MEC663 - Aerodynamics (2023-2024)

Aerodynamics aims to predict the influence of air flows
and object shapes on mechanical stresses and heat transfers
in applications ranging from airplanes, to land vehicles
and to buildings. It is an extremely rich and lively subject
in terms of basic and applied research that we approach
through a series of 4 lectures and exercise sessions.
Students will learn the fundamental laws of incompressible
aerodynamics, by sequentially addressing aerodynamic forces,
the origin of lift and drag, and finally by establishing
the physical models and the mathematical framework that
allow to deal with all the problems of interest. The course
goes deep into the concepts that may have been covered
before, especially in M1. Emphasis is placed on the
phenomenology of flows, using numerous illustrations.
The lessons are followed by deepening sessions with
exercises which aim to provide tools to calculate
aerodynamic forces and properties of flows over a
set of concrete applications. A final session is
devoted to carrying out numerical simulations of
the flow around a wing profile, with application
to a configuration of tandem and ground effect wings.

Content

Course 1: Reminders of Fluid Mechanics, Lift - drag,
phenomenology, potential flows, Kutta condition
Course 2: Theory of thin profiles, lift of a wing profile
Course 3: Lifting line theory, elliptical wing of minimum drag
Exercise 1: Panel method, image method and ground effect
for a wing profile
Exercise 2: Lift of a wing profile, application
to Joukowski's wing, flap effects to increase the lift of a profile
Exercise 3: Modeling of marginal vortices,
application to formation flight and to the ground effect
for a wing of fine span
Project: in pairs, realization of numerical simulations
of a wing profile by solving the Euler equations to deepen the concepts seen in progress, application to the wings in tandem and ground effect.

Evaluation

projet, exam

Language

English

ECTS credits

1.5

 updated 24/04/2020