12/5/2015

WingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Wing
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Awingisatypeoffinwithasurfacethatproducesaerodynamic
forceforflightorpropulsionthroughtheatmosphere,orthrough
anothergaseousorliquidfluid.Assuch,wingshaveanairfoil
shape,astreamlinedcrosssectionalshapeproducinglift.
Theword"wing"fromtheOldNorsevngr[1]formany
centuriesreferredmainlytotheforemostlimbsofbirds(in
additiontothearchitecturalaisle.)Butinrecentcenturiesthe
word'smeaninghasextendedtoincludeliftproducing
appendagesofinsects,bats,pterosaurs,boomerangs,somesail
boatsandaircraft,ortheinvertedairfoilonaracecarthat
generatesadownwardforcetoincreasetraction.

Alaughinggullwithitswings
extendedinthegullwingprofile

Variousspeciesofpenguinsandotherflightedorflightlesswater
birdssuchasauks,cormorants,guillemots,shearwaters,eider
andscoterducksanddivingpetrelsareavidswimmers,anduse
theirwingstopropelthroughwater.[2]
Awing'saerodynamicqualityisexpressedasitslifttodrag
ratio.Theliftawinggeneratesatagivenspeedandangleof
attackcanbeonetotwoordersofmagnitudegreaterthanthe
totaldragonthewing.Ahighlifttodragratiorequiresa
significantlysmallerthrusttopropelthewingsthroughtheairat
sufficientlift.
Aflyingbat

Contents
1 Aerodynamicsofwings
1.1 Devicestochangetheshapeofawing
1.2 Acommonmisconception
1.3 Otherexamples
2 Designfeatures
3 Seealso
4 References
5 Externallinks

AsweptwingKC10Extender(top)
refuelsatrapezoidalwingF22
Raptor

Aerodynamicsofwings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing

1/5

12/5/2015

WingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Thedesignandanalysisofthewingsofaircraftisoneofthe
principalapplicationsofthescienceofaerodynamics,whichisa
branchoffluidmechanics.Thepropertiesoftheairflowaround
anymovingobjectcaninprinciplebefoundbysolvingthe
NavierStokesequationsoffluiddynamics.However,exceptfor
simplegeometriestheseequationsarenotoriouslydifficultto
solve.[3]Fortunately,simplerexplanationscanbedescribed.
Forawingtoproduce"lift",itmustbeorientedatasuitable
angleofattackrelativetotheflowofairpastthewing.Whenthis
occursthewingdeflectstheairflowdownwards,"turning"theair
asitpassesthewing.Sincethewingexertsaforceontheairto
changeitsdirection,theairmustexertaforceonthewing,equal
insizebutoppositeindirection.Thisforcemanifestsitselfas
differingairpressuresatdifferentpointsonthesurfaceofthe
wing.[4][5][6]
Aregionoflowerthannormalairpressureisgeneratedoverthe
topsurfaceofthewing,withahigherpressureonthebottomof
thewing.(See:airfoil)Theseairpressuredifferencescanbe
eithermeasureddirectlyusinginstrumentation,orcanbe
calculatedfromtheairspeeddistributionusingbasicphysical
principlesincludingBernoulli'sPrinciple,whichrelates
changesinairspeedtochangesinairpressure.
Thelowerairpressureonthetopofthewinggeneratesasmaller
downwardforceonthetopofthewingthantheupwardforce
generatedbythehigherairpressureonthebottomofthewing.
Hence,anetupwardforceactsonthewing.Thisforceiscalled
the"lift"generatedbythewing.

ThewingofalandingBMIAirbus
A319100.Theslatsatitsleading
edgeandtheflapsatitstrailingedge
areextended.

Thelowpressureregionoverthe
wingofthisA340isclearlyshownby
thecondensationitcausesinthe
humidair

Thedifferentvelocitiesoftheairpassingbythewing,theair
pressuredifferences,thechangeindirectionoftheairflow,and
theliftonthewingareintrinsicallyonephenomenon.Itis,
therefore,possibletocalculateliftfromanyoftheotherthree.Forexample,theliftcanbecalculated
fromthepressuredifferences,orfromdifferentvelocitiesoftheairaboveandbelowthewing,orfrom
thetotalmomentumchangeofthedeflectedair.Fluiddynamicsoffersotherapproachestosolvingthese
problemsandallproducethesameanswersifdonecorrectly.Givenaparticularwinganditsvelocity
throughtheair,debatesoverwhichmathematicalapproachisthemostconvenienttousecanbe
mistakenbynovicesasdifferencesofopinionaboutthebasicprinciplesofflight.
Foramoredetailedcoverageseelift(force).

