COMPUTER-

BASED AIRFOIL
AND WING
AERODYNAMICS
ANALYSIS

ENGG07011- AIRCRAFT AERODYNAMICS,

STRUCTURES AND SYSTEMS

T.K DOONMOON – B00340525

 COMPUTER-BASED AIRFOIL AND WING AERODYNAMICS ANALYSIS

Table of Contents

Introduction…………………………………………………………………….. 2

Detailed View Of Aerofoil…………………………………………….. 2

Terminology……………………………………………………………. 3

Generation of Lift……………………………………………………… 3

Boundary Layer………………………………………………………... 4

Lift Formula…………………………………………………………….. 4

Reynolds Number……………………………………………………... 5

Airfoil Design…………………………………………………………………… 6

Generation of Aerodynamic Data…………………………………… 8

50000 – 100000…………………………………………………. 8

150000 – 200000………………………………………………... 9

300000 – 450000………………………………………………... 10

500000 – 650000………………………………………………… 11

Discussion………………………………………………………………. 12

Wing Design…………………………………………………………….. 13

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………… 14

References……………………………………………………………………… 15

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INTRODUCTION

The aerofoil is a body designed to produce lift perpendicular to its direction of motion,
and creating drag. When in motion, fluids (air flow) travel around the aerofoil,
developing the lift and drag force. The lift force is the upward force, and the drag force is
the resistance to motion, of the aerofoil. It uses mainly two principles to generate forces,
namely the Bernoulli’s Theorem (Schär, 1993) and the Newton’s Third Law of Motion
(Sprigings et al, 1990). When set at an angle to relative airflow, an aerofoil produces
more lift than drag. There are four forces acting on an aircraft as shown in figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1

DETAIL VIEW OF AEROFOIL

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TERMINOLOGY

1. The leading edge is the front end of an airfoil.

2. The trailing the back end of an airfoil which is generally sharp.
3. The chord line is an imaginary straight line joining the leading and trailing edges
of the airfoil.
4. The mean camber line is a line from leading edge to trailing edge and is
equidistant from the upper and lower surfaces.
5. The angle of attack is the angle between the chord line and the relative airflow.
6. Thickness is the distance between the upper surface and lower surface at any
point,
7. Maximum thickness is the maximum distance between the upper and lower
surface.

GENERATION OF LIFT

When air reaches the leading edge of an aerofoil, it splits to continue its path. Air
travelling above the aerofoil, tends to move faster than the air below. According to
Bernouilli’s theorem, slower air has higher pressure than faster air. It implies that the
pressure under the aerofoil is greater than the pressure above, therefore the aerofoil
goes up. Furthermore, the Newton’s third Law of Motion states that ‘for every action,
there is an equal but opposite reaction’. This aerodynamic force/upward force is called
Lift and the resistance to motion force is called Drag. Figure 1.2 shows the motion of the
airflow around an aerofoil.

Figure 1.2

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BOUNDARY LAYER

When air flows over a surface, it is brought to rest at the surface due to viscosity.
Viscosity does not permit layers of air slip each other, therefore promoting resistance to
flow of air. Some distance away from the surface, and the velocity of the air jumps from
zero to its free stream value, which refers to the boundary layer. Boundary layer can be
either Laminar or turbulent. Figure 1.3 shows the path of laminar and turbulent flow.

Figure 1.3

LIFT FORMULA (Karman, 1938)

L = ½. CL. Ꝭ. V2A, where

CL = Coefficient of lift
Ꝭ = Density
V = Velocity of aircraft
A = Wing Area

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REYNOLDS NUMBER (Drela, 1989)

The Reynolds Number (Drela, 1989), the non-dimensional velocity, can be defined as
the ratio of the inertia force (ρ u L), and the viscous or friction force (μ).
ρ×V×L
• Re = , where
μ

• ρ = density of the air

• V = airflow velocity

• L = length of the airfoil (chord)

The effect of Reynolds number on the stall features of two-dimensional airfoils are
primarily analyzed to deliver a base for estimating three-dimensional impacts related to
innumerable wing planforms. This is followed by instances of the effects of Reynolds
number and geometry on the lift features near the stall for a sequence of three-
dimensional. Examples are also included pertaining to the effects of wing geometry on
the onset and span-wise development of turbulent re-separation near the leading edge
and diagrams of the degree to which abridged notional strategies can be handy in
describing the influence of the numerous geometric constraints. The technique is also
exemplified in which the Reynolds number and wing geometry limitations impact upon
whether the tempestuous re-separation close to the leading edge propels in an abrupt
drop in lift. The resilient impact of "induced camber" on the development of turbulent re-
separation is specifically accentuated.

