Evolution of airfoil and wing technology
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Evolution of airfoil and wing technology
Hey everyone! Sorry to bother you, but I'm someone who is very interested in the evolution of airfoil and wing technology in commercial aircraft.
Within the topic of transonic wing design innovation, my focus is on understanding how wing and airfoil technology levels have been improved over time, where I am defining "technology level" as: the ability to push back their Mach divergence number with equivalent thickness, Cl, and sweep angle, as airfoil technology level tend to be measured. I've seen many graphs similar to the ones below and these graphs demonstrate that the technology level of the airfoil and the wing, defined by the ability to make the wing thicker, de-sweep the wing, or fly at higher Cl, all while keeping Mach_dd equivalent, has improved over time.
When you delve into the literature, you find many graphs that show that the technology level of the airfoil and the wing, which is defined by the ability to make the wing thicker, de-sweep the wing, or fly at higher Cl, all while keeping Mach_dd equivalent, has improved over time. Note - I would include the graph here, but I'm too new and the site won't let me....
However, what's still not clear to me is exactly how engineers were able to improve the technology level over time, moving from one technology isoquant line to the next!
I know there are some old Boeing engineers kicking around this forum (eg, fdr ), so I figured I'd ask if anyone knew. Feel free to DM or email-me!
Specific areas of interest:
1. The very first applications of CFD and supercritical wing technology on Boeing aircraft in the late 1970s on the 757 and 767.
Public sources have been very clear on two developments that occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s. First, in an experimental program, Whitcomb built the first "supercritical" airfoils, which incorporated long regions of supercritical flow which terminated in weak shocks, and included a degree of rear loading. I'm curious to understand how Boeing researchers reacted to these developments, built on them, and then ultimately, integrated them into actual products.
1a. Comparing the 757 and 767 aerodynamic designs.
From what I've been able to gather, they were each designed by a separate team (one in Everett, one in Renton) and both were advanced "supercritical" airfoils. I've seen resources stating that the 757 airfoil was "more advanced" in Mach capability than the 767, accounting for its lower sweep angle at equivalent cruise Mach. But I've never seen any verification!
2. Improvements from 1980 - 1990. The decade between the launch of the 757 & 767 and the 777 is of particular interest to me, because the late-1970s wing designs like the 757 already were "supercritical" in that they incorporated regions of supercritical flow which terminated in weak shocks, and included a degree of rear loading. Therefore, I'm curious to understand what ideas engineers deployed to further increase the performance for the 777 generation of aircraft.
Within the topic of transonic wing design innovation, my focus is on understanding how wing and airfoil technology levels have been improved over time, where I am defining "technology level" as: the ability to push back their Mach divergence number with equivalent thickness, Cl, and sweep angle, as airfoil technology level tend to be measured. I've seen many graphs similar to the ones below and these graphs demonstrate that the technology level of the airfoil and the wing, defined by the ability to make the wing thicker, de-sweep the wing, or fly at higher Cl, all while keeping Mach_dd equivalent, has improved over time.
When you delve into the literature, you find many graphs that show that the technology level of the airfoil and the wing, which is defined by the ability to make the wing thicker, de-sweep the wing, or fly at higher Cl, all while keeping Mach_dd equivalent, has improved over time. Note - I would include the graph here, but I'm too new and the site won't let me....
However, what's still not clear to me is exactly how engineers were able to improve the technology level over time, moving from one technology isoquant line to the next!
I know there are some old Boeing engineers kicking around this forum (eg, fdr ), so I figured I'd ask if anyone knew. Feel free to DM or email-me!
Specific areas of interest:
1. The very first applications of CFD and supercritical wing technology on Boeing aircraft in the late 1970s on the 757 and 767.
Public sources have been very clear on two developments that occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s. First, in an experimental program, Whitcomb built the first "supercritical" airfoils, which incorporated long regions of supercritical flow which terminated in weak shocks, and included a degree of rear loading. I'm curious to understand how Boeing researchers reacted to these developments, built on them, and then ultimately, integrated them into actual products.
1a. Comparing the 757 and 767 aerodynamic designs.
From what I've been able to gather, they were each designed by a separate team (one in Everett, one in Renton) and both were advanced "supercritical" airfoils. I've seen resources stating that the 757 airfoil was "more advanced" in Mach capability than the 767, accounting for its lower sweep angle at equivalent cruise Mach. But I've never seen any verification!
2. Improvements from 1980 - 1990. The decade between the launch of the 757 & 767 and the 777 is of particular interest to me, because the late-1970s wing designs like the 757 already were "supercritical" in that they incorporated regions of supercritical flow which terminated in weak shocks, and included a degree of rear loading. Therefore, I'm curious to understand what ideas engineers deployed to further increase the performance for the 777 generation of aircraft.
