CONTENTS

• LIFT
• AIRFLOW AROUND AN AEROFOIL
• LAMINAR AND TURBULENT AIRFLOW
• PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION AROUND AN
AEROFOIL WITH AOA
• CENTER OF PRESSURE
• CP MOVEMENT WITH AOA
• TYPES OF AEROFOIL AND AOA
• SYMMETRICAL / ASYMMETRICAL AEROFOIL
 CONTENTS

FACTORS AFFECTING LIFT

•LIFT FORMULA
•ANGLE OF ATTACK
•DENSITY
•FREE STREAM VELOCITY
•WING AREA
•CO-EFFICIENT OF LIFT
 INTRODUCTION
LIFT:
•LIFT IS DEFINED AS TO MOVE FROM A LOWER
TO A HIGHER PLACE OR POSITION.

•SPECIFICALLY IN AVIATION IT REFERS TO AN

AERODYNAMIC FORCE THAT DIRECTLY
OPPOSES THE WEIGHT OF THE AIRPLANE
AND HOLDS THE AIRPLANE IN THE AIR.
HOW LIFT IS GENERATED?

• AN AEROFOILS GENERATES LIFT BY

EXERTING A DOWNWARD FORCE ON
THE AIR AS IT FLOW.
• ACCORDING TO NEWTONS THIRD LAW
THE AIR MUST EXERTS AN EQUAL AND
OPPOSITE(UPWARD) FORCE ON THE
AERFOIL WHICH IS LIFT.
 LIFT

If lift is greater than weight, the plane climbs, if less,

descends.
AIRFLOW AROUND AN AEROFOIL

AEROFOIL:

A BODY SHAPE TO PRODUCE AN

AERODYNAMIC REACTION (LIFT)
PERPENDICULAR TO ITS DIRECTION OF
MOTION,FOR A SMALL RESISTANCE (DRAG)
FORCE IN THAT PLANE.
AIRFLOW AROUND AN AEROFOIL

• THE AIR FLOW OVER

THE WING INCREASES
ITS SPEED CAUSES
REDUCTION IN
PRESSURE
GENERATING A FORCE
(LIFT).
• THE AIRFLOW BELOW
THE WING MOVES
SLOWLY GENERATING
GREATER PRESSURE
AND NEGATIVE LIFT.
LAMINAR AND TURBULENT FLOW

LAMINAR FLOW:
•LAMINAR FLOW IS ALSO KNOWN AS
STREAMLINE FLOW
•PARTICLES OR FLUIDS ARE CONSIDERED TO
TRAVEL IN A SMOOTH CONTINUOUS PATH
CALLED STREAMLINES.
•THEY CAN BE CURVED OR STRAIGHT
DEPENDING UPON THE PATH WAY THEY ARE
MOVING.
 TURBULENT FLOW
• IT IS CHARACTERIZED BY THE
IRREGULAR MOVEMENT OF
PARTICLES OR FLUIDS.
• IF THE MOVEMENT OF AIR IS
DISTURBED OR IRREGULAR SO THAT
IS THE OF CAUSE TURBULENT FLOW.
LAMINAR VS TURBULENT FLOW
 PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION AROUND AN
AEROFOIL WITH AOA

ANGLE OF ATTACK:
THE ANGLE
BETWEEN THE
LINE OF THE
CHORD OF AN
AEROFOIL AND
THE RELATIVE
WIND/AIRFLOW.
PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION AROUND AN
AEROFOIL

• AS AIRFLOWS AROUND THE

AEROFOILS THE VELOCITY OF AIR
VARIES WITH THE SURFACE OF
AEROFOIL.
• THE VARIATION OF VELOCITY
PRODUCES VARIATION OF PRESSURE
ON THE SURFACE OF THE AEROFOILS
CENTER OF PRESSURE

• CENTER OF
PRESSURE IS THE
AVERAGE LOCATION
OF THE PRESSURE.
• IN THE FORMULA CP
REPRESENTS CENTER
OF PRESSURE WHILE
X REPRESENT
DISTANCE
CENTER OF PRESSURE MOVEMENT WITH
AOA

• AS THE AEROFOIL ANGLE

OF ATTACK CHANGES,THE
PRESSURE FIELD
CHANGES.
• IF THE ANGLE OF ATTACK IS
DECREASED THE CENTER
OF PRESSURE MOVES
REARWARD.
• IF THE ANGLE OF ATTACK IS
INCREASED THE CENTER
OF PRESSURE MOVES
FORWARD.
 TYPES OF AEROFOIL AND
AOA
AEROFOILS:
AEROFOIL IS DEFINED AS THE CROSS-
SECTIONAL SHAPE THAT IS DESIGNED WITH
CURVED SURFACE GIVING IT THE MOST
FAVORABLE RATIO BETWEEN LIFT AND DRAG
IN FLIGHT.
 TYPES OF AEROFOILS
SYMMETRICAL NON SYMMETRICAL
AEROFOILS AEROFOILS
• THE SYMMETRICAL AEROFOILS • THE NON SYMMETRICAL
IS DISTINGUISHED BY HAVING AEROFOILS HAS DIFFERENT
IDENTICAL UPPER AND LOWER UPPER AND LOWER SURFACES.
SURFACES.
• THE MEAN CAMBER LINE AND
• THE MEAN CAMBER LINE AND CHORD LINE ARE DIFFERENT.
CHORD LINE ARE THE SAME.
• IT PRODUCES USEFUL LIFT AT
• IT PRODUCES NO LIFT AT ZERO ZERO AOA.
AOA.
• MOST LIGHT HELICOPTERS
• MOST AIRCRAFTS ARE HAVING
INCORPORATE SYMMETRICAL
NON SYMMETRICAL AEROFOILS
AEROFOILS IN THE MAIN ROTOR
BLADES.
TYPES OF AEROFOILS
FACTORS AFFECTING LIFT

