AIRFOIL NOMENCLATURE

AER0-311
QUICK REVISION
 Aerodynamic forces
Aerodynamic forces exerted by airflow comes from only two sources
Pressure, p, distribution on surface
Acts normal to surface

Shear stress, tw, (friction) on surface

Acts tangentially to surface

Pressure and shear are in units of force per unit area (N/m2)
Net unbalance creates an aerodynamic force

No matter how complex the flow field, and no matter how complex
the shape of the body, the only way nature has of communicating an
aerodynamic force to a solid object or surface is through the pressure and
shear stress distributions that exist on the surface.

The pressure and shear stress distributions are the two hands of
nature that reach out and grab the body, exerting a force on the body the
aerodynamic force
 Aerodynamic forces and moments are due to
Pressure distribution
Shear stress distribution
Nomenclature
R resultant force
L lift
D drag
N normal force
A Axial force
 Relative Wind: Direction of V
We used subscript to indicate far upstream conditions
Angle of Attack, a: Angle between relative wind (V) and
chord line

Total aerodynamic force, R, can be resolved into two force

components
Lift, L: Component of aerodynamic force perpendicular to relative
wind
Drag, D: Component of aerodynamic force parallel to relative wind

Center of Pressure: It is that point on an airfoil (or body)

about which the aerodynamic moment is zero

Aerodynamic Center: It is that point on an airfoil (or body)

about which the aerodynamically generated moment is
independent of angle of attack
Moments About Leading Edge , quarter Chord point and about center of
pressure
 Center of Pressure: It is that point on an airfoil (or body) about
which the aerodynamic moment is zero
Thin Airfoil Theory: c
Symmetric Airfoil: xcp
4
Cambered Airfoil:
c
xcp 1 A1 A2
4 cl

Aerodynamic Center: It is that point on an airfoil (or body)

about which the aerodynamically generated moment is
independent of angle of attack
Thin Airfoil Theory: c
Symmetric Airfoil: x A.C .
Cambered Airfoil: 4
c
x A.C .
4
 Uses of Airfoils
Wings
Propellers and Turbofans
Helicopter Rotors
Compressors and Turbines
Hydrofoils (wing-like devices which can lift up
a boat above waterline)
Wind Turbines
 Evolution of Airfoils

Early Designs - Designers mistakenly believed that these

airfoils with sharp leading edges will have low drag.
In practice, they stalled quickly, and generated considerable drag.
Airfoil Nomenclature
 AIRFOIL NOMENCLATURE

Mean Chamber Line: Set of points halfway between upper and lower
surfaces
Measured perpendicular to mean chamber line itself
Leading Edge: Most forward point of mean chamber line
Trailing Edge: Most reward point of mean chamber line
Chord Line: Straight line connecting the leading and trailing edges
Chord, c: Distance along the chord line from leading to trailing edge
Chamber: Maximum distance between mean chamber line and chord line
Measured perpendicular to chord line
 An Airfoil is Defined as a superposition of

Chord Line
Camber line drawn with respect to the chord
line.
Thickness Distribution which is added to the
camber line, normal to the camber line.
Symmetric airfoils have no camber.
 Angle of Attack

a
V

Angle of attack is defined as the angle between the freestream

and the chord line. It is given the symbol a.
Because modern wings have a built-in twist distribution, the
angle of attack will change from root to tip.
The root will, in general, have a high angle of attack.
The tip will, in general, have a low (or even a negative) a.
 Lift and Drag Forces acting on a
Wing Section
Sectional Lift, L

Sectional Drag, D

The component of aerodynamic forces normal to the freestream,

per unit length of span (e.g. per foot of wing span), is called
the sectional lift force, and is given the symbol L .

The component of aerodynamic forces along the freestream,

per unit length of span (e.g. per foot of wing span), is called
the sectional drag force, and is given the symbol D .
 Sectional Lift and Drag Coefficients
The sectional lift coefficient Cl is defined as:
L
Cl
1
V2 c
2

Here c is the airfoil chord, i.e. distance

between the leading edge and trailing
edge, measured along the chordline.
The sectional drag force coefficient Cd is
D
likewise defined as: Cd 1 2
V c
2
 Note that...
When we are taking about an entire wing
we use L, D, CL and CD to denote the forces
and coefficients.
When we are dealing with just a section of
the wing, we call the forces acting on that
section (per unit span) L and D , and the
coefficients Cl and Cd
 Why use Cl, Cp etc.?
Why do we use abstract quantities such as
Cl and Cp?
Why not directly use physically meaningful
quantities such as Lift force, lift per unit span ,
pressure etc.?
 The Importance of Non-Dimensional
Forms

Consider two geometrically similar airfoils.

One is small, used in a wind tunnel.
The other is large, used on an actual wing.
These will operate in different environments - density, velocity.
This is because high altitude conditions are not easily reproduced
in wind tunnels.
They will therefore have different Lift forces and pressure fields.
They will have identical Cl , Cd and Cp
- if they are geometrically alike
- operate at identical angle of attack, Mach number
and Reynolds number
 The Importance of Non-Dimensional
Forms

In other words,
a small airfoil , tested in a wind tunnel, And a large airfoil, used
on an actual wing will have identical non-dimensional
coefficients Cl , Cd and Cp
- if they are geometrically alike
- operate at identical angle of attack, Mach number
and Reynolds number.

This allows designers (and engineers) to build and test

small scale models, and extrapolate qualitative features,
but also quantitative information, from a small scale model
to a full size configuration.
 NACA AIRFOIL NAMING CONVENTION
NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) precursor to NASA
Excellent historical discussion in Section 2.8
Early NACA series, 4-, 5-, modified 4-/5-digit generated with analytical
equations
Later families, including 6-Series, are more complicated shapes derived using
theoretical rather than geometrical methods
Before NACA series, airfoil design was rather arbitrary with nothing to
guide designers except experience with known shapes and
experimentation with modified shapes
 NACA SERIES AIRFOILS
The National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics (NACA) did systematic tests on
various shaped airfoils in order to generate a
data base for aircraft design. Although
performed a long time ago, these data are still
used when designing certain appendages of
the aircraft. The system consists of a series of
4, 5 and 6 digit airfoils.
 4-digit airfoils ( e.g. NACA 2415):
2 - maximum camber is 0.02% over the chord,
4 - the location of the maximum camber along
the chord line given as 0.4 c
15 - the maximum thickness, here 0.15 c
 5-digit airfoils (e.g. NACA 23021):
2 - maximum camber is 0.02% over the chord,
30 - the location of the maximum camber
along the chord line /2, here, 0.15 c
21 - the maximum thickness, here 0.21 c
6-digit airfoils (e.g. NACA 632215):