AERODYNAMICS

Aerodynamics
Aerodynamics is the way air moves around

things. Aerodynamics is a subfield of fluid dynamics and gas dynamics The rules of aerodynamics explain how an airplane is able to fly. Anything that moves through air reacts to aerodynamics. A rocket blasting off the launch pad and a kite in the sky react to aerodynamics. Aerodynamics even acts on cars, since air flows around cars.

Aerodynamic force
Aerodynamic force is exerted on a body by

the air (or some other gas) in which the body is immersed, and is due to the relative motion between the body and the gas. Aerodynamic force arises from two causes: the force due to the pressure on the surface of the body, and the force due to viscosity, also known as skin friction.

Types of Aerodynamics Forces

Lift Drag Thrust Mach number

What Is Lift?
Lift is the push that lets something move up. It is the force that is the opposite of weight. Everything that flies must have lift. For an aircraft to move upward, it must have more lift than weight. A hot air balloon has lift because the hot air inside is lighter than the air around it. Hot air rises and carries the balloon with it. A helicopters lift comes from the rotor blades at the top of the helicopter. Their motion

through the air moves the helicopter upward. Lift for an airplane comes from its wings.

What Is Drag?
Drag is a force that tries to slow something down. It makes it hard for an object to move. It is harder to walk or run through water than through air. That is because water causes more drag than air. The shape of an object also changes the amount

of drag. Most round surfaces have less drag than flat ones. Narrow surfaces usually have less drag than wide ones. The more air that hits a surface, the more drag it makes.

What Is Thrust?

Thrust is the force that is the opposite of drag. Thrust is the push that moves something forward. For an aircraft to keep moving forward, it must have more thrust than drag. A small airplane might get its thrust from a propeller. A larger airplane might get its thrust from jet engines. A glider does not have thrust. It can only fly until the drag causes it to slow down and land.

What is Mach Number?

is the speed of an object moving through air,

or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound The Mach number is used to distinguish between incompressible and compressible flows.

Incompressible aerodynamics
An incompressible flow is characterized by a

constant density despite flowing over surfaces or inside ducts. A flow can be considered incompressible as long as its speed is low. For higher speeds, the flow will begin to compress as it comes into contact with surfaces Subsonic aerodynamics is incompressible aerodynamics.

Subsonic Aerodynamics
Subsonic (or low-speed) aerodynamics is the study of fluid motion which is everywhere much

slower than the speed of sound through the fluid or gas. There are several branches of subsonic flow but one special case arises when the flow is inviscid, incompressible and irrotational. This case is called Potential flow and allows the differential equations used to be a simplified version of the governing equations of fluid dynamics, thus making available to the aerodynamicist a range of quick and easy solutions. It is a special case of Subsonic aerodynamics.

Compressible aerodynamics
According to the theory of aerodynamics, a flow is considered to be compressible if its change

in density with respect to pressure is non-zero along a streamline. where the Mach number in part or all of the flow exceeds 0.3. The Mach .3 value is rather arbitrary, but it is used because gas flows with a Mach number below that value demonstrate changes in density with respect to the change in pressure of less than 5%. Transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic flows are all compressible.

Transonic Aerodynamics
The term Transonic refers to a range of velocities

just below and above the local speed of sound (generally taken as Mach 0.81.2). It is defined as the range of speeds between the critical Mach number, when some parts of the airflow over an aircraft become supersonic, and a higher speed, typically near Mach 1.2, when all of the airflow is supersonic. Between these speeds some of the airflow is supersonic, and some is not.

Supersonic Aerodynamics
Supersonic aerodynamic problems are those

involving flow speeds greater than the speed of sound . Calculating the lift on the Concorde during cruise can be an example of a supersonic aerodynamic problem. Supersonic flow behaves very differently from subsonic flow.

Hypersonic Aerodynamics
In aerodynamics, hypersonic speeds are speeds that are highly supersonic. In the 1970s, the term generally came to refer to speeds of Mach 5 (5 times the speed of sound) and above. The hypersonic regime is a subset of the supersonic regime. Hypersonic flow is characterized by high temperature flow behind a shock wave, viscous

interaction, and chemical dissociation of gas.

Aerodynamics in other fields

Aerodynamics is important in a number of applications other than aerospace engineering. It is a significant factor in any type of vehicle design, including automobiles. It is important in the prediction of forces and moments in sailing. It is used in the design of mechanical components such as hard drive heads. Structural engineers also use aerodynamics, and particularly aeroelasticity, to calculate wind loads in the design of large buildings and bridges. Urban aerodynamics seeks to help town planners and designers improve comfort in outdoor spaces, create urban microclimates and reduce the effects of urban pollution. The field of environmental aerodynamics studies the ways atmospheric circulation and flight mechanics affect ecosystems. The aerodynamics of internal passages is important in heating/ventilation, gas piping, and in automotive engines where detailed flow patterns strongly affect the performance of the engine.