Aerodynamic

Forces andd Moments

UNIT-I

The aerodynamic forces and

moments on the bodyy are due
to only two basic sources
1. Pressure distribution over
the body surface
2. Shear stress distribution
over the bodyy surface
f

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.

 Both ppressure P and shear stress have

dimensions of force per unit area
Pressure P acts normal to the surface and shear
stress acts tangential to the surface
Shear stress is due to tugging action on the
surface
f
which
hi h is
i due
d to
t friction
f i ti between
b t
th body
the
b d
and the air

To get the Resultant Aerodynamic Force R and

y the net effect of the P
Moment M on the body,
and distributions should be integrated over
the complete surface

Resultant Aerodynamic
y
Force
Lift

v
V

Total Aerodynamic Force

((Sum of Pressure and Shear))

Airfoil

Drag

R resultant force
L lift
D drag
d
N normal force
A Axial force
V - free stream velocity
C - is the chord
- Angle of attack

There are 3 axes-systems:

Ground

Body

Aerodynamic
Therefore the resultant aerodynamic force R
could be split into components in the bodyy or
aerodynamic axes systems, as shown in figure

The resultant force R is split into two components

L = Lift = Component of R perpendicular to
relative wind
D = Drag = component of R parallel to relative
wind
i d

Again the resultant force R is split into two components

N = Normal force = component of R perpendicular to
chord c
A = axial force = component of R parallel to chord c

The geometric
Th
i relations
l i
b
between
these
h
two sets
of components can be written as

L = N cos A sin
D = N sin + A cos

Calculations of Forces & Moments

Consider the 2-dimensional
2 dimensional body

The pressure and shear stress on the upper surface

are denoted by Pu and u at a distance of Su from leading
edge along the body
Si il l Pl andd l are the
Similarly
h corresponding
di quantities
ii
on the lower surface

At a given point the pressure is normal to the

surface and is oriented at an angle relative to the
perpendicular
di l
Shear stress is tangential to the surface and is
oriented at the same angle relative to horizontal

Consider an elemental surface area ds

The total normal force N and the total axial force A due
to the pressure and shear stress on the elemental area ds
The
h primes
i
on N andd A denote
d
f
force
per unit
i span

By integrating the above equations from L.E to T.E

gett momentt about
b t the
th leading
l di edge
d per unit
it span

Location of center of pressure