- Student Records
Programme & Unit Catalogues


ME30032: Aerodynamics

Follow this link for further information on academic years Academic Year: 2015/6
Further information on owning departmentsOwning Department/School: Department of Mechanical Engineering
Further information on credits Credits: 6
Further information on unit levels Level: Honours (FHEQ level 6)
Further information on teaching periods Period: Semester 1
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Summary: EX 100%
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Detail:
  • Examination (EX 100%)
Further information on supplementary assessment Supplementary Assessment: ME30032 Re-Assessment Examination (where allowed by programme regulations)
Further information on requisites Requisites:
Further information on descriptions Description: Aims:
To improve the students' understanding of fundamentals of inviscid and viscous flow, principles of lift and drag, turbulence and compressibility.

Learning Outcomes:
After taking this unit the student should be able to:
* Estimate lift for an arbitrary aerofoil cross-sections.
* Calculate the load distributions over an arbitrary three-dimensional wing.
* Apply the boundary layer equations to laminar and turbulent flow.
* Estimate the drag, and predict lift and drag at high Mach numbers.

Skills:
Problem solving and numeracy (taught and assessed).

Content:
Incompressible flow over aerofoils: irrotational flow over a circular cylinder, Kutta-Joukowski theorem, thin aerofoil theory, cambered and flapped aerofoil, vortex panel method, high-lift devices.
Incompressible flow over finite wings: induced drag, lifting-line theory, general lift distribution, lifting-surface theory, delta wings.
Fundamentals of viscous flow: viscosity and stress, fluid acceleration, conservation of mass and momentum.
Boundary layers: boundary layer equations, zero pressure gradient, separation, similarity solutions, arbitrary pressure gradient, boundary layer control in laminar flow, other thin shear flows.
Flow instabilities, transition and turbulence: stability theory, instability over a flat plate, factors affecting instability and transition, turbulent transport of momentum, turbulent boundary layer over a flat plate, turbulent drag reduction and separation control, turbulence measurement.
Lift and drag at high Mach numbers: Mach number regimes, normal and oblique shock waves, expansion waves, shock-expansion theory for supersonic aerofoils, subsonic and transonic flow over aerofoils, linearised supersonic flow, wings and influence of sweepback.
Topics for self study that could be examined.
Further information on programme availabilityProgramme availability:

ME30032 is Compulsory on the following programmes:

Department of Mechanical Engineering
  • UEME-AFB26 : BEng(Hons) Aerospace Engineering (Year 3)
  • UEME-AKB26 : BEng(Hons) Aerospace Engineering with Year long work placement (Year 4)
  • UEME-AFM04 : MEng(Hons) Aerospace Engineering (Year 3)
  • UEME-AKM04 : MEng(Hons) Aerospace Engineering with Year long work placement (Year 4)

ME30032 is Optional on the following programmes:

Department of Mathematical Sciences Department of Mechanical Engineering
  • UEME-AFM16 : MEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering (Year 4)
  • UEME-AKM16 : MEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering with Year long work placement (Year 5)
  • UEME-AFM38 : MEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering with Manufacturing and Management (Year 4)
  • UEME-AKM38 : MEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering with Manufacturing and Management with Year long work placement (Year 5)
  • UEME-AFM47 : MEng(Hons) Mechanical with Automotive Engineering (Year 4)
  • UEME-AKM47 : MEng(Hons) Mechanical with Automotive Engineering with Year long work placement (Year 5)

Notes:
* This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2015/16 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2016/17 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2015/16.
* Programmes and units are subject to change at any time, in accordance with normal University procedures.
* Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.