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Lift Coefficient - Wikipedia

The lift coefficient (CL) is a dimensionless quantity that relates the lift generated by a lifting body to fluid density, velocity, and reference area. CL depends on the body's angle, Reynolds number, and Mach number. Section lift coefficient (cl) refers to the dynamic lift characteristics of a two-dimensional foil section based on chord area. CL can be approximated, calculated, or measured and relates lift force, surface area, and dynamic pressure based on fluid properties and speed. cl is similarly defined based on lift force per unit span and reference length like chord. Lift coefficients show an almost linear increase then decrease with increasing angle of attack.

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77 views13 pages

Lift Coefficient - Wikipedia

The lift coefficient (CL) is a dimensionless quantity that relates the lift generated by a lifting body to fluid density, velocity, and reference area. CL depends on the body's angle, Reynolds number, and Mach number. Section lift coefficient (cl) refers to the dynamic lift characteristics of a two-dimensional foil section based on chord area. CL can be approximated, calculated, or measured and relates lift force, surface area, and dynamic pressure based on fluid properties and speed. cl is similarly defined based on lift force per unit span and reference length like chord. Lift coefficients show an almost linear increase then decrease with increasing angle of attack.

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Rohit Raj
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Lift coefficient

In fluid dynamics, the lift coefficient (CL)


is a dimensionless quantity that relates
the lift generated by a lifting body to the
fluid density around the body, the fluid
velocity and an associated reference area.
A lifting body is a foil or a complete foil-
bearing body such as a fixed-wing aircraft.
CL is a function of the angle of the body to
the flow, its Reynolds number and its Mach
number. The section lift coefficient cl
refers to the dynamic lift characteristics of
a two-dimensional foil section, with the
reference area replaced by the foil
chord.[1][2]

Definitions
The lift coefficient CL is defined by[2][3]

where is the lift force, is the relevant


surface area and is the fluid dynamic
pressure, in turn linked to the fluid density
, and to the flow speed . The choice of
the reference surface should be specified
since it is arbitrary. For example, for
cylindric profiles (the 3D extrusion of an
airfoil in the spanwise direction) it is
always oriented in the spanwise direction,
but while in aerodynamics and thin airfoil
theory the second axis generating the
surface is commonly the chordwise
direction:

resulting in a coefficient:

while for thick airfoils and in marine


dynamics, the second axis is sometimes
taken in the thickness direction:
resulting in a different coefficient:

The ratio between these two coefficients is


the thickness ratio:

The lift coefficient can be approximated


using the lifting-line theory,[4] numerically
calculated or measured in a wind tunnel
test of a complete aircraft configuration.
Section lift coefficient

A typical curve showing section lift coefficient


versus angle of attack for a cambered airfoil

Lift coefficient may also be used as a


characteristic of a particular shape (or
cross-section) of an airfoil. In this
application it is called the section lift
coefficient . It is common to show, for a
particular airfoil section, the relationship
between section lift coefficient and angle
of attack.[5] It is also useful to show the
relationship between section lift
coefficient and drag coefficient.

The section lift coefficient is based on


two-dimensional flow over a wing of
infinite span and non-varying cross-section
so the lift is independent of spanwise
effects and is defined in terms of , the lift
force per unit span of the wing. The
definition becomes

where L is the reference length that should


always be specified: in aerodynamics and
airfoil theory usually the airfoil chord is
chosen, while in marine dynamics and for
struts usually the thickness is chosen.
Note this is directly analogous to the drag
coefficient since the chord can be
interpreted as the "area per unit span".

For a given angle of attack, cl can be


calculated approximately using the thin
airfoil theory,[6] calculated numerically or
determined from wind tunnel tests on a
finite-length test piece, with end-plates
designed to ameliorate the three-
dimensional effects. Plots of cl versus
angle of attack show the same general
shape for all airfoils, but the particular
numbers will vary. They show an almost
linear increase in lift coefficient with
increasing angle of attack with a gradient
known as the lift slope. For a thin airfoil of
any shape the lift slope is π2/90 ≃ 0.11 per
degree. At higher angles a maximum point
is reached, after which the lift coefficient
reduces. The angle at which maximum lift
coefficient occurs is the stall angle of the
airfoil, which is approximately 10 to 15
degrees on a typical airfoil.

The stall angle for a given profile is also


increasing with increasing values of the
Reynolds number, at higher speeds indeed
the flow tends to stay attached to the
profile for longer delaying the stall
condition.[7][8] For this reason sometimes
wind tunnel testing performed at lower
Reynolds numbers than the simulated real
life condition can sometimes give
conservative feedback overestimating the
profiles stall.

Symmetric airfoils necessarily have plots


of cl versus angle of attack symmetric
about the cl axis, but for any airfoil with
positive camber, i.e. asymmetrical, convex
from above, there is still a small but
positive lift coefficient with angles of
attack less than zero. That is, the angle at
which cl = 0 is negative. On such airfoils at
zero angle of attack the pressures on the
upper surface are lower than on the lower
surface.

See also
Lift-to-drag ratio
Drag coefficient
Foil (fluid mechanics)
Pitching moment
Circulation control wing
Zero lift axis

Notes
1. Clancy, L. J. (1975). Aerodynamics. New
York: John Wiley & Sons. Sections 4.15 &
5.4.
2. Abbott, Ira H., and Doenhoff, Albert E. von:
Theory of Wing Sections. Section 1.2
3. Clancy, L. J.: Aerodynamics. Section 4.15
4. Clancy, L. J.: Aerodynamics. Section 8.11
5. Abbott, Ira H., and Von Doenhoff, Albert E.:
Theory of Wing Sections. Appendix IV
6. Clancy, L. J.: Aerodynamics. Section 8.2
7. Katz, J. (2004). Race Car Aerodynamics.
Cambridge, MA: Bentley Publishers. p. 93.
ISBN 0-8376-0142-8.
8. Katz, J; Plotkin, A (2001). Low-Speed
Aerodynamics: From Wing Theory to Panel
Methods. Cambridge University Press.
p. 525.
References
L. J. Clancy (1975): Aerodynamics.
Pitman Publishing Limited, London,
ISBN 0-273-01120-0
Abbott, Ira H., and Doenhoff, Albert E.
von (1959): Theory of Wing Sections,
Dover Publications New York, # 486-
60586-8

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