ProAdvice2:THEWINGPLANFORM

Introduction Many areas of the aircraft design process rely on accurate lift estimation. This includes performance analysis, determination of useful load, and structural analysis, to name a few. As an example, any competitive aircraft design requires the useful load to be maximized. This implies the empty weight (which is largely structure and engines)mustbeminimized.Theweightoftheairframecanonlybereducedifthedistributionofpressureloads onthevehiclecanbeaccuratelyestimatedofwhichthemostprominentoneistheLift. Thetotalforce(orresultantforce)generatedbyawingcanbefoundtodependonseveralparameters;thewings geometry,densityofair,airspeed,andtheanglethechordlineofthewingsairfoilsmaketotheflowofair,the AngleofAttack (AOA). The wing is a 3D object, but is usually treated as a set of two 2D geometric features; planform(xyplane)andairfoil(xzplane). In this section we will look at one of the two most important design characteristics of lifting surfaces; the wing planform.Wewilllookatanumberofwingplanformsandevaluatethetrueliftingcapabilityforsomeofthose usingSURFACES.Thiswillgivethedesigneranimportantinsightintothetruecostofvariousplanformsandwhy thedesignerresortstoaparticularsection. Basic Planform Shapes for Lifting Surfaces

Ellipticalplanform Sweptbackplanform

Rectangularplanform

Taperedsweptbackplanform

Straighttaperedplanform

Inversetaperedsweptbackplanform

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THEWINGPLANFORM

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Semitaperedplanform Taperedforwardsweptplanform

Schuemanplanform

Variablesweepplanform

Deltaplanform

Crescentplanform

Doubledeltaplanform

Ogivalplanform

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THEWINGPLANFORM

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Blendedwingbodyplanform

Joinedwingplanform

Diskshapeplanform Properties of the Basic Planform Shapes

Rhomboidplanform

It is of interest to compare the various planform shapes to a rectangular one at a specific condition. All the planform shapes feature the same reference area (10 ft), the same airfoil (NACA 4416) at a constant Angleof Attack of 10 and airspeed of 100 KCAS. Wing dihedral and washout is 0 for all examples. Parameters such as AspectRatio(AR)andTaperRatio(TR)arevariedtoensurealltheexampleshaveanequalarea,whilefeaturing valuesthatarerepresentativeofactualairplanes.Thisgivesthedesigneranexcellentinsightintotheimpactthe planformhasonliftingcapabilities.Forinstance,notetheliftcoefficientstheseplanformshapesachieveat10. Examplesofaircraftthatusetheplanformiscitedaswell. This comparison is implemented via the VortexLattice Method (VLM) SURFACES (available from www.flightlevelengineering.com).Allthemodelshave720panels. ProAdvice2 THEWINGPLANFORM Copyright2010GreatOwlPublishing NOTFORRESALE

RectangularPlanform (baseline)

Exampleofuse:

PiperPA38Tomahawk,PiperPA28Cherokee,PiperJ3Cub

StraightTapered andSemiStraight Planform Shapes

Exampleofuse(straighttaper): CirrusSR20,CirrusSR22,Cessna177Cardinal. Exampleofuse(semitaper): Cessna150/152/172.PiperPA28Archer

SweptBack Planform

Exampleofuse(TR>1): Exampleofuse(TR=1): Exampleofuse(TR<1): RepublicXF91Thunderceptor BoeingB2Spirit BAeHawkT1,DassaultFalcon10,F100SuperSabre,andmany,manyothers.

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THEWINGPLANFORM

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SweptForward Planform

Exampleofuse:

GrummanX29

SweptForward Planform

Exampleofuse:

DornierDo228,StemmeS10

EllipticalandDisk Planform Shapes

Exampleofuse(elliptical): Exampleofuse(disk):

SupermarineSpitfire AVROCanadaVZ9A(nicknamedtheAVROcar)

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Crescent Planform

Exampleofuse:

HandleyPageVulcan

DeltaandDoubleDelta Planform Shapes

Exampleofuse(delta): Exampleofuse(doubledelta): DassaultMirageIII SAABJ35Draken,GeneralDynamicsF16CrankedArrow

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THEWINGPLANFORM

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WHATISProAdvice? ProAdvicesareshortandsimplifiedexcerptsfromProfessorGudmundssonsdesignhandbookAircraftPreliminary DesignHandbookandareintendedtoprovidetheaircraftdesignerwithclearandconciseanalysismethodsforthe aircraft designer. This handbook is currently in development. Snorri Gudmundsson is an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering at EmbryRiddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, where he teaches AircraftPreliminaryDesigntoseniorengineeringstudents.

ProAdvice2

THEWINGPLANFORM

Copyright2010GreatOwlPublishing NOTFORRESALE