FUNDAMENTALS OF

AERODYNAMICS
(AENG 321-7B)
Part 1
Aerodynamics
- It is the study of the motion of the air
and of the forces on solids in motion
relative to the air.
Motion of Air

- It refers on how the air moves within the

environment especially within the object where it
flows.
- When motion is of main concern we have to know
certain quantities like velocity, distance, and
acceleration
Motion of Air
Motion of Air
Motion of Air
Motion of Air
Motion of Air
Motion of Air
Forces on Solid

- Refers to the forces acting on the body while

moving and the reaction of the forces from the body
and the air.
- When forces is of main concern we have to know
certain quantities like thrust, drag, lift and weight.
Importance of Aerodynamics
On August 8, 1588, the waters of the English Channel churned with a
gyrations of hundreds of warships. The Great Spanish Armada had
arrived to carry out an invasion of Elizabethan England and was met
head on by the English Fleet under the command of Sir Francis
Drake. The Spanish ships were large and heavy, packed with soldiers
and carried formidable cannons that fired 50 lb. round shot that
could devastate any ship of that era. In contrast, the English ships
were smaller and lighter, they carried no soldiers and were armed
with lighter, shorter-range cannons.
Who do you think have WON the Battle?
Importance of Aerodynamics

Reasons why they WON

1. The English Ships are faster.
2. The English Ships are highly manoeuvrable.
Conclusion
To increase the speed of the ship, it is important to reduce
the resistance created by water flow around the ship’s
hull.
Importance of Aerodynamics
Summer of 1901, Wilbur and Orville Wright are struggling with their
second major glider design, the first being a stunning failure through
the previous year. The airfoil shape and wing design of their glider
are based on the aerodynamic data published in the 1980s by the
great German aviator pioneer Otto Lilienthal (1848-1896) and by
Samuel Langley (1934-1906), secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution. Because their glider produced no meaningful lift, the
Wright brothers have increased the wing area from 165 to 290 ft2
and have increased the wing camber. . . .
What do you think Happened?
Importance of Aerodynamics

Reasons
1. The data that they gather is purely on the older data.
2. The Wright Brothers decided to construct their own
data according to their own investigation. They build their
own wind tunnel for testing their own design airfoils and
modify the wing design.
Conclusion
The airfoil is more efficient; the camber is reduced
considerably, and the location of the maximum rise of the
airfoil is moved closer to the front of the wing (wingspan)
to the distance from the front to the rear of the airfoil
(chord length) is increased from 3 to 6.
Other quantities involved in Aerodynamics
computations
1. FLUID
2. MASS
3. AREA
4. DENSITY
5. PRESSURE
6. VISCOSITY
7. TEMPERATURE
Fluids

- A fluid is a material that flows; that is, it changes its

shapes easily. In a fluid, the particles cohere so
slightly that they may be easily made their relative
position by the application of very small forces.
- A fluid is homogeneous.
- A fluid has very resistance to tension and moves
continuously under shear.
Ideal Fluid

- An Ideal Fluid is conceived to be a fluid which has

absolutely no resistance to shear forces;
consequently, between two particles.
- The action of any force must be normal to the
contact surfaces and their can be no tangential
components.
- No ideal fluid exist. The conception of the ideal fluid
is convenient in developing certain theories.
Theories based on ideal fluid have to be corrected
before they can be applied to real fluids.
Fluids

- A fluid may be either liquid or gas. The chief

difference between gaseous fluids and liquid fluids is
its resistance to compression.
Mass

- Is the internal measure of quantities of matter in a

body.
- The mass of the body remains constant unless part
of the body is removed or added.
- The mass of the body is not the same as the
weight. The weight of the body is the force with
which the body is being pulled towards the center of
the earth and if this attractive force changes, the
body’s weight changes though its mass does not.
- The unit of mass is the slug or kg. One slug is the
mass which weighs 32.174 lb. or One Kg. is the mass
weighs 9.8066 N under standard gravity condition.
 Mass

Formula for mass

Mass (m) = weight (W) / acceleration due to gravity (g)

Where:
m = mass in slug or kg
W = Weight in lb or N
g = acceleration due to gravity (32.174 ft./s2 or
9.8066 m/s2).
Density

