Drag

Veronica, Patrick, Jimmy, Garrett

Induced Drag
Wingtip effect Produced along with the generation of lift Produces drag due to finite amount of wings in an aircraft Differences in pressure affects the airflow Deflected lift adds to total drag as the induced drag

Simplistic View

Wingtip Vortices Revisited

http://www.capelaction.com/Source/38496_GOOBJ.jpg

Lift generated from differences in pressure above the airfoil and below Air flow moves from high pressure to low pressure with freedom along tips Produces circular motion affects the air, clockwise of the left and counter-clockwise on the right http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Theories_of_Flight/Vortex/TH15G1.jpg

Airflow varies
Less effect due to induced flow More effect due to induced flow

Induced Drag

Induced Drag
Vortices reduce the wings ability to generate lift As a result of these vortices, the local angle of attack is increased.

Efficiency Factor
Elliptical distribution has the lowest induced drag e=1 Other wing shapes: e<1 Therefore, more induced drag

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1fXv2yds-Xs/TMGvkAJMHtI/AAAAAAAABW8/8z5mzN2rgl0/s1600/spitfire.jpg

Minimizing Induced Drag

Twisted Wings: Less angle of attack at the tips and higher angle of attack on the inner wing
Curved Trailing Edges: Wright Brothers used curved trailing edgesattempted to minimize induced drag of rectangular wings

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01691/boeing767_1691451c.jpg

Winglets
20% less induced drag

Minimizing the wingtip to a fraction of total wing area Weaken the vortices

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/flightblogger/assets_c/2008/12/48289-224-thumb-560x373.jpg

Minimizing Induced Drag

Long and thin wingspan leads to lowered induced drag However, this design does not minimize parasitic or form drag well

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Viscosity
Air has relatively low viscosity, however, it still does have viscosity that creates internal friction Air rubs against the surface of an airplane, generating the force that opposes movement

Friction Drag
- Friction one type of drag - Friction is the force that resists the motion when two things rub together (i.e. air and airplane)

Boundary Layer
A very thin layer of air flowing around the surface of an object Friction drag occurs here

Boundary Layer

- Ludwig Prandtl introduced the concept in the early 1900s - Revolutionized fluid dynamics

Reduce drag

Laminar Design
Less friction drag More stability Better fuel economy Better looking (personal reference)

WAVE DRAG
Veronica Rico

What is Wave Drag?

Force retarding an airplane, especially in supersonic and transonic flight, as a consequence of the formation of shock waves a sudden and very powerful form of drag that appears on aircraft flying at highsubsonic speeds

So powerful that for some time, it was thought that engines would not be able to provide enough power to easily overcome the effect, which led to the concept of :

 New techniques developed during WWII that reduced magnitude of problem

Reduction of Wave Drag

Development of perfect shapes to reduce wave drag as much as possible: Sears-Haack body Swept Wing Whitcomb Area Rule

Sears-Haack Body Cross-sectional area distribution along the body determines wave drag

Swept Wing

Figure shows data confirming that a swept wing reduces the wave drag
Credits - NASA

Other High Speed Wing Designs

X-29: Forward Swept Wing

NASA AD-1: Oblique Wing

Form Drag
Drag due to flow separation As velocity increases, boundary layer separation moves toward the leading edge of the object This results in a larger pressure at the leading edge than the trailing edge causing a large drag force on the body

Flow over Various Cross-Sectional Areas

Examples of Form Drag

More Examples

Why Golf Balls have Dimples

Methods of Reducing Drag

Important to reduce drag because it allows for faster, more efficient travel

CAD Model of ORCA Flyer

Airfoil Selection

Fuselage Design

ORCA Flyer Fuselage Design

Winglets

Landing Gear Design