drag obtained using
different Reynolds’numbers and AoA. Lift generated varies with Reynolds’number and
AoA as shown in Figure 3 below.

Page

ENGG07011- AERODYNAMICS, STRUCTURESANDSYSTEMS

G.B.CLAIR- B00340528
 COMPUTER-BASED AIRFOIL AND WING AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS

Figure 3. XFLR5 aerodynamic results for NACA2428(lift and drag polars)

A set of values have been inserted in Xfoil direct analysis and same analyzed leading to
the graphs shown in Figure 4. Mach number has been set to zero. Reynolds’number in
the range of 300000 up to 700000 with increments of 100000, keeping in mind that a
laminar flow has its Reynolds’number below 500000. Angle of attack (AoA) varies from
00 to 250 and with increments of 20.
Page

ENGG07011- AERODYNAMICS, STRUCTURESANDSYSTEMS

G.B.CLAIR- B00340528
 COMPUTER-BASED AIRFOIL AND WING AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS

For the purpose of the report, three graphs will be taken into consideration:

1) The graph of CL vs CD

Figure 4

The diagram contains a few curves, each for a specific Reynolds’number and
measuring or calculating CD and CL. The following can easily be observed from the
graph: the point where a decrease in lift begins with increasing Reynolds’
number where
there is minimum drag.

Reynolds’number, is given by:

As Reynolds’number increase, an increase in CL is also observed, up to a maximum.

Page

ENGG07011- AERODYNAMICS, STRUCTURESANDSYSTEMS

G.B.CLAIR- B00340528
COMPUTER-BASED AIRFOIL AND WING AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS

However, when the flow becomes turbulent, the CL begins to decrease.

2) CL vs AoA graph at different Reynolds numbers

Figure 5

As the AoA increases, the CL also increases linearly up to the critical AoA. This is
the AoA where maximum lift is obtained. It is also known as the stall AoA and is
somewhere around 150. Beyond this point, the flow separates rapidly and stall
occurs. As Reynolds’number increases, the stall angle also increases. It can
also be observed that CL max increases with greater Reynolds’number. This is
due to the fact that at greater Reynolds’number, the flow becomes more
turbulent and separation occurs farther away from the leading edge and this
allows a higher AoA to be achieved before stall occurs.
Page

ENGG07011- AERODYNAMICS, STRUCTURESANDSYSTEMS

G.B.CLAIR- B00340528
COMPUTER-BASED AIRFOIL AND WING AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS

3) CL/CD vs AoA graph

Figure 6

Page

ENGG07011- AERODYNAMICS, STRUCTURESANDSYSTEMS

G.B.CLAIR- B00340528
COMPUTER-BASED AIRFOIL AND WING AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS

Figure 7. Rectangular wing geometry design

In figure 7 above, the rectangular wing has been designed from the plane Seversky P-
35 which has a span of 10.97m and wing area of 20.4m2.

Page

ENGG07011- AERODYNAMICS, STRUCTURESANDSYSTEMS

G.B.CLAIR- B00340528
 COMPUTER-BASED AIRFOIL AND WING AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS

Conclusion

In a developing and competitive world, security, reliability and efficiency are essential in
aircraft engineering. XFLR5, the analysis tool has proved to be rather reliable a software
in the analysis of airfoil design and characteristics. It has improved features contained in
Xfoil direct analysis. However, analysis is being carried out on an airfoil, hence,
considered as an infinite wing. It is noted that the results obtained from such analysis
can prove to be different from that of a finite wing. In implementing such computational
tools and analysis, it is very important to know the parameters of the airfoil that need to
be analyzed. The whole analysis has been carried under defined sets of values of AoA,
Reynolds’number and default Mach number zero.

XFLR5 is an analysis tool which works at low Reynolds’number. It is very important to

develop and implement computational tools and analysis which are precise and reliable.
In line with the relevant theories in aerodynamics like Continuity equation and Bernoulli
theorem, among others, the results obtained from analysis in the XFLR5 have
corroborated the theories.

From the graphs obtained after analysis on XFLR5, it can be noticed that Reynolds’
number affects CL and CD, hence, aerodynamic efficiency. It is of great necessity, though,
that stall angle be noted carefully. Particular attention should also be paid to points on
the graphs that are very different from other points and thus the check box should be
verified before any analysis.

Page

ENGG07011- AERODYNAMICS, STRUCTURESANDSYSTEMS

G.B.CLAIR- B00340528
 COMPUTER-BASED AIRFOIL AND WING AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS

REFERENCES

[1] Introduction to aerodynamics, by John D. Anderson, Jr , pg 318

[2] Fundamentals of aerodynamics, 5th edition, by John D. Anderson, Jr , pp321-368

[3] Guidelines for QFLR5 v 0.03 1/58. October 2009 {Available

online}[https:/ / engineering.purdue.edu/ ~aerodyn/ AAE333/ .../ XFLR5_v6.../ Guidelines.pdf]
(Accessed on 03/12/2017)

[4] xflr5 v6.39 September 14th, 2017{ http:/ / www.xflr5.com/ ReleaseNotes.htm} [accessed on
03/12/2017]

NOMENCLATURE

CL, coefficient of lift

CD, coefficient of drag

ΑoA, α, angle of attack

P, pressure

Re, Reynolds’number

ρis density

V is airflow velocity

L is length of airfoil

µ is viscosity.
Page

ENGG07011- AERODYNAMICS, STRUCTURESANDSYSTEMS

G.B.CLAIR- B00340528
COMPUTER-BASED AIRFOIL AND WING AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS

Page

ENGG07011- AERODYNAMICS, STRUCTURESANDSYSTEMS

G.B.CLAIR- B00340528