Devicestochangetheshapeofawing
Usually,aircraftwingshavevariousdevices,suchasflapsorslatsthatthepilotusestomodifytheshape
andsurfaceareaofthewingtochangeitsoperatingcharacteristicsinflight.In1948,FrancisRogallo
inventedthefullylimpflexiblewing,whichusherednewpossibilitiesforaircraft.Nearintime,Domina
Jalbertinventedflexibleunsparredramairairfoiledthickwings.Thesetwonewbranchesofwings
havebeensinceextensivelystudiedandappliedinnewbranchesofaircraft,especiallyalteringthe
personalrecreationalaviationlandscape.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing

2/5

12/5/2015

WingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Acommonmisconception
Acommonmisconceptionisthat,togeneratelift,awingmusthavealongerairpathacrossitstopside
comparedwithitsunderside.[7]Wingswiththisshapearethenorminsubsonicflight,butsymmetrically
shapedwings(aboveandbelow)cangenerateliftbyusingapositiveangleofattacktodeflectair
downward.Symmetricalairfoilshavehigherstallingspeedsthancamberedairfoilsofthesamewing
area[8]butareusedinaerobaticaircraftastheyprovidepracticalperformancewhethertheaircraftis
uprightorinverted.Anotherexamplecomesfromsailboats,wherethesailisathinmembranewithno
pathlengthdifferencebetweenonesideandtheother.[9]
Forflightspeedsnearthespeedofsound(transonicflight),airfoilswithcomplexasymmetricalshapes
areusedtominimizethedrasticincreaseindragassociatedwithairflownearthespeedofsound.[10]
Suchairfoils,calledsupercriticalairfoils,areflatontopandcurvedonthebottom.[11]

Otherexamples
Thescienceofwingsappliesinotherareasbeyondconventional
fixedwingaircraft,including:
Hanggliders,whichusewingsrangingfromfullyflexible
(paragliders,glidingparachutes),flexible(framedsail
wings),torigid
Kites,whichuseavastvarietyofwings.
Flyingmodelairplanes
Helicopters,whichusearotatingwingwithavariable
pitchangletoprovidedirectionalforces
Propellers,whosebladesgenerateliftforpropulsion.
TheNASASpaceShuttle,whichusesitswingsonlyto
glideduringitsdescenttoarunway.Thesetypesofaircraft
arecalledspaceplanes.
Someracingcars,especiallyFormulaOnecars,whichuse
upsidedownwings(orairfoils)toprovidegreatertraction
athighspeeds
Sailboats,whichusesailsasverticalwingswithvariable
fullnessanddirectiontomoveacrosswater
Structureswiththesamepurposeaswings,butdesignedforuse
inliquidmedia,aregenerallycalledfinsorhydrofoils,with
hydrodynamicsasthegoverningscience,ratherthan
aerodynamics.Applicationsoftheseariseincraftsuchas
hydroplanesandsubmarines.Sailboatsandsailingshipsuseboth
finsandwings.

Designfeatures

Flaps(green)areusedinvarious
configurationstoincreasethewing
areaandtoincreasethelift.In
conjunctionwithspoilers(red),flaps
maximizedragandminimizelift
duringthelandingroll.

Aircraftwingsmayfeaturesomeofthefollowing:
Aroundedleadingedgecrosssection
Asharptrailingedgecrosssection
Leadingedgedevicessuchasslats,slots,orextensions
Trailingedgedevicessuchasflapsorflaperons(combinationofflapsandailerons)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing

3/5

12/5/2015

WingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Ailerons(usuallynearthewingtips)torolltheaircraft
clockwiseorcounterclockwiseaboutitslongaxis
Spoilersontheuppersurfacetodisrupttheliftandto
provideadditionaltractiontoanaircraftthathasjust
landedbutisstillmoving.
Vortexgeneratorstohelppreventflowseparationin
transonicflow
Wingfencestokeepflowattachedtothewingbystopping
boundarylayerseparationfromspreading
Wingletstokeepwingtipvorticesfromincreasingdragand
decreasinglift
Dihedral,orapositivewingangletothehorizontal.This
givesinherentstabilityintherolldirection.Anhedral,ora
negativewingangletothehorizontal,hasadestabilizing
effect
Foldingwingsallowmoreaircraftstorageintheconfined
spaceofthehangardeckofanaircraftcarrier
Variablesweepwingor"swingwings"thatallow
outstretchedwingsduringlowspeedflight(i.e.,takeoff
andlanding)andsweptbackwingsforhighspeedflight
(includingsupersonicflight),suchasintheF111
Aardvark,theF14Tomcat,thePanaviaTornado,the
MiG23,theMiG27,theTu160andtheB1BLancer
warplanes

Internalmechanicalconstructionofa
genericmonosparwing.Black=
solid,red=tubeusedforthespar,
green=foam,wood,honeycomb,or
sheetmetalusedfortheribs.The
leadingedgegivestorsionalstiffness.
Thetrailingedgecaneitherhavea
flexibleskin,whichdoesnotbreak
underwingbending(birdlike,)or
haveastiffskin(madeofcarbon
fiber,aluminumalloy,ortitanium,
aircraftlike),whichisprevented
frombucklingbyspanwise
"stringers."

Seealso
Flight
Naturalworld:
Birdflight
Flightfeather
Flyingandglidinganimals
Insectflight
Listofsoaringbirds
Samara(wingedseedsoftrees)
Aviation:
FanWingandFlettnerairplane(experimentalwingtypes)
Kitetypes
OrnithopterFlappingwingaircraft(researchprototypes,
simpletoysandmodels)
OttoLilienthal
Planform
Wingconfiguration
Wingsuit

Varioustreessuchasmaples,andthe
Alsomitramacrocarpahavewinged
seedsthatenablethemtodisperse,
someautorotatingastheyfall,often
catchingtheautumnwindastheydo
so.

Sailing:
Sails
Forcesonsails
Wingsail
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing

4/5