Low-Speed Wind Tunnel Testing


Book Description

A brand-new edition of the classic guide on low-speed wind tunnel testing While great advances in theoretical and computational methods have been made in recent years, low-speed wind tunnel testing remains essential for obtaining the full range of data needed to guide detailed design decisions for many practical engineering problems. This long-awaited Third Edition of William H. Rae, Jr.'s landmark reference brings together essential information on all aspects of low-speed wind tunnel design, analysis, testing, and instrumentation in one easy-to-use resource. Written by authors who are among the most respected wind tunnel engineers in the world, this edition has been updated to address current topics and applications, and includes coverage of digital electronics, new instrumentation, video and photographic methods, pressure-sensitive paint, and liquid crystal-based measurement methods. The book is organized for quick access to topics of interest, and examines basic test techniques and objectives of modeling and testing aircraft designs in low-speed wind tunnels, as well as applications to fluid motion analysis, automobiles, marine vessels, buildings, bridges, and other structures subject to wind loading. Supplemented with real-world examples throughout, Low-Speed Wind Tunnel Testing, Third Edition is an indispensable resource for aerospace engineering students and professionals, engineers and researchers in the automotive industries, wind tunnel designers, architects, and others who need to get the most from low-speed wind tunnel technology and experiments in their work.




A History of Suction-Type Laminar-Flow Control with Emphasis on Flight Research


Book Description

Laminar-flow control is an area of aeronautical research that has a long history at NASA's Langley Research Center, Dryden Flight Research Center, their predecessor organizations, and elsewhere. In this monograph, Albert L. Braslow, who spent much of his career at Langley working with this research, presents a history of that portion of laminar-flow technology known as active laminar-flow control, which employs suction of a small quantity of air through airplane surfaces. This important technique offers the potential for significant reduction in drag and, thereby, for large increases in range or reductions in fuel usage for aircraft. For transport aircraft, the reductions in fuel consumed as a result of laminar-flow control may equal 30 percent of present consumption. Given such potential, it is obvious that active laminar-flow control with suction is an important technology. In this study, the author covers the early history of the subject and brings the story all the way to the mid-1990s with an emphasis on flight research, much of which occurred at Dryden.




Cave of the Winds


Book Description




Natural Laminar Flow and Laminar Flow Control


Book Description

Research on laminar flow and its transition to turbulent flow has been an important part of fluid dynamics research during the last sixty years. Since transition impacts, in some way, every aspect of aircraft performance, this emphasis is not only understandable but should continue well into the future. The delay of transition through the use of a favorable pressure gradient by proper body shaping (natural laminar flow) or the use of a small amount of suction (laminar flow control) was recognized even in the early 1930s and rapidly became the foundation of much of the laminar flow research in the U.S. and abroad. As one would expect, there have been many approaches, both theoretical and experimental, employed to achieve the substantial progress made to date. Boundary layer stability theories have been formu lated and calibrated by a good deal of wind tunnel and flight experiments. New laminar now airfoils and wings have been designed and many have been employed in aircraft designs. While the early research was, of necessity, concerned with the design of subsonic aircraft interest has steadily moved to higher speeds including those appropriate to planetary entry. Clearly, there have been substantial advances in our understanding of transition physics and in the development and application of transition prediction methodolo gies to the design of aircraft.




Aerodynamic Design of Transport Aircraft


Book Description

The origin of Aerodynamic Design of Transport Aircraft stems from the time when the author was appointed part-time professor in the Aerospace Faculty of Delft University of Technology. At the time his main activities were those of leading the departments of Aerodynamics, Performance and Preliminary Design at Fokker Aircraft Company. The groundwork for this book started in 1987 as a series of lecture notes consisting mainly of pictorial material with a minimum of English explanatory text. After the demise of Fokker in 1996 one feared that interest in aeronautical engineering would strongly diminish. As a result of this, the course was discontinued and the relationship between the author and the faculty came to an end. Two years later the situation was reappraised, and the interest in aeronautical engineering remained, so the course was reinstated with a former Fokker colleague Ronald Slingerland as lecturer. The lecture notes from these courses form the foundation of this publication.




Aerodynamics of V/STOL Flight


Book Description

An extremely practical overview of V/STOL (vertical/short takeoff and landing) aerodynamics, this volume offers a presentation of general theoretical and applied aerodynamic principles, covering propeller and helicopter rotor theory for both the static and forward flight cases. Both a text for students and a reference for professionals, the book can be used for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses. Numerous detailed figures, plus exercises. 1967 edition. Preface. Appendix. Index.




Dynamics of Flight


Book Description




Introductory Fluid Mechanics


Book Description

The objective of this introductory text is to familiarise students with the basic elements of fluid mechanics so that they will be familiar with the jargon of the discipline and the expected results. At the same time, this book serves as a long-term reference text, contrary to the oversimplified approach occasionally used for such introductory courses. The second objective is to provide a comprehensive foundation for more advanced courses in fluid mechanics (within disciplines such as mechanical or aerospace engineering). In order to avoid confusing the students, the governing equations are introduced early, and the assumptions leading to the various models are clearly presented. This provides a logical hierarchy and explains the interconnectivity between the various models. Supporting examples demonstrate the principles and provide engineering analysis tools for many engineering calculations.