IFM Zhang Hua

Aerodynamics
Prof. Hua ZHANG
School of Aeronautic Science and Engineering

Office: New main building C-1017

Tel: 13011033580(M)
E-mail: Ltszhh@buaa.edu.cn
Wechat: Ltszhh

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Aerodynamics IFM Zhang Hua

Teaching methods
• English courseware
• Preparations for listed questions in advance of next week’s class
• Presentations and discussions in class
• Final report
Course assessment
• Presentations and discussions in class 40%
• Final report 60%

Reference books
1. John D. Anderson, Jr., Fundamentals of Aerodynamics. Third
Edition, International Edition. Mechanical Engineering Series, New
York: McGaw-Hill, 2001
2. John J. Bertin, Michael L. Smith. Aerodynamics for Engineers.
Second Edition. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: PRINTICE HALL,
1989
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Aerodynamics Part I:

Fundamentals of Aerodynamics (42 h)

√ 1 Brief Introduction of Aerodynamics
apter

√ 2 Fluid Characteristics and Fluid Statics

apter

√ 3 Fluid field and governing equations

apter

√ Chapter 4 Incompressible Ideal Non-rotational Potential

Flow
√ Chapter 5 The Viscous Flow and Boundary Layer Flow

√ Chapter 6 One dimensional steady compressible flow

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 Aerodynamics Part II
IFM Zhang Hua

Aircraft Aerodynamics (46 h)

√ Chapter 7 Airfoil low speed aerodynamic characteristics
√ Chapter 8   Wing low speed aerodynamic characteristics
√ Chapter 9 Airfoil and wing subsonic aerodynamic
characteristics

√ Chapter 10 Airfoil and wing supersonic and transonic

aerodynamic characteristics
Chapter 11* Slender body of revolution aerodynamic
characteristics (* extended content)
Chapter 12* Wing-body-tail combination body aerodynamic
characteristics (* extended content)
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apter 1. Brief Introduction of Aerodynamics

1.1 What is Aerodynamics?

1.2 Several basic questions of fluid mechanics

1.3 Brief Introduction of Aerodynamics evolution

1.4 The research method and the branch of

Aerodynamics

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rief Introduction of Aerodynamics

1.1 What is Aerodynamics?

• Aerodynamics is a branch of Fluid Mechanics and a

branch of Physics, which is developed from the foundation
of the Newton Theory of Mechanics.
• Aerodynamics studies the air motion as it flows around an
object or an aircraft, and the forces between the air and the
object.
• Aerodynamics studies not in a microcosmic but a
macroscopic point of view.
• Aerodynamics is one of the important basic theories for
airplane designing. 6/42
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1.2 Several basic questions of fluid mechanics

Human’s ancestor have been lived in the ocean for about
4 billion years.

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1.2 Several basic questions of fluid mechanics

Human have been lived in the air for about 7 million years.

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1.2 Several basic questions of fluid mechanics

Although we lived in a world around by fluid, we still don’t
have enough or proper knowledge to many basic flow
phenomena, because of the complexity of fluid flow.
For example:
• Whether a smooth or a rough golf can fly farther? why?

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1.2 Several basic questions of fluid mechanics

Why a turning ball would go along a curved path line?

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1.2 Several basic questions of fluid mechanics

• Whether a vehicle’s drag mainly lies on fore-shape or

rear-shape of the vehicle? Why and How?

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1.2 Several basic questions of fluid mechanics

• Whether the lift of an aircraft or a bird mainly lies on

the wing’s lower surface or upper surface ?

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1.2 Several basic questions of fluid mechanics

• Why bicycle athletes put on a round-headed and taper-

tailed shape helmet?
• Does it work if one put on an inversed helmet?
• Does it work if one put on a helmet which is both taper-
headed and taper-tailed?

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1.2 Several basic questions of fluid mechanics

• Why wild goose fly along a special queue?

