Chapter 2 (PART B)

Drag Characteristics of the Airplane

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 Sources of Drag
• It is easy to produce lift on a body but we • Therefore, there are only two types of
must produce it in the most efficient drag
manner. i.e., with minimum drag – Pressure drag – due to a net imbalance
• The ratio of lift-to-drag (L/D) is called of surface pressure acting in the drag
aerodynamic efficiency direction
– Friction drag – due to the net effect of
• In airplane performance and design, L/D
shear stress acting in the drag direction
is perhaps the most important aero-
dynamic quantity • Several types of drag have been defined
in the aerodynamic literature, but they all
• We’ve already studied the lift character- fall in one or the other of the above two
istics of aircraft components. Now we categories
shall study some drag characteristics
• The analytical prediction of drag is much
• We noted earlier that there are only two more difficult than that of lift
sources of aerodynamic force on a body
moving through a fluid – pressure • We have studied the variation of lift with
distribution and shear stress distribution α, Re, and Mach number. Drag, however,
is very much a function of Mach number

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 Subsonic Drag
• So we organize our discussion on drag
based around Mach number regimes
– Subsonic
– Transonic
– Supersonic

Subsonic Drag
Airfoils (infinite wings):
• We’ve already studied the drag character-
istics of airfoil sections for NACA aero-
dynamic data. They were given as
functions of cl (and therefore, α)
• Fig 2.18 shows data for one such airfoil. It
is called the section drag coefficient cd
because it refers to infinite wings. It is
also called the profile drag coefficient
• Profile drag = skin friction drag + pressure
drag due to flow separation
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 Form Drag
• Skin friction drag is due to the frictional
shear stress acting on the surface of the • x
airfoil
• Pressure drag due to flow separation is
caused by the imbalance of the pressure
distribution in the drag direction when the
boundary layer separates from the airfoil
surface. Frequently, this is also called
form drag
• In coefficient form, we have
cd = cf + cd,p [2.26]
where cd is the profile drag coefficient, cf
is the skin friction drag coefficient, and
cd,p is the form drag coefficient or the
pressure drag coefficient due to flow
separation
• For thin airfoils in incompressible flow, the
skin friction drag coefficient is the same
as that for a flat plate, which is
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 Skin Friction Drag Coefficient
cf =
1.328
[2.27] • One such formula which is implicit in cf
Re
where developed by Karman-Schoenherr, is
Df ρ ∞V∞ c
and Re ≡
cf ≡
q∞ S µ∞ (c )
f
− 12
= 4.13 log(Re .c f ) [2.28]

Df = friction drag on one side of the airfoil

• Another explicit formula by White and
or flat plate
Christoph is
S = wing planform area
0.42
c = length of the plate in the flow cf = [2.29]
ln 2 (0.056 Re )
direction. For an airfoil, it is the chord
length • No simple formulas exist for the
• Eqn (2.27) is an exact theoretical relation prediction of pressure drag cd,p
for laminar incompressible flow over a flat • At subsonic speeds, below the drag-
plate divergence Mach number, the variation of
• No such formula exists for turbulent flow cd with Mach number is very small (See
but some empirical formulas have been Fig 2.11 again, shown on the next page)
developed
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 Induced Drag
• Induced drag coefficient is defined as
Di
C Di ≡
q∞ S
• For high-aspect-ratio straight wings,
Prandtl’s lifting line theory predicts that
C L2
C Di ≡ [2.30]
πeAR
where e is the span efficiency factor
given by
1 [2.31]
e=
Finite Wings: 1+ δ
• The drag of a finite wing is more than just and δ > 1 and is supplied through graphs
the profile drag because of the wing-tip as a function of the taper ratio ct /cr
vortices which also contribute to the drag • The idea is to reduce CDi and the way to
• This extra drag is called induced drag do it is through e by making it as close to
Di. It is purely a pressure drag one as possible, typically e = 0.95-1.00

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 Induced Drag
• Note that if we double the aspect ratio,
the drag will reduce by a factor of 2
• Thus, increasing the aspect ratio is a
major factor in reducing the induced drag
• However, large aspect ratio means much
greater weight for the internal wing
structure
• As a design compromise, the AR for most
subsonic aircraft is between 6 and 9
• For sale planes around 20-30
• U2 around 15 because of high ceiling
• In English text books, induced drag is
called vortex drag.
Study solved example 2.14/pg 112
Also read the Design Cameo/pg 112

