This document discusses various aerodynamic characteristics of airfoils and wings. It describes how aerodynamic forces are generated by pressure and shear stress distributions on surfaces. It also defines key terms like lift, drag, angle of attack, center of pressure, aerodynamic center. Methods to increase lift or reduce drag like high-lift devices, supercritical airfoils, and winglets are explained. Different types of airfoils and their characteristics are also summarized.

1. UNIT - VII
Aerodynamic Characteristics of
Airfoils and wings

2. Aerodynamic forces and Moments
coefficients

3. Aerodynamic forces
 Aerodynamic forces exerted by airflow comes from only two sources
 Pressure, p, distribution on surface
 Acts normal to surface
 Shear stress, tw, (friction) on surface
 Acts tangentially to surface
 Pressure and shear are in units of force per unit area (N/m2)
 Net unbalance creates an aerodynamic force
 “No matter how complex the flow field, and no matter how complex the
shape of the body, the only way nature has of communicating an
aerodynamic force to a solid object or surface is through the pressure and
shear stress distributions that exist on the surface.”
 “The pressure and shear stress distributions are the two hands of
nature that reach out and grab the body, exerting a force on the body – the
aerodynamic force”

4.  Aerodynamic forces and moments are due to
 Pressure distribution
 Shear stress distribution
 Nomenclature
 R  resultant force
 L  lift
 D  drag
 N  normal force
 A  Axial force

5.  Relative Wind: Direction of V∞
 We used subscript ∞ to indicate far upstream conditions
 Angle of Attack, a: Angle between relative wind (V∞) and chord line
 Total aerodynamic force, R, can be resolved into two force
components
 Lift, L: Component of aerodynamic force perpendicular to relative wind
 Drag, D: Component of aerodynamic force parallel to relative wind
 Center of Pressure: It is that point on an airfoil (or body) about which
the aerodynamic moment is zero
 Aerodynamic Center: It is that point on an airfoil (or body) about
which the aerodynamically generated moment is independent of
angle of attack

6. Moments About Leading Edge , quarter Chord point and about
center of pressure

7.  Center of Pressure: It is that point on an airfoil (or body)
about which the aerodynamic moment is zero
 Thin Airfoil Theory:
 Symmetric Airfoil:
 Cambered Airfoil:
 Aerodynamic Center: It is that point on an airfoil (or
body) about which the aerodynamically generated
moment is independent of angle of attack
 Thin Airfoil Theory:
 Symmetric Airfoil:
 Cambered Airfoil:
 









2
1
1
4
4
A
A
c
c
x
c
x
l
cp
cp

4
4
.
.
.
.
c
x
c
x
C
A
C
A



8. Drag Polar

9. Drag Polar : both the Cl and Cd are the
functions of angle of attack thus the drag
coefficient is that it depends on lift coefficient
and the typical variations on Cl and Cd is
called as Drag polar
The Drag polar is very important in
performance analysis of aircrafts. For an
aircraft with symmetrical airfoil sections the
drag polar is given as CD = CDO+KCL2

10. Lift Curve Slope

11. Lift Curve Slope

12. Lift Curve for a Normal Wing and NACA 63415 Wing

13. Lift curve for High aspect ratio wing and Delta wing Aircraft

15. Lift curve for a straight wing and Swept wing
Aircraft

16. Maximum Lift Coefficient

17. Lift coefficient changes with addition of control surfaces

18. Lift coefficient changes with increase in aspect ratio and
also Angle of attack can be decreased

19. Lift coefficient increasing with maximum thickness

20. Variation of Cl, CD, L/D with AOA

21.  Increase in lift
coefficient with
different control
surfaces or high
lift devices

22. Minimum drag coefficient

23. To obtain minimum drag coefficient
1) we have to streamline the body

24. 2) Increasing the sweep angle

25. Drag coefficient data obtained for a rectangular wing and swept back
wing on wing tunnel and lifting line numerical methods

26. Min drag coefficient
for wing section and
complete airplane

27. It gives the maximum possible glide angle

28. Max values of L/D ratios

30. Effect of Airfoil and wing geometry

31. Airfoil Nomenclature

34. Reynolds No, Boundary Layer Transition and surface
roughness

35. NACA Conventional Airfoils

36. Laminar Flow Airfoils
 An airfoil designed for minimum drag
and uninterrupted flow of the boundary
layer is called a laminar airfoil.

37. Supercritical Airfoils:
 Designed to delay and reduce transonic drag
rise, due to both strong normal shock and
shock-induced boundary layer separation

38. Whitchomb supercritical airfoils

39. Drag Reduction And lift Augmentation
Methods
 Many theories have been developed on how a wing generates lift. The most common
one is the “Longer Path Theory”.
 This theory describes how the shape of the aerofoil produces a pressure difference
which generates lift. As the aerofoil is designed in such a way that its upper surface is
longer than the bottom, and because the molecules that hit the leading edge must
meet again at the trailing edge, the ones that travel on the upper surface do so with
greater velocity than the lower

40.  Flap system
 Leading edge devices
 Multi element airfoils
 Circulation control
 Laminar flow control
 winglets

41. Flap systems
 Flap is an element attached to the aileron
of the wing section
 It is always possible to reduce stall speed
by increasing wing area

42. Different types of flap system

43.  Flaps change the airfoil pressure
distribution, increasing the camber of the
airfoil and allowing more of the lift to be
carried over the rear portion of the section

45. Leading Edge
Devices

46.  Leading Edge Devices
 Leading edge devices such as nose flaps,
Kruger flaps, and slats reduce the pressure peak
near the nose by changing the nose camber.
Slots and slats permit a new boundary layer to
start on the main wing portion, eliminating the
detrimental effect of the initial adverse gradient.

47. A Wing with slats and Flaps

48. Multi Element Airfoils

50. Circulation Control
 Circulation Control Wing technology is one of
the most important potential applications of the
Coanda Effect.
The objective is to replace the lift devices on the
leading and trailing edges of a wing by use of
Coanda Surfaces and slot blowing instead.

52. Laminar Flow Control

54. Winglets

57. Winglets