The Reynolds number determines the type of flow (whether laminar or turbulent), which,
in turn, determines where the flow separates from the airfoil or wing. This, in turn,
affects the lift, drag and moment coefficients, as explained above. We note that as
Reynolds number increases, the maximum lift coefficient increases. But this does not
occur indefinitely; when flows become very turbulent, the maximum lift coefficient begins
to drop and so does the overall lift coefficient

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AIRFOIL DESIGN

2. Click on Foil, and select

1. On opening the XFLR5,
Naca Foils
select the File Menu, and
click on the Direct Foil
Design option.

4. The NACA Foil 2430 will be

used to define the analysis.

3. Select the File Menu, and

click on XFoil Direct Analysis

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5. Click on Analysis and

open the Batch Analysis
option.

6. For the NACA Foil 2430, the range of the Reynolds Number will be as from
50000 to 650000.

The angle of attack will start from 00 to 25o.

The Analyze button is selected to generate the graphs.

Graphs obtained will be analyzed from ranges of Reynolds Number.

Discussion will be made to differentiate what happens when
Reynolds Number changes.

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GENERATION OF AERODYNAMIC DATA

At Reynolds Number 50000 – 100000

CL against CD Graph

The graph shows that as from -0.3 to 0 the Cd is at 0.10. At 0.10 Cd, there is a progressive
lift where the Cl is at 0.2°. There is then a drop in Cl from 0.2 to 0.11. From 0.135 to 0.14 Cd,
no degree of lift is produced, however, following that, the lift is gently and constantly rising at
a moderate speed.

This graph demonstrates a staggering but a

CL/Alpha Graph
gradually soaring lift. When Angle of attack is
6.0° then the Cl is 0°. At 6.0°, there is a sharp rise
in the lift from 0° to 0.2° following which when
angle of attack is at 8°, it loses lift from 0.2° to
0.16°. After this subsequent drop, the lift remains
stagnant at 0.16° from 10.0° to 11.0°. The lift
then keeps on steadily increasing from 11.0° to
25.0° with a slightly sharper rise from 20.0° to
21.0°. Maximum lift typically occurs when the
angle of attack is around 25.0°.

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At Reynolds Number 150000 – 200000

CL/CD Graph

This graph shows a fluctuating lift characterized by very sharp lifts and drops. A
strident rocketing lift can be observed from 0.2 to 1.2 Cl. Following this, there is a
gradual but continuous drop in the lift from 0.37 to 0.175. Reaching at 0.175 Cd, the
lift experiences an abrupt rise from 0.5 to 0.6 Cl and this is entailed by a minor drop
after which a sudden rise can be noted again from 0.53 to 0.65 Cd.

CL/Alpha Graph At 00 angle of attack, 0.19 of lift is

being generated by the aerofoil and
keeps on progressing up to 90
angle of attack. At 10° angle of
attack, there is a considerable loss
of lift from 1.03 to 0.4 Cl. This is
followed by a staggering but
gradual increase in lift. The
maximum lift being produced is
about 1.1. Using angles of attack
that exceed the maximum lift
coefficient causes the wing flow to
separate and the aircraft to stall.

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At Reynolds Number 30000 - 450000

CL/CD Graph

The graph shows that at 0.025 Cd, a soaring lift is produced at 1.1 Cl. This
considerable rise in lift is followed by a rather stagnant lift from 0.05 to 0.10. From
0.10 to 0.15 Cd, a minor drop can be noted from 1.2 Cl to 1.1 Cl. At 0.15 Cd, the
drop becomes more considerable from 1.1to 0.81 Cl.

The graph shows that at 00 angle of CL/Alpha Graph

attack, 0.19 of lift is being produced.
There is an increase of lift up to 170
after which the lift becomes
staggering characterized by minor but
frequent increases and drops. At
20.0°, the lift slightly drops to 1.1°
from 1.2° Cl after which there is a
mild drop in the lift followed by a
sharper drop from 1.1 Cl to 0.81 at
25.0° angle of attack.