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 Interference Drag
Fuselages:
• The fuselage by itself experiences substantial drag which is a combination of skin
friction drag and pressure drag due to flow separation.
• The skin friction drag is a direct function of the wetted surface area Sw which is the area
that would get wet if the fuselage were immersed in water
• When the fuselage is mated to the wing and other appendages, the net drag is not the
direct sum of the drag of the individual parts. The pattern changes. There is an
interference of flow fields over both bodies and there is an increase in pressure drag.
This increase is called interference drag

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 Summary of Drag Components
• There are no analytical formulas for – Interference drag: is the additional
interference drag. Empirical formulas do pressure drag caused by the mutual
exist however interaction of the flow fields around each
component of the airplane. The total drag
• Drag components can now all be of the combination is usually greater than
conveniently summarized as follows: that of the sum of its individual parts. The
– Skin-friction drag: is due to the frictional difference is the interference drag
shear stress integrated over the surface – Parasite drag: is the term used for the
– Form drag: is the pressure drag due to profile drag for a complete airplane. It is
flow separation that portion of the total drag associated
– Profile drag: is the sum of the skin- with skin friction and pressure drag due to
friction drag and the form drag. It is also flow separation integrated over the
called the section drag because it complete airplane. It includes interference
applies to infinite wings drag.
– Induced drag: is the pressure drag due to – Zero-lift drag: is usually used in
the pressure imbalance in the drag conjunction with a complete airplane. It is
direction caused by the induced flow the parasite drag that exists when the
(downwash) associated with the vortices airplane is at its zero-lift angle of attack
created at the tips of finite wings

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 Transonic Drag
Transonic Drag
• In transonic flow, the free stream Mach
number is subsonic but there are local
regions of supersonic flow over various
parts of the airplane
• These local supersonic pockets are
usually terminated by the pressure of
shock waves as shown in Fig 2.11
• In this figure, the prominent transonic
drag rise occurs near Mach one. It is due • Second, even if the BL did not separate,
to the pressure of shock waves and is there is a loss of total pressure across the
exclusively a pressure drag effect shock which ultimately would cause a net
• First, and primarily, the strong adverse static pressure imbalance in the drag
pressure gradient across the shock direction (which is also a pressure drag)
causes the boundary layer (BL) to • The net effect of these combined
separate from the surface. This creates a phenomena is the large drag rise near
pressure drag due to flow separation Mach one
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 Drag Rise Prediction in Transonic Flow
• Even though Fig 2.11 applies to airfoils,
the same qualitative effect occurs for
complete airplanes like the T-38 jet trainer
shown in Fig 2.42. Note the sharp rise in
CD,0 near Mach one.
• No closed-form analytical formulas exist
to predict the transonic drag rise – only
empirical results are available
• However, there are two methods that
exist to reduce the drag rise or to delay its
effects. These are:
– The transonic area rule
– The supercritical airfoil
• Let’s study these methods:

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 The Transonic Area Rule
• The essence of the area rule is • x
sketched in Fig 2.43 and 2.44.
• In Fig 2.43a, the top view of a non-
area-ruled airplane is shown; here,
the variation of the cross-sectional
area with the longitudinal distance is
not smooth, i.e., it has some
discontinuities, particularly where
the cross-sectional area of the wing
is added to that of the fuselage
• These kinks cause the large
transonic drag rise and should be
removed
• This can be achieved by decreasing
the cross-sectional area of the
fuselage in the wing region
• This is called area ruling and is
illustrated in Fig 2.43b

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 The F-102 Fighter is Area-Ruled
• The area-rule design feature is clearly
seen in Fig 1.31 which shows the F-102
Convair
• This airplane was designed as supersonic
but never did go supersonic because of
the large drag, but with the area-rule, it
did attain supersonic speed
• Fig 1.31a shows the design without the
area-rule; while Fig 1.31b shows the
design with the area-rule. The variation in
the fuselage cross-section is clearly seen
in the bottom figure
• Today, almost all transonic and
supersonic aircraft incorporate some
degree of area-rule
• The area-ruling causes the fuselage to
look like a “coke bottle”

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 Effect of Area-Ruling
• The effect of area ruling is to reduce the peak
transonic drag rise as sketched in Fig 2.44
• The actual drag data for the F-102 before and
after area ruling are given in Fig 2.45
• The minimum drag coefficient is plotted against
the free stream Mach number for (a) the original,
non-area-ruled prototype (solid curve) and (b)
the modified, area-ruled airplane (labeled
“revised” in Fig 2.45.
• Note the decrease in peak drag coefficient for
the area-ruled airplane

