Introduction to Performance

AE 1350

Performance: A measure of how well a device does its job

Airplane Examples Speed -> how fast/slow can it go?

Rate of Climb -> how fast can it go up? Ceiling Range Endurance -> how high can it go? -> how far can it go? -> for how long can it fly?

Takeoff/Landing -> how much runway does it need? Turning -> what is the minimum turn radius?

Helicopter Examples Hover Capability -> how much weight can it lift vertically? Speed Rate of Climb Ceiling Range Endurance -> how fast can it go? -> how fast can it go up? -> how high can it go? -> how far can it go? -> for how long can it fly?

Launch Vehicle/Rocket Examples Payload Mass to Low-Earth Orbit Payload Mass to Geosynchronous Orbit Change in Velocity V

Entry, Descent, and Landing Vehicle Examples Landed Mass Landing Accuracy

General Approach
Equations of Motion F = ma Models Aerodynamic, Propulsive Gravity, Atmospheric, Other

Performance

Airplane Aerodynamic Models

The lift, L, and drag, D, of the airplane can be calculated from:

1 L = V 2 SC L 2
Where:

1 D = V 2 SC D 2

is the atmospheric density

V is the airspeed S is the wing area CL is the lift coefficient CD is the drag coefficient

Airplane Aerodynamic Models

We will model the relationship between the lift and drag of an airplane through the drag polar:
2 C D = C D0 + KC L

Where we know the values of CD0 and K for our airplane. The lift coefficient, CL, has a known maximum value:

C L,Max

Propulsion Models
As an example, we will assume all our airplanes are using turbojet engines (no bypass):

Graphics source: Anderson, Aircraft Performance and Design

Propulsion Models
For a turbojet engine, maximum thrust, TMax, does not change very much with airspeed, V, while flying at subsonic speeds For a turbojet engine the maximum thrust, TMax, changes with density as given by:

TMax = TMax0
Where,

0 is the atmospheric density at sea level

TMax0 is the maximum thrust at sea level

Propulsion Models
How do we quantify the fuel consumption of a turbojet engine? We usually do so by calculating the thrust specific fuel consumption, ct:
ct = thrust specific fuel consumptio n

(weight of fuel consumed for a given time increment) = (thrust output) (time increment)
= & w fuel T

In this lecture we will treat ct as a constant At subsonic speeds ct is constant; (it does not vary much with velocity or altitude)

Steady Level Flight

By definition, lift is perpendicular to the wing and V By definition drag is parallel to V No acceleration (steady), V = constant Wings level Horizontal flight (no climb/descent) Summing forces parallel to the flight direction: T-D=0 or equivalently T=D

Summing forces perpendicular to the flight direction: L-W=0 or equivalently L=W

Usually the magnitude of L and W are greater than D and T

Graphics source: Anderson, Aircraft Performance and Design

Stall Speed
Let us determine how slow we can fly in steady level flight. In other words, we want to determine the stall speed, Vstall

1 L = V 2 SC L = W 2

V=

2W SC L

How do we minimize V for a given airplane? By flying at CL,Max!

Vstall =

2W SC L,Max

Stall Speed
Vstall = 2W SC L,Max
How does the various parameters in this equation: W, , S, CL,Max affect Vstall? Numerical Example: Motorglider m = 300 kg W = mg = 2,943 N = 1.225 kg/m3 (i.e., sea level) S = 12.5 m2 CL,Max = 1.5

Vstall = 16 m/s

Maximum Speed
D TMax
Airplane at Specific: Altitude Weight

D = TMax

VMax

Maximum Speed
To determine the maximum speed of a turbojet airplane we start with the equation of motion:

T =D
But we agreed to model the thrust as:

T=TMax
and determine drag from:

= TMax0 0

1 D = V 2 SC D 2
Substituting these equations into the first one gives us:

1 TMax0 = V 2 SC D 2 0

Maximum Speed
We also agreed to a drag polar model for CD of the form:
2 C D = C D0 + KC L

This equation has CL in it Lets get rid of it by writing CL in terms of V. From our other equation of motion we already know that: 1 L = V 2 SC L = W 2 Solving this equation for CL gives us:

2W CL = V 2 S
Substituting this equation for CL into our polar model yields:

Maximum Speed
C D = C D0 + K

(V S )
2

4W 2

Which we can then plug in onto our equation relating thrust and drag: 1 TMax0 = V 2 SC D 2 0 to get, after some rearranging:

1 2 KW 2 TMax0 = V 2 SC D0 + 2 V 2 S 0
Multiplying both sides of this equation by V2 gives us:

Maximum Speed
Which, after some rearranging gives us:

2 2KW 2 1 4 2 SC D0 V TMax0 V + S = 0 0
Notice that this is simply a quadratic equation in V2 of the form:

aV
Where,

( ) +bV
2 2

+c =0

1 a = SC D0 2

b = -TMax0 0

2 KW 2 c= S

Maximum Speed
This quadratic equation has a solution of the form:

b b 2 4ac V = 2a
2

I leave it up to you to complete the gory algebra to show that:

2 TMax0 TMax0 4C D0 KW 2 0 0 V= SC D0
Finally, we are interested in the maximum speed, VMax, so we pick the positive root in the above equation to yield

Maximum Speed
VMax 2 TMax0 + TMax0 4C D0 KW 2 0 0 = SC D0
2

Numerical Example: Motorglider Powered by a Turbojet (wow!) m = 300 kg W = mg = 2,943 N = 0.6601 kg/m3 (i.e., 6,000 m altitude) 0 = 1.225 kg/m3 (i.e., sea level) S = 12.5 m2 CD0 = 0.015 K = 0.020 TMax0 = 500 N

VMax = 64.7 m/s

Rate of Climb (ROC)

Steady Climbing Flight

- flight path angle with respect to horizon (positive as shown)

Note: arrows not to scale!
Graphics source: Anderson, Aircraft Performance and Design

Rate of Climb
No acceleration (steady) Wings level Climbing flight at an angle to Earths surface Thrust parallel to velocity Summing forces parallel to the flight direction: T - D - W sin = 0 Summing forces perpendicular to the flight direction: L - W cos = 0 Rate of Climb = ROC = V sin Note that the same equations apply to steady descending flight!
Graphics source: Anderson, Aircraft Performance and Design

Rate of Climb
Starting with the sum of forces parallel to the flight direction: T - D - W sin = 0 Multiply by V and re-arrange:

TV DV = V sin = ROC W
Note that: T V = PA = Power Available D V = PR = Power Required Thus,

ROC =

Power Available Power Required Excess Power = W W

Graphics source: Anderson, Aircraft Performance and Design

Rate of Climb
P PA

Excess
Power

PR V
ROC = TV DV PA PR Power Available Power Required Excess Power = = = W W W W

Absolute Ceiling
P

PA PR

V Absolute ceiling is the altitude at which Power available equals power required only at a single speed Maximum rate of climb is zero

Rate of Climb
Here we have discussed the rate of climb, ROC. A related problem is the angle of climb, . Note that the maximum rate of climb, ROCMax does not yield the maximum angle of climb, Max. Pilots beware!!!
After same time interval: H(ROCMax) > H(Max)

ROCMax Max
H(ROCMax) H(Max)

Graphics source: Anderson, Aircraft Performance and Design

Range
Range - How far can we fly? Calculate the range of an airplane during its cruise leg Range will be significantly affected by weight, so let us start by defining some weight quantities. Let: W0 - weight of the airplane at the start of cruise leg Wf - weight of fuel at a specific point in time; varies throughout the cruise leg W1 - weight of the airplane at the end of the cruise leg W - weight of the airplane at a specific point in time; varies throughout the cruise leg At any point during the cruise leg, then: W = W1 + Wf

Range
Start of Cruise W = W0 During Cruise W = W1 + Wf Time Range (Distance Covered) End of Cruise W = W1

Note: No assumption is being made about the flight altitude at this time - altitude during cruise may or may not be constant!
Graphics source: Anderson, Aircraft Performance and Design

Range
Let us assume we are in level steady flight, and that our thrust vector is aligned with the airspeed:

T=D L=W

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Range
After a certain amount of calculus and manipulation we can write the following integral equation for the range, R, of a turbojet airplane:

V L dW 1 = R = c D W c W1 t W1 t

W0

W0

1 2 C L 2 dW S C D W

Very few assumptions were made to derive this equation: Flight in no-wind conditions Steady level flight L=W T=D Thrust aligned with V

Range
We can make some further assumptions and that will simplify the integral and allow us to evaluate it explicitly: The thrust specific fuel consumption, ct is constant We are flying at a constant altitude, thus is constant The wing area, S, is constant (we hope so!)
1 We are flying at a constant value of (C L 2 C D )

These assumptions allow us to move various quantities in front of the integral:

Range
1 R = ct 2 C S C D
1 2 W0 L

dW W W1

Now we can evaluate this integral explicitly:

1 2 CL 2 1 2 W0 W11 2 S C D

2 R= ct

This is one version of the range equation for a turbojet airplane

Range
2 R= ct
1 2 CL 2 1 2 W0 W11 2 S C D

What is this equation telling us about obtaining maximum range for a turbojet airplane? For maximum range, fly at the value of CL where

(C

12 L

C D is maximum

Fly at high altitude so that is small (within limits) Use an efficient engine with a low value of ct Carry lots of fuel (difference in square root of weights)

Breguet Range Equation

A similar equation can be derived for an airplane powered by a reciprocating engine/propeller combination:

W0 R= ln c C D W1
Where, pr is the propeller efficiency c is the power specific fuel consumption In this case: Fly at best L/D speed Altitude doesnt matter so much Use an efficient engine/propeller Carry lots of fuel (ratio of weights)

pr C L