Aerodynamics

Sem – IV
AAEC08

by
Aslesha Bodavula, Ph.D.
Department of Aeronautical Engineering
Syllabus - Module IV

FLOW PAST NON-LIFTING BODIES AND CONFORMAL

TRANSFORMATION

• Flow past non lifting bodies, method of singularities; Wing-body

interference; Effect of propeller on wings and bodies and tail unit; Flow over
airplane as a whole. Potential, Cauchy-Reiman relations, Complex
conformal transformation, Kutta-Joukowski transformation
Course Outcomes
After successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
COs Course Outcomes Blooms Taxonomy level
CO1 Develop the mathematical model of non-lifting, lifting flow over Apply
circular cylinder for identifying relation between lift and circulation
CO2 Solve the lift characteristics of wing of infinite aspect ratio from Apply
classical thin airfoil for selecting suitable airfoil
CO3 Examine the flow over finite wing using the concept of Prandtl’s lifting Analyze
line theory for determining the effect of span wise flow on the lift
distribution.
CO4 Identify the effect of wing twist, wing taper and wing sweep for Apply
perceiving the aerodynamic characteristics of finite wing
CO5 Demonstrate the effect of propeller slipstream flow on the wing and tail Understand
unit for identifying its effect on their aerodynamic characteristics.
CO6 Interpret the regimes and separation of boundary layer over external Understand
fluid flow systems for identifying the effect of viscosity on the drag
force
 Wing Body Interference

• Consider the flow field of a wing-fuselage system at subsonic velocity in symmetric,

incident flow Fig shows the flow about the fuselage as affected by the wing.

• Along the fuselage axis, additive velocities normal to the fuselage axis are induced

by the wing, which are directed upward before the wing and downward behind it.

• In the range of the wing-fuselage penetration, the flow is parallel to the wing chord,

corresponding to a constant downwash velocity along the wing chord.

• The fuselage is therefore in a curved flow with an angle-of-attack distribution

varying along the fuselage axis as shown in Fig..

• This angle-of-attack distribution, induced by the wing,

shows that the fuselage is subjected to an additive nose-up

pitching moment. The effect of the fuselage on the flow

about the wing is sketched in Fig..

• The component of the incident flow velocity normal to the

fuselage axis generates additive upwash velocities in the

vicinity of the fuselage.

• The effect on the wing of these induced velocities normal to

the plane of the wing is equivalent to an additive symmetric

angle-of-attack distribution over the wing span (twist angle)

Asymmetric flow about a wing-fuselage system (schematic) (b) High-
wing airplane with AOA distribution α(y) (c) Mid-wing airplane (d)
Low-wing airplane with AOA distribution α(y)
Conformal mapping

• Conformal mapping is a mathematical technique used

to convert (or map) one mathematical problem and solution
into another. It involves the study of complex variables.
• Complex variables are combinations of real and imaginary
numbers. The use of complex variables to perform a conformal
mapping.
• Under some very restrictive conditions, we can define a
complex mapping function that will take every point in one
complex plane and map it onto another complex plane.
The transformation technique which transforms an orthogonal geometric pattern (Figure
3.1(a)), composed of elements of certain shape, into an entirely different pattern (Figure
3.1(b)), whilst the elements retain their form and proportion is termed conformal
transformation.
 Basic Principles

• As shown in Figure 3.1, the elements will, in the limit, retain their similar geometrical form. For this
to be true, the angle between the intersecting lines in plane 1 must remain the same when the two
lines are transformed to plane 2.

• Let us examine the point p in the (x, iy)-plane (z-plane), referred to as physical plane and the
corresponding point P in the (ξ, iη)-plane (ζ-plane), called transformed plane, shown in Figure 3.2.

• In the z-plane (physical plane) point p is located by z = x + iy, and in the ζ-plane (transformed
plane), the corresponding point P is located by ζ = ξ + iη. The relation between z and ζ is a particular
specified function of ζ, in terms of z. That is:

• This function is known as the transformation function.