- Is the mass per unit volume (slugs per cubic foot or

kg per cubic meter).
- It is not to be confused with specific weight, which
is the weight per unit volume (pounds per cubic foot
or newton per cubic meter).
- The density can be found by dividing the specific
weight by the acceleration due to gravity (feet per
square second or meter per square second).
 Density

Formula for density

Density (ʌ) = mass (m) / volume (v)

Where:
ρ = density in slug/ft3 or kg/m3
m = mass in slugs or kg
v = volume in ft3 or m3
 Density

Formula for specific weight

Specific Weight (ʘ) = weight (w) / volume (v)

Where:
ω = specific weight in lb./ft3 or N/m3
w = mass in lb. or N
v = volume in ft3 or m3
Density

Another formula for density

Density (ʌ) = Specific Weight (ʘ) / acceleration due
to gravity (g)
Where:
ρ = density in slug/ft3 or kg/m3
ω = specific weight in lb./ft3 or N/m3
g = acceleration due to gravity (32.174 ft./s2 or
9.8066 m/s2).
Density

Formula for specific volume of unit weight, it is the

reciprocity of the specific weight.
Specific Volume (ʆ) = 1 / Specific Weight (ʘ)

Where:
ν = specific volume in ft3/ lb. or m3/N
Pressure

- Average pressure is force divided by the area over

which the force acts.
- Ordinarily, pressure is measured in pounds per
square foot or in pounds per square inch or Newton
per square meter. In some pressure measuring
devices, the pressure is measured by noting the
height of the column of mercury that will balanced
by the pressure. As a cubic foot of mercury weighs
848.7149 lb., a column of mercury 1ft. High balances
a pressure of 848.7149 lb. per square foot or 5.894
lb. per square inch.
Pressure

- Pressure are sometimes given as gage pressure (

the pressure reading on a gage). Gage pressures are
measured positively above atmospheric pressure. A
negative gage pressure is the amount of pressure
below atmospheric pressure.
 Pressure

Formula for pressure

Pressure(P) = Force (F) / Area (A)

Where:
P = pressure in lb./ft2 or N/m2
F = force in lb. or N
A = area over which the force acts in ft2 or m2
Standard Atmospheric Pressure

- 29.921 inches of mercury

- 2116.2 lb. per square foot
- 14.693 lb. per square inch.

͞ There can never be a negative pressure i.e. a

pressure less than zero. ͞
Viscosity

- Is the property of fluids which tends to retard

relative motion of different parts of the fluid.

- Whereas solids have a definite resistance to shear,

fluids move continuously under the action of shear
forces.
Atmosphere
- The atmosphere is the mechanical
mixture of gases surrounding the earth.
Four Major Constituents of the
Atmosphere
1. Nitrogen
2. Oxygen
3. Argon
4. Carbon Dioxide
Atmosphere Constituents
Nitrogen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78.03 %
Oxygen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.49 %
Argon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.44 %
Carbon Dioxide . . . . . . . . . . 0.03 %
Hydrogen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.01 %
Helium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.004 %
Neon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.0012 %
and a small amount of water vapour and
other gases.
 Atmosphere

The atmospheric condition satisfies the perfect gas

law.
P = ʌkRT (in English System)
Where:
P = pressure in lb./ft2
ρ = density in slug/ft3
k = constant of proportionality in 32.174 lbm ft./s2/lbf.
R = universal gas constant 53.342 ft.-lbf./ lbm.-°R for air
T = absolute temperature in °R
Atmosphere
P = ʌRT (in Metric System)
Where:
P = pressure in N/m2
ρ = density in Kg/m3
R = universal gas constant 287.08 J/ kg-°K for air
T = absolute temperature in °K
The International Standard Atmosphere
The four layers of the atmosphere:
1. Troposphere (Sea Level – 11 km.)
2. Stratosphere (11 km. – 32 km.)
3. Ionosphere (32 km. – 50 km.)
4. Exosphere (50 km. – 60 km.)
Standard Values for Air at Sea Level
Pressure, P0
P0 = 29.92 in Hg = 76 cm Hg = 760 mm Hg
= 14.7 lb. / in2 = 2116.8 lb. / ft2 = 101325 Pa
= 1 atm
Temperature, T0
T0 = 519 °R = 288 °K
Density, ʌ0
ρ0 = 0.002377 slug / ft3 = 1.225 kg / m3
Coefficient of Dynamic Viscosity
μ0 = 3.7372 x 10 -7 slug / ft-s = 1.7894 x 10-5 kg / m-s
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