MECH 594

Aircraft Performance: Steady Flight

MECH 594

Performance
Aircraft Performance

Performance is the study of how high, how fast, how far, and how long an aircraft can fly. It is one part of the general study of flight dynamics which also includes stability and control. In this study, we no longer consider the motion and properties of the air, but now concentrate on the motion of the entire airplane and its response to applied forces. The following figure illustrates the forces of interest and the relative lines of action in the pitch plane.

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Forces

Note the new vector angles: i Flight path angle, ! : angle between the velocity vector of the aircraft and the horizon. i Thrust line angle, " T : angle between the velocity vector and the action line of the powerplant.

MECH 594

Lift & Drag

In the previous lectures we discussed how to calculate the aerodynamic forces of Lift and Drag. One additional note needs to be made about how we extend our previous drag results for wings to an entire airplane. The equation is: C D = C D , 0 + KC2 L The zero lift drag, C D , 0 is due to viscous effects over the entire airplane surface - wing, fuselage, etc. The second term now includes both the span efficiency of the wing and any variation in drag due to lift.

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Equations of Motion

Equations of Motion

An airplane in flight obeys Newton's Laws of Motion. In particular, force = mass ! acceleration. For airplanes, we split the forces in to those in the flight direction and those perpendicular to it:

" F = ma = m dt
!

dV

"F

=m

V2 R

Note that in the perpendicular equation we allow for a curved flight path with radius R . Summing forces gives: dV dt V2 R

T cos$ T % D % W sin& = m

L + T sin$ T % W cos& = m

MECH 594

Equations of Motion
The previous equations are the general equations of motion for an airplane. They are applicable to all flight conditions. A tremendous simplification occurs if we limit the study to unaccelerated, level flight. dV =0 dt R!"

# =0

Also, in most airplanes, the thrust angle is small enough to assume cos $ T % 1 Under these assumptions, T=D

( )

and

sin $ T % 0 . L=W .

( )

and

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Thrust Required

Thrust Required

The thrust acting on an airplane should be considered from two perspectives: i The thrust required by the airplane to stay in flight at the existing flight conditions, i.e., V , h , ! , etc. i The thrust available from the powerplant to maintain or change those flight conditions. Let's start with the thrust required. From the previous relations for level, unaccelerated flight. TR = D L=W W L D TR = D = q" SC D

Or, since

TR =

MECH 594

Thrust Required

The second relation points out a very important point: the minimum thrust required occurs when the airplane's lift to drag ratio, ! L$ L CL = , is maximum # & . D CD " D % max

The first equation is more useful, however, in finding when this occurs. Substituting our previous relation for drag yields: KW 2 TR = D = q 'S C D , 0 + KC2 = q 'SC D , 0 + L ! "# # $ q 'S % Profile or Parasitic drag Drag due to lift (induced drag)

MECH 594

Thrust Required
Note how the two contributions to drag (thrust required) vary differently with velocity:

MECH 594

Thrust Required

The thrust required (and drag) for a given aircraft in steady, level flight is a function of the altitude (h), velocity, and weight: D = F h, V! , W

As the altitude changes so does density which affects D. As V! changes so does D and as W changes so does L and in turn the induced drag changes. We can see it explicitly from the thrust required equation: KW 2 1 2KS # W & = "! V! 2SC D,0 + q !S 2 $ ' "! V! 2 % S (
2

TR = D = q !SC D,0 +

We'll define

W as the wing loading. S

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Thrust Required

Let's find the flight velocity for a given value of required thrust KS " W % q! $ S ' # &
2

TR = D = q !SC D,0 +
2

multiply through by q ! to get

" W% 1 q ! 2SC D,0 ( q ! TR + KS $ ' = 0 if we replace q ! with )! V! 2 and isolate V! we have 2 # S&
1

2 * TR / W ( 4C D,0 K , TR / W W / S W / S V! = , )! C D,0 , +

)(

) (

) (

-2 / / / .

MECH 594

Thrust Required

We note that the equation for V! gives two flight velocities with a given value of TR . We also see that V! for a given aircraft depends on: 1. The wing loading W/S

) ( ) ) ( )

2. The drag polar, C D,0 and K 4. Altitude, "!

3. The thrust - to - weight ratio TR /W

We will come to appreciate that TR /W , W/S , and the drag polar are the fundamental parameters that dictate aircraft performance.

MECH 594

Minimum Thrust Required

When the discriminant of the V! equation equals zero then only one solution for V! is obtained. This corresponds to the point of minimum required thrust, " TR % $ W ' ( 4C D,0 K = 0 # &
2

or

" TR % $ W ' = 4C D,0 K # & min

which also means that

" TR % " D% $ W ' = $ L ' = 4C D,0 K # & min # & min

or " L% $ D' = # & max 1 4C D,0 K

The maximum lift-to-drag ratio is dependent on the aircraft's zero-lift drag and induced drag coefficient.

