Date of Award

Summer 2003

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Program/Concentration

Aerospace Engineering

Committee Director

Robert L. Ash

Committee Member

Drew Landman

Committee Member

Colin P. Britcher

Call Number for Print

Special Collections; LD4331.E535 O58 2003

Abstract

The aerodynamic behavior of the early Wright brothers' airfoils is an important element of the history of aeronautics. Their fabric-covered wings were not constrained to maintain the airfoil shape of their wooden rib substructures and therefore differences in performance between rigid and flexible Wright airfoil shapes can be expected. The purpose of this thesis was to develop a systematic numerical approach that allows an assessment of the influence of the fabric on the overall aerodynamic behavior of the Wright Model B airfoil. The Model B airfoil was chosen because it is the earliest "production" airfoil and has sufficient documentation to permit a careful numerical examination. A theory to estimate the local positions of the non-porous flexible upper surface membrane was developed and applied to the Model B airfoil. The theory does not rely on the covering fabric material property and non-linear analysis, as the material property of the flexible fabric is not available at the time of this writing. An extremely blunt leading edge and thick trailing edge geometry of the Model B airfoil is unfavorable for a numerical analysis. Therefore, a method to analyze the Model B airfoil with a solid upper surface was sought. An analysis was performed with a panel method with boundary layer correction, and the numerical result was verified with results from wind tunnel testing of a one-third-scale solid model. The estimated fiber tension, airfoil cavity pressure, and upper surface correction model are sought, and modified geometry for the airfoil with flexible fabric upper surface was developed. The numerical analysis of the modified airfoil was performed, and its aerodynamic coefficients were calculated. The calculated aerodynamic coefficients are compared to the result from a full-scale wind tunnel testing model, and comparisons of lift and pitching moment coefficients of experimental and numerical analysis are presented. The calculated pitching moment coefficients for the flexible surface airfoil analysis are further evaluated for their validity.

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DOI

10.25777/47w3-cb31

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