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1.2 Several basic questions of fluid mechanics

• If microorganisms swim in mercury and in water, in

which case the drag would be larger ？

microorganisms move in mercury microorganisms move in water

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1.2 Several basic questions of fluid mechanics

• Why it is not ground drag but air drag to be ultimate
limitation of vehicle’s velocity ？
• Why vehicle’s power consumption increase with the
third power of velocity (P~V3) ?

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1.2 Several basic questions of fluid mechanics

• Why bigger creature in ocean swim easily and moves in
an elegance and laborsaving way?

• Why tiny creature swim difficultly and can only moves in

an awkward and laborious way.

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1.2 Several basic questions of fluid mechanics

• Why jet flow from the supersonic nozzles are knot-shaped ？

There are so many flow phenomena which cannot be explained

only by our intuition.
We may find answers or clues to above questions in this
Aerodynamics Part I.
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1.2 Several basic questions of aircraft aerodynamics

For Aircraft aerodynamics there are also many basic questions.
• Why different airplane adapt different airfoil?
• What are the factors which influence the lift of low speed and
high speed airplane respectively?

 round nose and wedged tail

 wedged nose and wedged tail

round nose and blunt tail 19/42

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1.2 Several basic questions of aircraft aerodynamics

• Why different airplane adapt different wing planform?
• Are there optimal planform for low speed airplane?
• Why some low speed airplane adapt a long wing?
• Will and how swept-angle cause drag decrease but lift
increase in high speed flight?
Straight wing
Swept wing Global Hawk, US, 1998
Rectangular wing

Tapered wing

Delta wing
Elliptic wing

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1.2 Several basic questions of aircraft aerodynamics

• How and why subsonic aircraft’s aerodynamic performance
changes with increasing of Mach number?
• How and why supersonic aircraft’s aerodynamic
performance changes with increasing of Mach number?
• How and why transonic flight is much difficult as Mach
number increasing in transonic range?
We may find answers and clues to above questions in Part II

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1.3 Brief Introduction of Aerodynamics evolution

• Archimedes was the great

ancient Greece mathematician
and dynamicist who discovered
the Buoyancy Law in about 300
B.C.
• But after the publication of
Buoyancy Law , there was hardly
any import advancement of
Fluid Mechanics in more than a
Archimedes, thousand years.
287-212 B.C. Greece
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1.3 Brief Introduction of Aerodynamics evolution

In 18 century, with the foundation of the Newton’s calculus
and the Theory of Mechanics, and owing to the engineering
application requirement, the Fluid Mechanics and the
Aerodynamics had then entered the age of development.

Isaac Newton,1642-1727 , England 23/42

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1.3 Brief Introduction of Aerodynamics evolution

A number of famous mathematicians set up the Theory of

Ideal Fluid Mechanics which deal with the motion of non-
viscous fluid or ideal fluid flow.

L. Euler, 1707- D. Bernoulli 1700-

1783, Switzerland 1782 ， Switzerland 24/42
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1.3 Brief Introduction of Aerodynamics evolution

J. D’alembert ， 1717 J-.Lagrange ， 173 P-S. Laplace ， 1749

－ 1783 ， France 6 － 1813 ， Italy － 1827 ， France

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1.3 Brief Introduction of Aerodynamics evolution

In 19 century the basic theory of fluid mechanics got a great
development. French engineer L. Navier and Irish
mathematician G. Stokes respectively set up the Viscous Fluid
Motion Equation.

1785 － 1836 ， L. Navier 1819 － 1903 ， G. Stokes

France Ireland 26/42
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1.3 Brief Introduction of Aerodynamics evolution

In the later 19 century, experimental fluid mechanics also
achieved quiet great progress, including:

O. Reynolds ， 1842 － J. Rayleigh ， 1842 －

1912 ， Ireland ， who discovered two 1919 ， England,
kind of flow state: laminar and Who set up the Theory of Dimensional
turbulent flow Analysis 27/42
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1.3 Brief Introduction of Aerodynamics evolution

• Based on the result of the ideal fluid mechanics,
D’Alembert once presented a famous paradox: there
would be no resistance in an ideal fluid flow.
• This paradox delayed more or less the development of the fl
uid mechanics, since people believed that the ideal fluid mec
hanics might be useless.

