MAE 3241 Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics

Assigned: Jan 30, 2015

Homework #2
Due: Feb 6, 2015
Submit your answers to all questions below. Show your working steps in sufficient details.
1. (20 pts.)
The velocity components of some flows are given below. Determine for each flow below
whether it is rotational or irrotational and calculate its vorticity.
a. Two-dimensional Couette flow with u = Ky and v = 0.
b. Circulating flow with Vr = 0 and V = r, where is a constant.
c. Hyperbolic flow with u = Ax and v = Ay, where A is a constant.
d. Two-dimensional vortex flow with Vr = 0 and V = k/r, where k is a constant.
2. (5 pts.)
Two of three velocity components for an incompressible flow are:
u x 2 2 xz
v y 2 2 yz
Determine the velocity component w(x,y,z) to satisfy the continuity equation.
3. (5 pts.)
The velocity components for a two-dimensional incompressible flow are
C( y 2 x 2 )
2Cxy
u 2
v 2
2 2
(x y )
( x y 2 )2
where C is a constant. Does this flow satisfy the continuity equation? Provide justification to
your answer.
4. (25 pts.)
A 90o pipe bend in the figure has a cross-sectional area of 0.01 m2 at the inlet and 0.0025 m2
at the outlet. Air enters from the inlet of the pipe at the speed of 100 m/s in the x direction
(assumed uniform across the cross-sectional area). The pressure of the air flow at the inlet and
outlet is the same, which is the ambient pressure of the surrounding. Assume the air is
incompressible and has the density of 1.225 kg/m3.
a. Determine the speed of the flow at the outlet.
b. Calculate the force exerted on the pipe by the airflow in the x and y directions.
Hint: define the control volume used in your analysis appropriately and apply the relevant
fundamental fluid flow principles.

5. (20 pts.)
In the lecture notes, drag calculation of a two-dimensional object by measuring velocity
profiles upstream and downstream of the control volume surfaces has been discussed. Consider
now an airfoil in a wind tunnel (i.e., a wing that spans the entire test section). Show that the
lift per unit span can be obtained from the pressure distributions on the top and bottom parallel
walls of the wind-tunnel test section (i.e., from the pressure distributions on the walls above
and below the airfoil). Define the control volume used in your analysis in detail in your answer.

6. (25 pts.)
The figure below shows a control volume used in analyzing a two dimensional flow around
the airfoil. HU and HD are half of the vertical dimensions of the upstream end (surface 1) and
downstream end (surface 2) of the control volume. Velocity profiles at surfaces 1 and 2 of the
control volume are indicated in terms of U (= constant) in the figure. Surfaces 3 and 4 coincide
with the streamlines of the flow. Assume the flow to be steady and incompressible. The
pressure over the entire surface of the control volume is constant.
a. What is the relationship between HU and HD?
b. If HD = 0.025c, calculate the drag coefficient of the airfoil.