• Consider the specific points, located at z1 and z2, on an arc segment p1p2 in the physical plane, as
shown in Figure 3.3(a). The corresponding points in the transformed plane are ζ1 and ζ2 and the arc
segment p1p2 in the z-plane is transformed to curve P1P2, shown in Figure 3.3(b). For transforming the
points in the z-plane to ζ-plane, the transformation function used is:

• Differentiating Eqn, with respect to z, we get:

dζ= f′ (z) dz

• In the limit of arc length p1p2 → 0, δz → dz and in the limit of arc length P1P2 → 0, δζ → dζ. From
Eqn, it is seen that the length dζ of the segment, in the transformed plane, becomes the vector dz, in the
physical plane, multiplied by the vector f(z), that is:
• Now, to understand this operation of the multiplication of
vectors, consider the function f (z) rewritten in its exponential
form, that is:
f (z) =
where r is the modulus of function f (z). Then:
|dζ| = |dz| r

• is in the direction of dz, after it has been rotated through θ, and

the angular displacement of f (z) (of the transformed element) is
equal to the the length of the original element rotated through
angle θ and multiplied by r.

• The shape of the transformed element is given by P1P2, as

shown in Figure 3.3(b), and not by Equation (3.2).
• Consider the arc segments ab and cd, cutting each other at point p in the z-plane, as shown in Figure 3.4(a). At
point p the angle subtended by the crossing arc ab and cd is β. In the transformed plane (ζ-plane), in Figure
3.4(b), the corresponding point is P and the transformed curves AB and CD are crossing with the same angle β,
in accordance with the conformal transformation, which stipulates that the “angle subtended by two crossing
arcs in the physical plane and the angle subtended by the corresponding transformed curves in the transformed
plane must be the same.”
• Let us consider the actual elements of the crossing arc segments. Since the transformed elements are
crossing at point P, with the same angle of intersection as in the z-plane, their lengths would be
affected by the same value of the transformation function f (z), in the transformation. Therefore:

P1P2 = p1p2 r, and rotated through θ

P3P4 = p3p4 r, and rotated through θ,

where f (z) = r eiθ .

• In the transformation, both the elements of the crossing arc segments are rotated through the same
angle. Therefore, the angle of intersection must remain unchanged during the transformation, that is:

Turning angle (β) in the z-plane = Turning angle (β) in the ζ-plane.
• This method can be used to show that a small element abcd in z-plane is transformed to a geometrically similar
element ABCD in the ζ-plane, as shown in Figure 3.5.

• This type of transformation satisfies the condition required for conformal transformation. The transformation
function is essentially of the vector type:

ζ = f (z),

where z = x + iy and ζ = ξ + iη.

A general form of the transformation function is:

ζ = A0 + A1z + A2z2 + ・ ・ ・ +Anzn + B1/z + B2/z2+ ・ ・ ・ + Bn/zn,

where A0, A1, etc. and B1, B2, etc. are constants and vectors or combinations of constants and vectors,
respectively.
Length Ratios between the Corresponding Elements in the Physical and Transformed Planes
The length ratio of corresponding elements in the z- and ζ-planes is given by:
dz/dζ = f (z).
The actual length of an element is the modulus of the vector δz. Thus:

Transformed length in ζ-plane/ Original length in z-plane = Idζ/ dzI

Velocity Ratios between the Corresponding Elements in the Physical and Transformed Planes

The velocity qz at any point p in the z-plane is given by:

dw/dz= Vx − i Vy,

where w = φ − iψ is the complex potential at that point,ψ is the stream function and φ is the potential function. But
with reference to the new (transformed) coordinate axes, the local velocity at point P is:

dw/dζ = Vx− iVy.

At the corresponding points between the original plane (z-plane) and the transformed plane (ζ-plane), considering only the
magnitudes, we can express:

Velocity in the transformed plane (ζ-plane)/ Velocity in the original plane (z-plane) = I dw/dζ I / I dw/dzI = dz/ dζ

It is seen that the velocity ratio between corresponding points in the original and transformed planes is the inverse of the length
ratio.
Singularities

The relation between the corresponding elements in the physical and transformed planes is adequately
defined by:

dζ = f′ (z)dz.

In most situations, the correspondence between the elements is the modulus and argument of the vector:

f′ (z) = dζ/dz

as outlined in the previous sections. This arrangement clearly breaks down where f (z) = dζ/dz is zero or
infinite. In both the cases, the conformability of the transformation is lost. The points at which dζ/dz = 0
or∞, in any transformation, are known as singular points, commonly abbreviated as singularities.
Kutta−Joukowski Transformation

Kutta−Joukowski transformation is the simplest of all transformations developed for

generating aerofoil shaped contours.

