CFD software confirms elegance of Wright Flyer
A
Fluent product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Dec 11, 2003
Fluent has revealed the results from a study undertaken as part of the centennial celebration of the first powered flight by Wilbur and Orville Wright in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Fluent has revealed the results from a study undertaken as part of the centennial celebration of the first powered flight by Wilbur and Orville Wright in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
The project has been carried out in association with the Los Angeles Branch of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) to re-evaluate the original 1903 Wright Flyer aircraft with modern technologies not available to the Wright Brothers 100 years ago.
The AIAA-LA chapter has built two full-scale replicas of the original Wright Brothers' aircraft from the Smithsonian blueprints, and plans to fly its newest replica on 17th December, the anniversary of the original flight.
To contribute to the AIAA-LA's safety analysis of the replica, Fluent modelled the airflow around the aircraft's propellers for a range of flight conditions, to reveal some of their aerodynamic secrets.
Dr Christoph Hiemcke, an Aerospace CFD Engineer at Fluent's headquarters in Lebanon, New Hampshire, carried out a full CFD analysis of the Wright Flyer propeller blade based on a copy of the original blueprints by Louis B Christman.
The propellers used for the 1903 flight were made of laminated spruce, and were hand-carved by Wilbur Wright during the winter of 1902/3, while Orville Wright was working on the engine.
Dr Hiemcke's simulations showed that the blades did indeed perform very well for a wide range of operating speeds.
The AIAA-LA engineers used the aerodynamic loads predicted from the CFD simulations to do a structural analysis of the blade for their replica aircraft, which will fly above the historic speed during their re-enactment flight to ensure the safety of the pilot.
The original Wright Flyer in 1903 produced about 300N of thrust at 350rev/min; the CFD predictions agreed well with these measurements.
Speaking about his work, Dr Hiemcke said: "The Wright brothers were revolutionary aerospace pioneers using leading-edge technology and scientific methods way ahead of their time to produce the successful first flight that we are celebrating this year.
Our work has confirmed the high efficiency of their original propeller, but also how close they were to stall conditions given the engine they used".
He adds: "Their aircraft actually came in 75lb heavier than their original plan, but because their propeller was more efficient than they predicted and they had good headwind conditions that day in December 1903, they were able to produce the first successful powered flight by a man.
If they were alive today, there is no doubt that they would have used CFD to improve their designs".
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