FACTORS AFFECTING LIFT ARE:

•OBJECT
•MOTION
•AIR
FACTORS AFFECTING LIFT

OBJECT:
•AIRCRAFT WING GEOMETRY HAS A LARGE
AFFECT ON THE AMOUNT OF LIFT
GENERATED.
•THE AERFOIL SHAPE AND WING SIZE WILL
BOTH AFFECT THE AMOUNT OF LIFT.
•THE RATIO OF WING SPAN TO THE WING
AREA ALSO AFFECTS THE AMOUNT OF LIFT
GENERATED BY A WING(ASPECT RATIO).
FACTORS AFFECTING LIFT

MOTION:
•TO GENERATE LIFT THE OBJECT MUST MOVE
THROUGH AIR.
•THE LIFT THAN DEPENDS ON THE VELOCITY
OF THE AIR.
•IT ALSO DEPENDS ON HOW THE OBJECT IS
INCLINED TO THE FLOW.
FACTORS AFFECTING LIFT

AIR:
•LIFT DEPENDS ON THE MASS OF THE FLOW
(AIR).

LIFT ALSO DEPENDS ON TWO OTHER

PROPERTIES OF AIR.
VISCOSITY.
COMPRESSIBILITY.
FACTORS AFFECTING LIFT

VISCOSITY:
•THE STATE OF BEING THICK ,STICKY AND SEMI-
FLUID IN CONSISTENCY DUE TO INTERNAL FRICTION.
COMPRESSIBILITY:
•IT IS THE MEASURE OF THE RELATIVE VOLUME
CHANGE OF AN OBJECT AS A RESPONSE TO
PRESSURE CHANGE
 DENSITY
• DENSITY IS DEFINED AS MASS PER
UNIT VOLUME.
• DENSITY= MASS
VOLUME
• COMMON EXAMPLE MIX OIL AND
WATER IN A CONTAINER.
• OIL IS LESS DENSE THAN WATER SO
IT FLOATS ON THE TOP.
FREE STREAM VELOCITY
• FREE STREAM VELOCITY IS
THE VELOCITY IN WHICH
THE AIRCRAFT IS MOVING
THROUGH THE AIR.
• FREE STREAM VELOCITY IS
THE SAME FOR ANY PART
OF THE AIRCRAFT,TAIL OR
HEAD.
• FREE STREAM VELOCITY IS
MEASURED THROUGH
PITOT TUBES

PITOT TUBE
 WING AREA
• WING AREA IS A FUNDAMENTAL GEOMETRIC
CHARACTERISTIC AND IS SIMPLY TAKEN AS
THE PLANE SURFACE AREA OF THE WING.
• WING AREA=WINGSPAN * CHORD
• WING SPAN IS THE DISTANCE FROM ONE
WING TIP TO ANOTHER.
• CHORD IS THE IMAGINARY STRAIGHT LINE
JOINING THE LEADING AND TRAILING EDGE.
 CO-EFFICIENT OF LIFT
• THE LIFT CO EFFICIENT IS A NUMBER THAT
AERODYNAMICISTS USED TO MODEL ALL
THE COMPLEX DEPENDENCIES OF
SHAPE,INCLINATION AND SOME FLOW
CONDITIONS ON LIFT
• THE LIFT CO EFFICIENT IS USUALLY
ABBREVIATED AS CL.
• IT IS GENERALLY USED TO COMPARE THE
PERFORMANCE OF AIRFOILS AND WINGS.
CO-EFFICIENT OF LIFT
FORMULA
• CL REPRESENTS CO-
EFFICIENT OF LIFT.
• L REPRESENTS LIFT.
• RHO REPRESNTS
DENSITY.
• V REPRESENTS
VELOCITY.
• A REPRESENTS AREA.
• BY KNOWING ALL THESE
VALUES WE CAN FIND
CO-EFFIECIENT OF LIFT.
 EXAMPLE OF CO-EFFICIENT
OF LIFT
• Here's an example of calculating the lift coefficient, using real-world data
from a Boeing 747. Its lift generated is 637,190 lb; air density is 0.00058735
slug/ft3 (assuming an altitude of 40,000 ft); the velocity is 871 ft/s; and the
reference area is 5,500 ft2. Inserting all of that into your equation for lift
coefficient gives you:
• Cl = 2(637,190) ÷ (0.00058735 × 8712 × 5,500)
• After a little simplifying, you have:
• Cl = 1,274,380 ÷ (0.00058735 × 758,641 × 5,500)
• Cl = 1,274,380 ÷ 2,450,732.852
• Cl = 0.519999558, which, depending on the parameters of your work, you
can round to 0.52.
• So the lift coefficient of this particular Boeing 747 model, under these
conditions, is 0.52.
 REFERENCES
• NASA WEBPAGE GLENN RESEARCH
CENTER.

• SCIENCING WEBSITE.