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 Supercritical Airfoil
• Return to Fig 2.11. Note that the drag-
divergence Mach number MDD occurs
slightly above the critical Mach number
Mcrit The idea, of course, is to increase
Mcrit so that MDD would also increase.
• This was done for several years after
world war II (for example, the NACA 64-
series airfoils) but later Richard Whitcomb
proposed another way to delay drag
divergence. He suggested that the • This is done as follows:
increment between Mcrit and MDD , which
he called the “grace period”, should be • The supercritical airfoil has a relatively flat
increased. This led to the design of the top, thus encouraging a region of
supercritical airfoil supersonic flow with lower local values of
M than those of the NACA 64-series
• The intent of the supercritical airfoil is to
increase the value of MDD , not • In turn, the terminating shock is weaker,
necessarily Mcrit thus creating less drag

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 Supercritical Airfoil
• Also shown are the variations of Cp for
both airfoils
• The shape of the supercritical airfoil is
compared with the NACA 64-series airfoil
in Fig 2.47. Fig (a) and (b) correspond to
the NACA airfoil, whereas fig (c) and (d)
correspond to the supercritical airfoil
• The NACA airfoil is at M = 0.69 whereas
the supercritical airfoil is at M = 0.79; i.e.,
M is lower for the NACA airfoil and yet
the extent of the supersonic flow reaches
farther above the airfoil, the local
supersonic Mach numbers are higher and
the terminating shock wave is stronger
• As a result, the value of MDD is higher for
the supercritical airfoil.
• This is verified by experiment
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 Supersonic Drag
Supersonic Drag
• Shock waves are the dominant feature of
the flow field around an airplane flying at
supersonic speeds
• Supersonic wave drag is a pressure drag
as seen in the supersonic flow over a flat
plate in Fig 2.49
• The wave pattern creates a constant
pressure on both the bottom and top
surfaces, but on the bottom surface p > p∞
and on the top p < p∞
• This pressure distribution creates a
resultant aerodynamic force perpendicular • For small α, the lift slope is expressed by
to the plate which is resolved into lift and eqn (2.17), which gives for the lift
drag as shown in Fig 2.47. The drag is coefficient
4α
called wave drag Dw cl = (2.32)
M∞ −1
2

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 Wave Drag Components
• The corresponding expression for the wave
drag coefficient cd,w is
4α 2
c d ,w = (2.33)
M∞ −1
2

• Since both lift and wave drag occur at a non-

zero angle of attack for the flat plate, and both
are zero at α = 0, the wave drag expressed by
eqn (2.33) is wave drag due to lift
• This is in contrast to a body with thickness,
such as the supersonic wedge at α = 0 shown
in Fig 2.50. this is also called wave drag • Actually, at subsonic and transonic speeds, the
• From the pressure distribution we see that the skin friction drag also depends on Mach
lift will be zero. Hence, Dw in Fig 2.50 is an number; but we shall ignore this for now
example of zero-lift wave drag • At supersonic speeds, the effects of
• Thus we see that supersonic wave drag compressibility and heat transfer should also be
consists of two parts taken into account along with the Mach number
variation. These topics are the subject of
– Zero-lift wave drag
classical compressible boundary layer theory
– Wave drag due to lift

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Summary of Drag Components Revisited
• There are no analytical formulas for – Interference drag: is the additional
interference drag. Empirical formulas do pressure drag caused by the mutual
exist however interaction of the flow fields around each
component of the airplane. The total drag
• Drag components can now all be of the combination is usually greater than
conveniently summarized as follows: that of the sum of its individual parts. The
– Skin-friction drag: is due to the frictional difference is the interference drag
shear stress integrated over the surface – Parasite drag: is the term used for the
– Form drag: is the pressure drag due to profile drag for a complete airplane. It is
flow separation that portion of the total drag associated
– Profile drag: is the sum of the skin- with skin friction and pressure drag due to
friction drag and the form drag. It is also flow separation integrated over the
called the section drag because it complete airplane. It includes interference
applies to infinite wings drag.
– Induced drag: is the pressure drag due to – Zero-lift drag: is usually used in
the pressure imbalance in the drag conjunction with a complete airplane. It is
direction caused by the induced flow the parasite drag that exists when the
(downwash) associated with the vortices airplane is at its zero-lift angle of attack
created at the tips of finite wings

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