MECH 594

Minimum Thrust Required

The velocity for this condition of minimum thrust required is ) 1 # TR & # W & , 2 =+ % ( % (. + . * !" C D,0 $ W ' min $ S ' 1

V( T ) R min

or

V( T ) = V( L/D) R min max

) 2 # W & K ,2 =+ % ( . S C D,0 . +! * "$ ' -

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Lift over Drag Dependence

! L$ We can come up with the dependence of general # & by dividing D by the weight W, " D% ! S$ ! D$ D 1 2K ! S $ ! W $ = '( V( 2 # & C D,0 + = # & for steady level flight W 2 "W % " %" % " L% '( V( 2 # W & # S & So
2 L ! '( V( C D,0 2K ! W $ $ =# + & D " 2 W/S " % '( V( 2 # S & % )1 2

MECH 594

Lift over Drag Dependence

2 L # !" V" C D,0 2K # W & & =% + ( D $ 2 W/S $ ' !" V" 2 % S ( '

)1

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Drag Relation at Minimum Thrust

We know from the previous derivation that a minimum in required thrust occurs at some value of velocity (or similarly, q ! ). Is there a relation between the parasitic drag and the drag due to lift at minimum required thrust? To find this relation, we differentiate TR with respect to q ! and set the derivative to zero: dTR d " KW 2 % KW 2 = $q !SC D , 0 + ' = SC D , 0 ( dq ! dq ! # q !S & q2 S ! dTR dq ! KW 2 = KC2 L q 2 S2 !

= 0 )
TR , min

CD , 0 =

Thus, the minimum drag occurs when the parasitic drag and drag due to lift are equal.

MECH 594

Drag Relation at Minimum Thrust

This effect can also be seen by looking at a parabolic drag polar. Any line from the origin has a slope equal to the L/D ratio. Thus, the maximum L/D occurs at the tangency point shown.

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Velocity Instability

The velocity V( T ) divides the required R min thrust curve into two parts we label "region of velocity instability" and "region of velocity stability". This dividing line is of considerable importance to pilots since it is undesirable to fly an aircraft in the instability region.

MECH 594

Velocity Instability
Say we're flying a Cessna 172 toward a landing but have to slow down below V(TR )
min

to the speed a Point 1 to avoid slower air traffic ahead of us. Unfortunately, we're still gaining on the traffic ahead so we leave the thrust alone and pull the nose up to decrease our speed to Point 2 on the curve. We'll find that we've increased the drag and the airplane will continue to slow and move further from the original Point 1 unless we add additional thrust, i.e., we require more thrust to fly slower. Similarly, if we decrease ! from Point 1 to Point 3 our drag decreases and we'll continue to go faster and move further from Point 1 unless we reduce our thrust. Point 1 is an unstable condition.

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Velocity Stability
min

If we were on the right hand side of V(TR ) at Point 1 then a momentary increase in flight speed increases our drag at Point 2. If the thrust is not increased we slow back down to Point 1. If on the other hand we have a momentary decrease in speed to Point 3 our drag decreases. However we have too much thrust for this configuration and our speed increases until the thrust setting equals the drag at Point 1. On this side of the required thrust curve, Point 1 is a stable condition. If you are caught in the unstable region of the curve you are said to be "behind the power curve" and you will find yourself loosing altitude with full throttle even though your angle of attack is below !stall .

MECH 594

Other Coefcient Ratios

There are other aerodynamic ratios that play a role in aircraft performance. We will later show that maximum endurance for a propeller/reciprocating engine combination is proportional to the maximum value of C L 3/ 2 / C D and the maximum range for a jet aircraft is proportional to the maximum value of C L1/ 2 / C D . I'll leave the derivation to you for a later time but: ! C 3/ 2 $ 1 1! 3 $ = KC L 2 and # L & = # & 3 CD % 4 " KC D,01/3 % " max
3/ 4

C 3/ 2 For maximum L we have CD

C D,0

! C 3/ 2 $ So we have # L & is a function only of the drag polar K and C D,0 . " C D % max

Also the flight speed for this condition is V C 3/2 /C

max

! 2 ! W$ K $ =# # S & 3C & " '( " % D,0 %

1/ 2

and V C 3/2 /C

max

! 1$ =# & " 3%

1/4

V( L/ D ) = 0.76V( L/ D ) max max

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MECH 594

Other Coefcient Ratios

$ ! C 1/ 2 $ 3! 1 C D,0 = 3KC L 2 and # L & = # & CD % 4 " 3KC D,01/3 % " max
1/ 4

For maximum

C L1/ 2 we have CD

! C 1/ 2 $ So we have # L & is a function only of the drag polar K and C D,0 . " C D % max

The flight speed for this condition is V C 1/2 /C

max

! 2 ! W $ 3K $ =# & # & " '( " S % C D,0 %

1/ 2

and

V C 1/2 /C

= 3
max

()

1/4

V( L/ D ) = 1.32V( L/ D ) max max

So we have that V C 3/2 /C

max

< V(C

L /C D max

< V C 1/2 /C

max

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Coefcient Variations

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Notes

Questions?

MECH 594

Notes

See you next time.

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