Supersonic Wings

P M V Subbarao
Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department
I I T Delhi
An appropriate combination of Shocks & Expansion Waves
Supersonic Flow Over Flat Plates at Angle of Attack
 Review: Oblique Shock Wave Angle

tan

2 tan M 1 sin 1
2


2 M 12 sin 2 1
tan 2 M 1 cos 2
2 2
tan 2 M 12 cos 2
 Prandtl-Meyer Expansion Waves
<0 .. We get an expansion wave (Prandtl-Meyer)

1 1 1 2

(M 2 ) (M 1 ) (M )
1
tan M 1 tan
1
M2 1
1


 Lift Fp

Drag

Compare to Flat Plate

pl pu
p
p
CL
cos CD = 0
2
M
2
 Wings At Zero Angle of Attack

Subsonic Wing in Subsonic Flow Subsonic Wing in Supersonic Flow

M>1

M<1

Supersonic Wing in Subsonic Flow Supersonic Wing in Supersonic Flow

Flow Separation

M>1

M>1

Wings that work well sub-sonically generally Dont work well

supersonically, and vice-versa
 Supersonic Airfoils
A leading edge in Supersonic Flow has a finite maximum wedge angle
at which the oblique shock wave remains attached

=1.1
=1.1
=1.05

=1.2
=1.3
=1.3
=1.4
=1.4

Beyond that angle shock wave becomes detached from leading edge
 Supersonic Flow Over an Airfoil

=1.1

Detached shock wave=1.3

Localized normal shock wave

Normal Shock wave formed off the front of a blunt leading

causes significant drag
 Supersonic Airfoils
To eliminate this leading edge drag caused by detached bow wave Supersonic
wings are typically quite sharp at the leading edge
=1.1
Design feature allows oblique wave to attach to the leading edge eliminating
the area of high pressure ahead of the wing.
=1.3

Double wedge or diamond Airfoil section

 Supersonic Airfoils : Positive Angle of Attack

Dull Oblique Shock

2 4
1

6
3
Intense Oblique Shock 5
 Supersonic Airfoils : Positive Angle of Attack

A supersonic airfoil at positive angle of attack :

A dull shock at the top leading edge. =1.1
An intense shock at the bottom.
The airflow over the top of the wing is now faster.
=1.3
Further acceleration through the expansion fans.
The Expansion fan on the top is more intense than the one on the
bottom.
Combined result is faster flow and lower pressure on the top of the
airfoil.

We already have all of the tools we need to analyze the flow on

this wing
Supersonic Airfoils : Negative Angle of Attack

=1.1

=1.3
When supersonic airfoil is at negative angle of attack at the top
leading edge there is a expansion fan and oblique shock at the
bottom.
Result is the airflow over the top of the wing is now faster.
Airflow will also be accelerated through the expansion fans on
both sides.
Result is much faster flow on top surface and therefore lower
pressure on the top of the airfoil.
 Supersonic Flow on Finite Thickness Wings at zero

Symmetrical Diamond-wedge airfoil, zero angle of attack

Drag 2b [p2l sin(e ) p3l sin(e )]

t /2
sin(e )
l
Drag b [p2 p3 ]t
p2 > p1
 Supersonic Wave Drag

Finite Wings in Supersonic Flow have drag .. Even

at zero angle of attack and no lift and no viscosity. wave drag

Wave Drag coefficient is proportional to thickness ratio (t/c)

CD wave
Drag

[p p3 ] t
2

2 c
_
bc q p M
2

Supersonic flow over wings

induced drag (drag due to lift) + viscous drag + wave drag
Symmetric Double-wedge Airfoil Drag

CD wave
Drag

[p2 p3 ] t
_

bc q p M 2 c
2

Thickness ratio
 Increasing mach

Look at mach number

Effect on wave drag

Mach Number tends

to suppress wave drag

Thickness ratio
 How About The
Induced drag effect of angle of
attack on drag

Wave drag

+ 0

=
 Total drag
Mach constant

Increasing t/c
The effect of angle of attack on Lift

+
Lift Coefficient Climbs Almost Linearly with

=
 For Inviscid flow
Supersonic
t/c = 0.035 Lift to drag ratio
almost infinite
for very thin
airfoil

But airfoils do not

+ fly in inviscid flows

=
t/c = 0.035
Friction effects
have small effect
on Nozzle flow
or flow in large
ducts

But contribute

+ significantly
to reduce the

=
performance of
supersonic wings
 Disadvantages of Sharp Edged Wings

Problem with sharp leading edges is poor performance in

subsonic flight.

Lead to very high stall speeds, poor subsonic handling

qualities, and poor take off and landing performance for
conventional aircraft
 Wing Sweep Reduces Wave Drag
One way to augment the performance of supersonic
aircraft is with wing sweep

Lowers the speed of flow

Normal to the wing

Decreasing the strength

Of the oblique shock wave

Result is a Decrease in wave

Drag and enhanced L/D
Geometrical Description of Wing Sweep
 Equivalent 2-D Flow on Swept Wing

Freestream Mach number resolved into 3 components

i) vertical to wing
ii) in plane of wing, but tangent to leading edge
iii) in plane of wing, but normal to leading edge
 i)M vert M sin
ii)M || M cos sin
ii)M M cos cos
 Equivalent Mach Number normal to leading edge

M eq M M vert
2 2
M sin M cos cos
2 2

M
1 cos2 cos2 1 sin 2 M 1 sin 2 cos2
 Equivalent angle of attack normal to leading edge

M sin tan

tan eq
M vert
M

M cos cos cos
 Equivalent chord and span
ceq c [cos ]
Chord is shortened

b Span is lengthened
beq
cos
 Equivalent 2-D Lift Coefficient

L L
C L eq
b
p M eq 2
c [cos ] p M eq 2 cb
2 cos 2
L CL




2 2
p M cb 1 sin cos
2 2 2 1 sin cos
2
 Equivalent 2-D
Drag Coefficient

D / cos D / cos
C D eq
b p M 2 cb
p M eq c [cos ]
2
eq
2 cos 2
D / cos C D / cos



2 2
p M cb 1 sin cos
2 2 2 1 sin cos
2
 Solve for CL, CD, L/D

L

CL CL eq 1 sin cos
2 2
L

D eq

CD CD eq
cos 1 sin cos
2 2

D cos
 Unswept Wing 30 Swept Wing

CL: 0.205 CL: 0.2533

CD: 0.3606 CD: 0.03909
L/D: 5.68441 L/D: 6.4799

WOW! 14% IMPROVEMENT IN PERFORMANCE

 F-14 Tomcat

The F-14's wing sweep can be varied between 20 and 68 in flight, and is
automatically controlled by an air data computer.
This maintains the wing sweep to give the optimum lift/drag ratio as the
Mach number varies.
The system can be manually overridden by the pilot if necessary.
When the aircraft is parked, the wings can be swept to 75, where they
overlap the tail to save space on tight carrier decks.