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Estimating angle of attack

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Estimating angle of attack

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Old 17th May 2011, 08:11
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Estimating angle of attack

For a given airfoil, in a single test, I have 3000 datas for its instantaneous height and its instantaneous velocity, is it possible to find instantaneous angle of attack?
Please help....
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Old 17th May 2011, 08:59
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If that's the only data you have, no.

If you have other data, maybe.

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Old 17th May 2011, 09:10
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wat other datas I would need...
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Old 17th May 2011, 11:15
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Well, if L = W.Nz = 0.5 rho TAS^2 S CL

CL = a.AoA


I'd get rid of rho.TAS^2 and instead use rho_0.EAS^2 which is the same thing


So, W.Nz = 0.5 rho_0.EAS^2 S a.AoA

Which will give you AoA = (2.W.Nz)/(rho_0.EAS^2 . S .a)

So, you need:

W = aircraft weight, from operational plan and fuel state

Nz = normal acceleration, from INS, g-meter, etc.

EAS = equivalent airspeed, from FMS, or derived from IAS via CAS

S= wing area

a = lift curve slope, hopefully available from wind tunnel data for the whole aeroplane (DO NOT just use aerofoil data, because the tailplane and fuselage have a significant effect). You might be able to come up with an estimate of this, if you don't have wind tunnel data, using ESDU data sheets - but that can only be an approximation.


Obvious cautions to this:

- CL=a.AoA assumes that CL=0 when AoA=0, if it's more complex than that, which it may well be, you need to modify the formulae.

- It'll only work in steady state conditions (so Nz, EAS, bank, sHp are all constant for any given data point)

- It'll still be an approximation, and no substitute for flying an external air data sensor in clear air.

G

(Edited 18/5/11 because I realised I'd missed a Rho_0 out of the formulae)
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Old 17th May 2011, 11:33
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thanks for your help. Just one more silly question.
Does lift curve slope varies with height.??
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Old 17th May 2011, 12:25
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maarich

What do you mean by "height" ?
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Old 17th May 2011, 13:09
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I mean density of air
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Old 17th May 2011, 13:23
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It varies with Reynolds number (rho .TAS. L / mu), which is a function of density. But, the dependency is small.

My suggestion would be that you look at the variation in "a" with Reynolds number, over the range of tested conditions, and include that (along with IAS accuracy, altitude accuracy, Nz accuracy...) in a reasonably robust error analysis of the eventual derived AoA. Using multiple test points, you can then plot through well argued error bars.

Look at the paper here for one example of how to do the error analysis in a derived quantity. It's a bit labour intensive to derive, but then easily automated on a spreadsheet.

G
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Old 17th May 2011, 13:39
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thnx a lot for your help
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Old 18th May 2011, 09:16
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how can i get ESDU datasheets.?
Are these available online?
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Old 18th May 2011, 10:26
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IHS ESDU: Home

You might want to get an aeronautical engineer, better still a Flight Test Engineer to work with - this sort of data analysis is fraught with problems for somebody lacking the right professional skills and training.

G
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Old 19th May 2011, 07:40
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thanks again.
I have one more doubt related to matlab.

I have actually written a code which uses syms function.I want to use this code in simulink,but there seems to be a problem. Is there any alternative for syms function in simulink??.please help....
my code is:
function [CL] = attack(m,h,v,s,alpha0)
clc
syms x;
CL=zeros(300,1);
AOA=zeros(300,1);
ro=zeros(300,1);
for i=1:300
ro(i)=1.225.*((1-(.0065.*h(i)./288.15)).^4.258644);
AOA(i,1)=solve((0.5.*ro(i).*v(i).*v(i).*s.*.1.*(x-alpha0))-(m.*9.81.*cos(x.*pi./180)));
AOA(i,1)=AOA(i,1).*1;
end
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Old 19th May 2011, 10:21
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Nobody but an undergraduate student would be using Matlab/Simulink - I think perhaps you should be asking your professor for help.

G
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Old 20th May 2011, 21:21
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G...you got that right...
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Old 26th May 2011, 07:23
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no...i am still searching for an alternative to syms function, so that I can use it in matlab simulink.
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Old 26th May 2011, 09:33
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As a policy, we like supporting and helping students on Pprune - but only when they do their homework and are honest about their objectives.

Thread closed.

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