Steady And Unsteady State Of Boeing 737 Airfoil

Abstract

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to model objects based on the principle of fluid mechanics, with governing equations built in to understand how the fluid moves in the object. This study seeks to understand the fluid motion (air) of a Boeing 737 airfoil, a commonly used aircraft by airline companies, under different conditions in different stages of flight: takeoff, cruising, and landing. The primary objective is to compare steady state versus unsteady state due to velocity and turbulence at various stages of flight. Causes of unsteady state flow are weather, jet stream, mountain waves, and interaction of the surrounding during takeoff and landing. From my CFD model, I expect to see turbulence depend more on the velocity and the pressure when the airfoil is taking off and landing, compared to cruising. With this, comparing the lift coefficient at each of the stages of flight, the lift coefficient had a greater impact on the airfoil during takeoff and landing than cruising