Analysis and design of planar and non-planar wings for induced drag minimization

Improvements in the aerodynamic efficiency of commercial transport aircraft will reduce fuel usage with subsequent reduced cost, both monetary and environmental. To this end, the current research is aimed at reducing the overall drag of these aircraft with specific emphasis on reducing the drag generated by the lifting surfaces. The ultimate goal of this program is to create a wing design methodology which optimizes the geometry of the wing for lowest total drag within the constraints of a particular design specification. The components of drag which must be considered include profile drag, and wave drag. Profile drag is dependent upon, among other things, the airfoil section and the total wetted area. Induced drag, which is manifested as energy left in the wake by the trailing vortex system is mostly a function of wing span, but also depends on other geometric wing parameters. Wave drag of the wing, important in the transonic flight regime, is largely affected by the airfoil section, wing sweep, and so forth. The optimization problem is that of assessing the various parameters which contribute to the different components of wing drag, and determining the wing geometry which generates the best overall performance for a given aircraft mission. The primary thrust of the research effort to date was in the study of induced drag. Results from the study are presented

Prediction of forces and moments for flight vehicle control effectors. Part 2: An analysis of delta wing aerodynamic control effectiveness in ground effect

Many types of hypersonic aircraft configurations are currently being studied for feasibility of future development. Since the control of the hypersonic configurations throughout the speed range has a major impact on acceptable designs, it must be considered in the conceptual design stage. Here, an investigation of the aerodynamic control effectiveness of highly swept delta planforms operating in ground effect is presented. A vortex-lattice computer program incorporating a free wake is developed as a tool to calculate aerodynamic stability and control derivatives. Data generated using this program are compared to experimental data and to data from other vortex-lattice programs. Results show that an elevon deflection produces greater increments in C sub L and C sub M in ground effect than the same deflection produces out of ground effect and that the free wake is indeed necessary for good predictions near the ground

Prediction of forces and moments for flight vehicle control effectors. Part 1: Validation of methods for predicting hypersonic vehicle controls forces and moments

Many types of hypersonic aircraft configurations are currently being studied for feasibility of future development. Since the control of the hypersonic configurations throughout the speed range has a major impact on acceptable designs, it must be considered in the conceptual design stage. The ability of the aerodynamic analysis methods contained in an industry standard conceptual design system, APAS II, to estimate the forces and moments generated through control surface deflections from low subsonic to high hypersonic speeds is considered. Predicted control forces and moments generated by various control effectors are compared with previously published wind tunnel and flight test data for three configurations: the North American X-15, the Space Shuttle Orbiter, and a hypersonic research airplane concept. Qualitative summaries of the results are given for each longitudinal force and moment and each control derivative in the various speed ranges. Results show that all predictions of longitudinal stability and control derivatives are acceptable for use at the conceptual design stage. Results for most lateral/directional control derivatives are acceptable for conceptual design purposes; however, predictions at supersonic Mach numbers for the change in yawing moment due to aileron deflection and the change in rolling moment due to rudder deflection are found to be unacceptable. Including shielding effects in the analysis is shown to have little effect on lift and pitching moment predictions while improving drag predictions

Analysis and design of planar and non-planar wings for induced drag minimization

The goal of the work was to develop and validate computational tools to be used for the design of planar and non-planar wing geometries for minimum induced drag. Because of the iterative nature of the design problem, it is important that, in addition to being sufficiently accurate for the problem at hand, they are reasonably fast and computationally efficient. Toward this end, a method of predicting induced drag in the presence of a non-rigid wake is coupled with a panel method. The induced drag prediction technique is based on the Kutta-Joukowski law applied at the trailing edge. Until recently, the use of this method has not been fully explored and pressure integration and Trefftz-plane calculations favored. As is shown in this report, however, the Kutta-Joukowski method is able to give better results for a given amount of effort than the more common techniques, particularly when relaxed wakes and non-planar wing geometries are considered. Using these tools, a workable design method is in place which takes into account relaxed wakes and non-planar wing geometries. It is recommended that this method be used to design a wind-tunnel experiment to verify the predicted aerodynamic benefits of non-planar wing geometries

Analysis and design of planar and non-planar wings for induced drag minimization

The goal of the work reported herein is to develop and validate computational tools to be used for the design of planar and non-planar wing geometries for minimum induced drag. Because of the iterative nature of the design problem, it is important that, in addition to being sufficiently accurate for the problem at hand, these tools need to be reasonably fast and computationally efficient. Toward this end, a method of predicting induced drag in the presence of a free wake has been coupled with a panel method. The induced drag prediction technique is based on the application of the Kutta-Joukowski law at the trailing edge. Until now, the use of this method has not been fully explored and pressure integration and Trefftz-plane calculations favored. As is shown in this report, however, the Kutta-Joukowski method is able to give better results for a given amount of effort than the more commonly used techniques, particularly when relaxed wakes and non-planar wing geometries are considered. Using these methods, it is demonstrated that a reduction in induced drag can be achieved through non-planar wing geometries. It remains to determine what overall drag reductions are possible when the induced drag reduction is traded-off against increased wetted area. With the design methodology that is described herein, such trade studies can be performed in which the non-linear effects of the free wake are taken into account