Department of Mechanical Engineering

Design of a Wing for a Flying Car

Engineering Computational Methods

Semester 1: 2017

Name: Keegan Naidoo

Student Number: 23537715

An aerofoil is the shape of a wing. Air foil-shaped bodies moving through a fluid results in an
aerodynamic force. This force contains a component perpendicular to the direction of motion
that is known as lift, this lift force allows for flight to be possible. The parallel component of
the aerodynamic force is known as the drag, this is a negative force which opposes motion of
the aircraft. The lift on an aerofoil is mainly the result of its shape and angle of attack, when
the aerofoil is at a suitable angle it deflects incoming fluid, resulting in a force in the direction
that is opposite to the deflection.
Contents

1. Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
2. Objectives:.......................................................................................................................................1
3. Theory..............................................................................................................................................2
3.1. Lift...........................................................................................................................................2
3.2. Drag.........................................................................................................................................2
4. Wing Design....................................................................................................................................2
Required lift:........................................................................................................................................2
5. Simulations:.....................................................................................................................................4
6. Graphs:.............................................................................................................................................5
7. Discussion........................................................................................................................................9
8. Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
9. References........................................................................................................................................9

List of figures
Figure 1: Flow turning effect (Glenn, 2015)..............................................................................3
Figure 2: Air foil........................................................................................................................3
Figure 3: Mesh stucture of aerofoil and wind tunnel.................................................................4
Figure 4: Scalar scene of aerofoil and windtunnel.....................................................................4
Figure 5: Vector scene of aerofoil and wind tunnel...................................................................5
Figure 6: Pressure coefficient vs Position magnitude................................................................5
Figure 7: Graph of Lift force......................................................................................................6
Figure 8: Graph of Lift coefficient.............................................................................................6
Figure 9: Graph of Drag force....................................................................................................7
Figure 10: Graph of Drag coefficient.........................................................................................7
Figure 11: Residuals...................................................................................................................8

Nomenclature:
L Lift
ρ Density
V Velocity
CL Lift coefficient
S Wing area
D Drag
Q Reference area
CD Drag coefficient
m Mass
g Gravitational constant
FR Resultant force
 1. Introduction

UKZN’s Mechanical Engineering is on the verge of beginning the design and construction of
a full scale flying car concept. The consultant engineer has been contracted by the department
to design the wing system for the flying car. The new flying car design will consist of a car
like fuselage with two foldable wings. The flying car is expected to reach a maximum speed
of 22m/s flying at an altitude of 300m above sea level in air. The aircraft will have a lifting
body design, such that the body will provide a portion of the lift. The engineer is to design the
two wings of the flying car, with the purpose of providing the maximum lift possible. The
effect of the car fuselage on the wings may be ignored.

2. Objectives:

1. You are to design the Wings of the aircraft only.

1
 3. Theory
3.1. Lift

Lift is defined as the net force generated normal (at 90°) to the relative airflow of the aircraft.
The aerodynamic force of lift results from the pressure differential between the top surface
and bottom surface of the wing. This lift force can be defined by the following equation:
1 2
L= ρ V C L S …………..Equation 1
2

3.2. Drag

Drag is the aerodynamic force parallel to the relative airflow and opposite in direction to the
flight path. Drag forces may be expressed in the form of a coefficient which is independent of
dynamic pressure and surface area:
D=Q C D S … … … … . .Equation 2

3.3. Resultant force

F R = √ L2 + D 2

4. Wing Design

Required lift:

The weight of the car is 4kg and the wings are to be designed in order to carry 80% of the car’s
weight during flight, hence the required lift is given by:

F L =80 %mg…………Equation 3

= (0.8)(4)(9.81)
= 31.39 N

The amount of lift created by an aerofoil mainly depends on the amount of flow that is
turned, which in turn depends on the shape of it. These shape effects are modelled by a lift
coefficient which is determined through wind tunnel testing. This turning effect can be
observed in figure 1. This effect is used for stability and control of the vehicle.
Higher turning = Greater lift

2
 Figure 1: Flow turning effect (Glenn, 2015)

Lift is an aerodynamic force hence it depends on the pressure variation of air around the
object as it moves through the air. The overall force is equal to the product of the pressure
and the surface area around the body.
Upon thorough research the student has decided to select an under-cambered aerofoil which
provides a large amount of air being turned, in order to provide a high lift. The USA 22 Air
foil was imported from the NACA database and the aerofoil was constructed using Autodesk
Inventor.

Figure 2: Air foil

3
 5. Simulations

A structure resembling a wind tunnel was constructed around the aerofoil and this was then
exported into Star CCM+, a software in which simulations of the environment that the wing
would experience during flight were modelled and analysed. The meshing models selected
were prism layer mesher, surface remesher and trimmer. The physics models used to simulate
the air flow were steady flow, turbulent, constant density, segregated flow and Spalart-
Allmaras turbulence. The Spalart–Allmaras model was selected due to the fact that is was
designed specifically for aerospace applications involving wall-bounded flows and is suitable
for boundary layers subjected to adverse pressure gradients.

Figure 3: Mesh structure of aerofoil and wind tunnel

Figure 4: Scalar scene of aerofoil and wind tunnel

4
 Figure 5: Vector scene of aerofoil and wind tunnel

6. Graphs

Figure 6: Graph of Lift force

5
Figure 7: Graph of Lift coefficient

Figure 8: Graph of Drag force

6
Figure 9: Graph of Drag coefficient

Figure 10: Graph of Residuals

7
 7. Discussion

From the scalar scene of the aerofoil it can be seen that the turning obtained is favourable, the
air speed above the wing is much greater than that below, this proves that lift will be
achieved. In the graphs for drag, drag coefficient, lift, lift coefficient, and residuals, the Star
CCM+ software applies the data inputted by the engineer to the aerofoil and iterates the result
until the graphs converge, the value at which it converges is the actual result that applies to
the chosen wing geometry. The numerical values obtained from the graphs once it converges
are as follows:

Drag = 3.25 N
Coefficient of drag = 0.1139
Lift force = 23.98 N/wing
Total lift force = 47.96 N

Lift coefficient = 0.8398

From the lift and drag forces the resultant force can be calculated and this is given to be
48.07N. Therefore all the objectives were met and the wing design is efficient.

8. Conclusion

The chosen design is acceptable as the lift obtained, 47.96 N, is far more than the required lift
which is 31.39 N. Due to this the aircraft will function in a harsher environment with greater
wind speeds and possibly rain present. The drag of the aerofoil is also at a minimum which
reduces the requirements in order to obtain the expected flight objectives. Therefore if the
university opts for this particular wing design, the flying car will achieve all goals that were
set out.

9. References

Airfoil Tools. (2017). Retrieved 04 02, 2017, from NACA: http://www.airfoiltools.com/search/list?

Glenn, J. (2015, May 15). Shape Effects on Lift. Retrieved 03 27, 2017, from National Aeronautics and
space administration: https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/shape.html