AEROTHERMODYNAMICS

Aircraft Aerodynamics and Test Methods

Abstract

In this paper, a detailed analysis and research is done on the aerodynamics and wind testing techniques of aircraft. During the course, of study, different books, research journals and other literature were critically analyzed and different aspects of the aerodynamics and wind testing techniques are studied with a detailed discussion on how a wind tunnel works and measurement of lift and drag.

Aircraft Aerodynamics and Test Methods

Aerodynamics

Aerodynamics is a branch of fluid mechanics that deals with the movement of air and other gaseous fluids, and the forces acting on the bodies that move in such fluids. The presence of an object in a fluid changes the distribution of gas pressure and velocities of fluid particles, leading-based forces and resistance. (Anderson 2007, Pp. 7-31)The modification of some of the values (pressure or speed) in the opposite automatically modifies the other. Aerodynamics is part of fluid mechanics that studies the gas in motion and forces or reactions to which they are subjected are the bodies within it. A self-importance of aerodynamics must be added value of their contribution to aeronautics.

According to the Mach number and relative speed of a mobile with respect to air, aerodynamics is divided into subsonic and supersonic as that number is below or above unity. There are certain laws of aerodynamics applicable to any object moving through the air, which explain the flight of objects heavier than air. For the study, of flight is the same considering that it is the object moving through the air, as this object is stationary and the air is moving (this last form are tested in wind tunnels prototypes aircraft). It is essential that the pilot gets the best possible knowledge of these laws and principles to understand analyze and predict the performance of an airplane in any operating conditions. The given here are sufficient for this elementary level, does not seek to neither exhaustive nor detailed explanation of the intricacies of aerodynamics.

Aircraft aerodynamics

For many years, inventors and scientists tried to understand the basic principles of flight, and experts are still debating the details of aerodynamics. (Cole 1986, Pp. 13-43)A flat object placed slightly tilted up against the wind, produces lift, such as kite. An airfoil is a body that has a specific design to maximize the forces that arise from the variation of speed and pressure when the profile is located in an air stream. A wing is an example of advanced airfoil design. Let's see what happens when a device equipped with airfoils (wings) moves in the air (atmospheric pressure and equipped with speed), at a certain speed and placement given up (angle of attack), according to the law explained. The wing produces a flow of air in proportion to its angle of attack (angle of attack greater the greater the narrowing at the top of the wing) and the speed with which the wing moves to the mass of air that surrounds it; This air flow, which runs along the top of the profile will have ...