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At Reynolds Number 500000 – 650000

CL/CD Graph

A progressing curve where the max Cl is 1.25, which remains constant. There is
a rise from 0.1 to 1.2 of Cl at 0.011 to 0.04 Cd. Increasing Cl results to increasing
Cd.

CL/Alpha Graph

At 00 angle of attack, the

airfoil is already producing
0.175 Cl, which rises
constantly to 1.12 Cl. As
from 12.5 angle of attack, it
can be deduced that the
airfoil starts experiencing
more drag. The maximum
lift being generated is 1.25
when angle of attack is 180.

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DISCUSSION

S/No Reynolds Angle Of Max CL CD

Number Attack
1 50000 - 100000 230 0.60 0.26
2 150000 - 200000 100 1.10 0.03
3 300000 - 450000 210 1.25 0.10
4 500000 - 650000 200 1.30 0.10

At Reynolds Number 50000 – 100000, at 230 angle of attack, the maximum Cl is 0.60,
and at that point, the CD is 0.26 whereas from 150000 – 200000 Reynolds Number, the
airfoil is generating 1.10 of maximum CL and 0.03 of CD, at 100 angle of attack. But at
Reynolds Number 300000 – 4500000, the airfoil is producing 1.25 of maximum CL and
0.10 CD, at 210 angle of attack. Compared to S/No 3, at 200 angle of attack, in Reynolds
Number 500000 – 650000, the effective CL is 1.30 and the CD occurred is 0.10.

As the Reynolds is increasing, the coefficient of lift increases. At low Reynolds Number,
the airfoil is producing lift at high angle of attack and experiences high drag. The lowest
CD is experienced from Reynolds Number 150000 – 200000, the angle of attack being
100 and generating more lift, compared to S/No 1. At 300000 – 450000 Reynolds
Number, more lift and drag are being generated but at higher angle of attack compared
to S/No 2. Higher lift is produced when Reynolds Number is 500000 – 650000, and
same CD as S.No 3.

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WING DESIGN

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CONCLUSION

The XFLR5 is a suitable software for the analysis of an airfoil. It displays various points
that can be studied through graphs. It allows graphs such as CL/CD, CL/Alpha, etc to
be analyzed thoroughly. Variations for the Reynolds Number, alpha and speed can be
made to study the lift/drag coefficient of an airfoil. When a value of Reynolds Number is
added, the Mach Number has to be zero, so as to obtain a proper graph. For the wing
analysis, the NACA foil has to be inserted and the wing is displayed accordingly. It can
be observed that when the Reynolds Number increases, the lift coefficient also
increases. Reynolds Number above 650000 seems to bring turbulent flow to the airfoil
NACA 2430 and the maximum lift obtained is 1.3 at 20 0 angle of attack. The least
coefficient of drag is 0.03 obtained at Reynolds Number 150000 – 200000. Inserting
large range of Reynolds Number is inappropriate as several graphs are generated and
somehow difficult to be analyzed.

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References

Drela, M., 1989. XFOIL: An analysis and design system for low Reynolds number
airfoils. In Low Reynolds number aerodynamics (pp. 1-12). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

Karman, T.V., 1938. Airfoil theory for non-uniform motion. Journal of the Aeronautical
Sciences, 5(10), pp.379-390.

Marten, D., Wendler, J., Pechlivanoglou, G., Nayeri, C.N. and Paschereit, C.O., 2013.
QBlade: An open source tool for design and simulation of horizontal and vertical axis
wind turbines. IJETAE, 3(3), pp.264-269.

Munk, M.M., 1923. The minimum induced drag of aerofoils.

Ramesh, R. and Ramesh, C., 2016. Design, analysis and fabrication of canard wing
configuration. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Engineering
Technology, 2(09).

Rhie, C.M. and Chow, W.L., 1983. Numerical study of the turbulent flow past an airfoil
with trailing edge separation. AIAA journal, 21(11), pp.1525-1532.

Schär, C., 1993. A generalization of Bernoulli's theorem. Journal of the atmospheric

sciences, 50(10), pp.1437-1443.

Sprigings, E.J. and Koehler, J.A., 1990. The choice between Bernoulli’s or Newton’s
model in predicting dynamic lift. International Journal of sport biomechanics, 6(3),
pp.235-245.

Thomas, P.D. and Lombard, C.K., 1979. Geometric conservation law and its application
to flow computations on moving grids. AIAA J, 17(10), pp.1030-1037.

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