The solution of ideal fluid flow The flow visualization of the viscous fluid
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over the cylinder flow over the cylinder
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1.3 Brief Introduction of Aerodynamics evolution

It was Germen scientist L. Prandtl who

established the Theory of Boundary
Layer ， which successfully solved issues
of applicability of Ideal Fluid Mechanics
and Viscous Fluid Mechanics and their
L.Prandtl ， 1875 －
relationship. 1953 ， Germany

It was until the beginning of the 20 century that modern

Fluid Mechanics and Aerodynamics had been set up with the
Theory of Boundary Layer as the symbol.
So that Prof. Prandtl has been named the founder of the
modern Fluid Mechanics and Aerodynamics. 29/42
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1.3 Brief Introduction of Aerodynamics evolution

The famous fingers in the same time of L. Prandtl
including V.Karman, G.Taylor and Joukowski and so on.

V.Karman ， 1881 － G.Taylor ， 1886 － Joukowski ， 1847 －

1963 ， America 1975 ， Britain 1921 ， Russia

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1.3 Brief Introduction of Aerodynamics evolution

With the progress of aerodynamics, the aviation engineering
have gained a great achievement in nearly 100 years .

F-15

协和 A380
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1.3 Brief Introduction of Aerodynamics evolution

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1.3 Brief Introduction of Aerodynamics evolution

Aerodynamics is one of the important and fundamental theory

for airplane design and other engineering applications. 33/42
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1.4 The research method and the branch of Aerodynamics

At present the aerodynamics are mainly divided into three

branches with closed relationship from each other.

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1.4 The research method and the branch of Aerodynamics

Relativity principle
• when aircraft moves at a velocity in a stationary air, the r
elative motion and the acting force is the same as the case
that air flow at the same velocity but in opposite direction
pass a stationary aircraft.

Vair=V∞
Vobjectr=V∞
Vobject=0

Vair=0

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1.4 The research method and the branch of Aerodynamics

The relativity principle provide convenience to aerodynamics

research. We can fix the aircraft model in the wind tunnel to t
est the aerodynamic characteristics.

Force measurement in wind tunnel Flow visualization in wind tunnel

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1.4 The research method and the branch of Aerodynamics
Wind and water tunnel experiments also play important roles in
research of automobile, ship, building aerodynamics, and so on.

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1.4 The research method and the branch of Aerodynamics
Water tunnel experiment shows the special advantages in
flow visualization

The largest water tunnel in Asia

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Low turbulence water tunnel in Peking Univ. EXIT
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1.4 The research method and the branch of Aerodynamics
Many modern measurement tech. have been well developed:
hotwire, LDV, PIV, PTV, high speed photograph, holograph,
and so on.

Shock wave
by color interferometer

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1.4 The research method and the branch of Aerodynamics

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1.4 The research method and the branch of Aerodynamics
As the rapid development of computer and the numerical
method, CFD has become the powerful tool in research of
many aviation, spaceflight, and other engineering
applications.

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1.4 The research method and the branch of Aerodynamics
The Aerodynamics research is relatively difficult because:
• Fluid can not keep the shape and the volume. Some fluid
like air is invisible.
• The motion and distortion of fluid are much complex.
• The strain-stress relationship (or constitutive equation) of
fluid are much complex than that of solid.
• The aerodynamics control equations are usually multi-
variable, non-linear, non-steady partial differential
equations, and some important questions like turbulence
models has not been settled, so that it is difficult to get the
solution.
In spite of that, many great progress have been achieved. 42/42
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