Aerodynamic Design and Strength Analysis of the Wing for the Purpose of Assessing the Influence of the Bell-Shaped Lift Distribution

Pavel Hospodář,Aleš Prachař,Armand Drábek

doi:10.3390/aerospace9010013

Abstract

This article deals with aerodynamic and structural calculations of several wing designs to compare the influence of the shape on the lift distribution. Various shapes of wings for the required lift and bending moment were optimized to minimize drag and thereby reduce fuel consumption. One example was a wing with a bell-shaped lift distribution, which was proposed by Ludwig Prandtl and has been forgotten over the years. The first part of the paper focuses on minimization of the wing drag coefficient by a low fidelity method and the results are compared with the CFD calculation with good agreement. In the structural part of the analysis, the inner layout of the studied wings was designed. The structural design, containing elementary wing components and optimization loop, was carried out to minimize weight with respect to panel buckling. From these calculations the weights of wings were obtained and compared. In the last part of this study, an analysis of flight performance of an airplane with presented wings was performed for a selected flight mission. Results indicated that, for the free optimized wing, the fuel saving was about six percent.

Highlights

Purpose of Assessing the Influence ofThe wing is one of the most important parts of a typical airplane
Analysis focused on both global aerodynamic characteristics, lift curve, polar curve, maximum lift and drag coefficient, and lift distribution for individual wings
The ae namic analysis revealed a good match between the results of the fast-lifting line m and the CFD calculation, both in terms of total aerodynamic characteristics values a Analysis of selected wings with different planform were performed

Summary

Introduction

The wing is one of the most important parts of a typical airplane. Aviators and aircraft designers have tried to find the optimal shape of a wing. One of the fathers of aviation, Otto Lilienthal, built his gliders based on bird study. He was convinced that powered flight could be realized emulating bird flight. His work concentrated on ornithopters, despite the fact that the propeller-driven, fixed-wing concept was already known [1]. The flapping of wings, which was imitated by ornithopters, was not widely used further, but other aspects of avian flight appeared useful to explore, as will be discussed below

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Results

Conclusion