Fluid Mechanics Seminar

Topic : Airfoil and their types

By~ Group 8
Shashank Shreyaskar (1701ME41)
Shivam Kumar (1701ME42)
Shreyas Taware (1701ME43)
Shubham Chouksey (1701ME45)
Shubham Pathak (1701ME46)
Contents : -

 Introduction
 Airfoil Terminology
 Force Analysis
 Flow Simulation
 Types of airfoil
 Naming and their applications
 What is an Airfoil ?

1) An airfoil or Aerofoil is the cross-

sectional shape of a wing, blade,
propeller, rotor or turbine.
2) An airfoil-shaped body moved through a
fluid process, produces an aerodynamic
process.
3) The component of this force
perpendicular to the direction of motion
is called LIFT.
4) The component parallel to the direction
of motion is called DRAG.
Shape of an Airfoil
We use streamlining to reduce the Pressure drag
Airfoil Terminology ~
• ANGLE OF ATTACK - the angle between a reference line on a body and the vector
representing the relative motion between the body and the fluid through which it is
moving.
• SUCTION SURFACE OR UPPER SURFACE – It is generally associated with higher velocity and
lower static pressure.
• PRESSURE SURFACE OR LOWER SURFACE- It has a comparatively higher static pressure
than the suction surface. The pressure gradient between these two surfaces contributes to
the lift force generated for a given airfoil.
Airfoil Terminology ~
• LEADING EDGE - The frontal smooth part of the airfoil is known as the leading edge.
It is designed according to the functioning of the airplane as if the airplane is required to
achieve more speed then it would be sharp.

• TRAILING EDGE - It is the terminating part of the airfoil.

It is designed to smoothen the flow of air at the end so that we can avoid the
turbulence of air flow.
• Chord - The imaginary straight line joining the leading and trailing edge.
• MAC - It is referred as the mean aerodynamic camber. It divides the airfoil in two equal
parts.

• Camber - It is the maximum vertical distance between chord and MAC.

Airfoil Terminology ~

• CENTER OF PRESSURE - The center of pressure is the point where the total sum of a
pressure field acts on a body, causing a force to act through that point.

• PITCHING MOMENT - In aerodynamics, the pitching moment on an airfoil is the moment (or
torque) produced by the aerodynamic force on the airfoil if that aerodynamic force is
considered to be applied, not at the center of pressure, but at the aerodynamic center of the
airfoil.

• AERODYNAMIC CENTER – The pitching moment remains constant at a particular point.

Force Analysis on an airfoil :
Expressing Lift and Drag in terms of free stream velocity ~

where, CL and CD are known as lift and drag coefficients, respectively, and
Ap is the projected area
 Variation of lift and drag coefficients with angle of
attack for an airfoil.
Pressure Difference around airfoil :
CFD analysis of airfoil -
Flow Simulation of Airfoil :
Types of Airfoil:
1. Flat bottom section ~

This type of airfoil provides high lift and is common

in trainer planes.

2. Fully symmetrical ~

Most of the lift is generated by angle of incidence of

wing to the fligh path.

This is ideal for aerobatic types of aircraft.

3. Semi symmetrical ~
It provides less drag than flat bottom
and fully symmetrical.
It is used in sport type aircraft.

4. Under Cambered ~
It provides great lift even at low speed
but generates drag at high speed.
NACA AIRFOIL NUMBERING SYSTEM :

 NACA stands for National Advisory

Committee for Aeronautics.
O NACA 4 digit series
O NACA 5 digit series
O NACA 4 digit series
 4 digits stands for:
• First digit express the camber in percent chord .
• Second digit gives the location of the maximum camber located in tenth of chord.
• And the last two digits gives the thickness in percent chord.
Example: NACA 4526

Thus 4526 has a maximum camber of 4% of chord located at 50% chord back from the leading edge and is
26% thick.
o NACA 5 digit series
 5 digits stand for

• The first digit, when multiplied by 0.15, gives the designed theoretical optimum lift coefficient at the ideal
angle-of-attack.

• The second digit, when multiplied by 5, gives the relative position, as a percentage, of the point of
maximum camber along the chord from the leading edge.
• The third digit indicates whether the camber is simple (0) or reflex (1).
• The fourth and fifth digits give the maximum thickness of the airfoil (as a percentage of the chord), the
same as 4-digit NACA profiles.
Airfoils Application -
1. Aircrafts to produce lift
2. Wind Turbines
3. Gas Turbines
4. Hydraulic Machines
5. Boat Sails
6. Hydrofoils
 RefErence (SOURCES) :

 Fluid Mechanics and Machinery(Mohd. Kaleem Khan)

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airfoil
 https://www.bing.com/images/search
 https://youtu.be/8fk2J5LtdSg
 https://youtu.be/t_GN5wAUZ3I
THANK