Kutta used this transformation to study circular-arc wing sections, while Joukowski
showed how this transformation could be extended to produce wing sections with
thickness t as well as camber.

Simplification that the transformation is confined to the study of the actual contour of
the circle, and to show how its shape changes on transformation.
On Kutta−Joukowski transformation, it is important to note the following:

• The circle considered, in the physical plane, is a specific streamline. Essentially the circle is the
stagnation streamline of the flow in the original plane 1 (z-plane).

• The transformation can be applied to the circle and all other streamlines, around the circle, to
generate the aerofoil and the corresponding streamlines in plane 2 (ζ-plane) or the transformed plane.

• That is, the transformation can result in the desired aerofoil shape and the streamlines of the flow
around the aerofoil.

• It is convenient to use polar coordinates in the z-plane and Cartesian coordinates in ζ-plane.

• The Kutta−Joukowski transformation function is:

ζ = ξ + iη = z + b^2/z where b is a constant

 ζ = ξ + iη = z + b^2/z

• Now, expressing z as z = re^iθ , where r and θ are the polar coordinates, and on expanding, we get:
ξ + iη = re^iθ + b^2/re^iθ
= r (cos θ + i sin θ) + b^2/r (cos θ − i sin θ) .
• Equating the real and imaginary parts, we get:
• These expressions for ξ and η are the general expressions for the
transformation of the basic shape, namely the circle in the z-plane, to any
desired shape in the ζ-plane.
• This can be achieved by assigning suitable values to the constant b in the
transformation function (z + b^2/z) and
• locating the center of the circle at the origin, or

• at a suitable location on the x-axis or y-axis, or (usually) in the first quadrant of

the z-plane.
 Transformation of Circle to Straight Line

• For transforming a circle of radius a to a straight line, the constant b in the Joukowski transformation function

should be set equal to a, and the center of the circle should be at the origin, as shown in Figure 4.4(a).

• Substituting r = a = b in the ξ and η expressions in Equation (4.1), we get:

• These ξ and η represent a straight line coinciding with the ξ-axis in the ζ-plane.
The transformed line is thus confined to ξ-axis, as shown in Figure 4.4(b), and as
θ varies from 0 to π, point P moves from +2a to −2a. Thus, the chord of the locus
of point P is 4a.

• Note that the singularities at z = +―b produce sharp edges at ζ = +―2aThat is,
the extremities of the straight line are sharp.
 Transformation of Circle to Ellipse

• For transforming a circle to an ellipse using the Kutta−Joukowski transformation function:

• the circle should have its center at the origin in the z-plane, but the radius of the circle should be greater than the
constant b, in the above transformation function, that is, a > b.

• With the radius of the circle r = a, we can express the ξ and η expressions in Equation (4.1) as:
Transformation of Circle to Symmetrical Aerofoil

• To transform a circle into a symmetrical aerofoil, the center of the circle in the z-plane should be shifted from the
origin and located slightly downstream of the origin, on the x-axis, as shown in Figure 4.6(a).

• This shift would cause asymmetry to the profile (about the ordinates of the transformed plane) of the transformed
shape obtained with the Kutta−Joukowski transformation function.

• Let the horizontal shift of the center of the circle c, from the origin o, also called as the eccentricity to be e. The
actual distance of the center of the circle from the origin is be, as shown in Figure 4.6(a). Thus,
 Transformation of a Circle to a Cambered Aerofoil

• For transforming a circle to a cambered aerofoil, using Joukowski transformation, the center of the circle in the physical
plane has to be shifted to a point in one of the quadrants. Let us consider the center in the first coordinate of z-plane, as
shown in Figure 4.8(a).
Transformation of Circle to Circular Arc
• Transformation of a circle with its center shifted above (or below) the origin, on the ordinate in the z-plane, with the
transformation function ζ = z + b2/z results in a circular arc, as shown in Figure 4.10.

• A general point p on the circle with center above the origin, on the y-axis, in Figure 4.10, can be represented as shown
in Figure 4.11.