Aerodynamic
Analysis
of
the
A10


Matt
Rasnick,
Adam
Masishin,

Josh
Shiben

 Description
of
the
A‐10

• 


The
A‐10
was
built
to
fill
the
need
for
a

close
air
support,
ground
attack
vehicle


• 

It
is
heavily
armed,
capable
of
carrying

multiple
laser
guided
munitions,
along
with

its
primary
weapon
:
a
built
in
30mm

GAU‐8/A
Avenger
Gatling
Gun

Gun
Test
Video

Aftermath


• 


The
A‐10
is
designed
to
survive,
and

remain
flying
even
when
suffering
massive

damage


• 


Low
wing
loading
of
200
kg/m2
(40
lbs/ft2)

www.flightglobal.com

 Key
Flight
Conditions

•  Cruise
Speed

–  1525
m

–  173.1
m/s

–  M=.521

•  Combat
Speed

–  1525
m

–  196
m/s

–  M=.590


www.wikipedia.org/wiki/A‐10

 Tornado
Model
Geometry

Nose
Considered
(0,0,0)

•  CG
(wings
only)
=
(10.6,
0,
0.26)

•  Wing

 •  Tail

–  Apex
=
(7,
0,
0)
 –  Apex
=
(14.2,
0,
0)

–  Partition
1
 –  Partition
1
(Horizontal)

•  Root
Chord
=
3.04
m
 •  Root
Chord
=
2
m

•  Half
‐span
=
2.8
m
 •  Half
‐span
=
2.7
m

•  Sweep
=
0
 •  Sweep
=
0

•  Dihedral
=
0o
 •  Dihedral
=
0

•  Taper
=
1
 •  Taper
=
1

•  Root
Airfoil
–
6716
 •  Root
Airfoil
–
0012

•  Tip
Airfoil
–
6716
 •  Tip
Airfoil
–
0012

•  ‐1o
Incidence
 •  No
Twist

–  Partition
2
 –  Partition
2
(Vertical)

•  Root
Chord
=
3
m
 •  Root
Chord
=
2.1
m

•  Half‐span
=
6
m
 •  Half‐span
=
2.2
m

•  Sweep
=
0
 •  Sweep
=
0

•  Dihedral
=
7o
 •  Dihedral
=
90o

•  Taper
=
0.65
 •  Taper
=
1

•  Root
Airfoil
–
6716
 •  Root
Airfoil
–
0012

•  Tip
Airfoil
–
6713
 •  Tip
Airfoil
–
0012

•  ‐1o
Incidence
 •  No
Twist


Jane’s
1983/84,
p
375‐6

Jane’s
1986/87,
p
402

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FAIRCHILD_REPUBLIC_A‐10A_THUNDERBOLT_II.png

Tornado
Geometry/Panel
Output

 Neutral
Point

•  @
8.45
m
from
nose

•  Results
in
static
margin

of
13.1%

•  Within
0.1%
for
all
flight

conditions

Spanloading
of
Wing,
Local
Cl
Plots

For
Combat
Strafing/Bombing
Runs

Alpha
Sweep
for
Combat
Run

‐90:5:90


awwar.com

 Damage
Analysis

•  The
A‐10
is
designed
to

absorb
massive

amounts
of
ground
fire

and
remain
flying


http://www.teamwarthog.org/html/history.html

www.kowabunga.org

 Damage
Example


•  Assume
1
wing
shot
off

•  CG
based
on
wings,
but

also
assumed
that
a

fuselage
was
present
so

that
the
CG
wasn’t
as

skewed

 Spanload
with
Damage


Spanload
shifted
outboard
from
before,
and
now
the
tail
must
make
up
a
lot
of
the
lost
lift

Cl
with
Damage

•  Increased
Cl

on
wing
to

make
up
for
lost
lift,
but

a
max
Cl
of
1.2
still
is

within
reason


www.wikipedia.org/wiki/A‐10

LamDes
Modeling

LamarDesign Program - A-10 Thunderbolt -
2.00 -8.45 3.04 43.64 0.0 0.0
0.0
5. 0. 0. -0.00 .4 .2
-7.00 0.00 -0.0 1.
-7.00 -02.8 -7.0 1.
-7.70 -08.8 -7.0 1.
-9.70 -08.80 -7.0 1.
-10.04 -02.80 -0.0 1.
-10.04 -00.00
3. 0. 0. .20 .4 .2
-14.20 -00.0 0. 1.
-14.20 -02.7 00. 1.
-16.20 -2.70 00. 1.
-16.20 -0.00
1.0 10.0 20. 0.3 0.58 40.0 0.0006
0.65 0.65 0.0 -0.00 1.0
0.030 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Static
Margin

 Wing
Twist

Main
Wing
Twist
 Aft
Twist
Wing

9
 4.5


8
 4


7
 3.5


6
 3


Twist
(deg)

5
 2.5

Twist
(deg)


4
 2


3
 1.5


2
 1


1
 0.5


0
 0

0
 0.2
 0.4
 0.6
 0.8
 1
 1.2
 0
 0.05
 0.1
 0.15
 0.2
 0.25
 0.3

‐1

y/(b/2)
 y/(b/2)

 Spanloading

Spanloading,
Section
Lift
and
 Spanload,
Section
Lift
and
Drag

Drag
 Aft
Wing

Main
Wing
 0.5


0.7
 0.45

CL*C/CAVE


CL
 0.4

0.6

CD*10
 0.35
 CL*C/CAVE

0.5

0.3
 CL

0.4
 0.25
 CD*10


0.3
 0.2


0.15

0.2

0.1

0.1

0.05


0
 0

0
 0.2
 0.4
 0.6
 0.8
 1
 1.2
 0
 0.2
 0.4
 0.6
 0.8
 1
 1.2

Y/(b/2)
 Y/(b/2)

 A‐10
Takeoff


•  A‐10
is
built
to
takeoff
on

short
and
rugged
runways

•  It
can
take
off
fully
loaded

(22,950
kg)
in
1,220
m

•  Only
high
lift
systems
are

2
segment,
3
position

Fowler
Flaps
and
a
very

small
inboard
leading

edge
slat


http://www.geocities.com/tacticalstudiesgroup/a10roadtakeoff.jpg

 A‐10
Lidrag

•  e=.858

•  CL=1.049


1.4


1.2


1


0.8

CCLCA


0.6


0.4


0.2


0

0
 0.2
 0.4
 0.6
 0.8
 1

Spanwise
Location

 A‐10
Friction

Component

 Wetted
Area
(m2)
 CF
 ΔCD

Fuselage
 61.80
 0.00212
 0.00288

Canopy
 6.97
 0.00256
 0.00041

Twin
Engines
 25.28
 0.00270
 0.00147

Wing
 94.02
 0.00263
 0.00726

Horizontal
 16.62
 0.00293
 0.00139

Twin
Vertical
Tail
 8.72
 0.00298
 0.00074

Total
 213.41
 0.01147
 0.01415


All
data
was
found
at
M=.56,
at
the
standard
cruise
alt
(1525
m)


www.wikipedia.org/wiki/A‐10

Questions?