|
Vortex Lattice Method
The Vortex lattice method, (VLM), is a numerical method used in computational fluid dynamics, mainly in the early stages of aircraft design and in aerodynamic education at university level. The VLM models the lifting surfaces, such as a wing, of an aircraft as an infinitely thin sheet of discrete vortices to compute lift and induced drag. The influence of the thickness and viscosity is neglected. VLMs can compute the flow around a wing with rudimentary geometrical definition. For a rectangular wing it is enough to know the span and chord. On the other side of the spectrum, they can describe the flow around a fairly complex aircraft geometry (with multiple lifting surfaces with taper, kinks, twist, camber, trailing edge control surfaces and many other geometric features). By simulating the flow field, one can extract the pressure distribution or as in the case of the VLM, the force distribution, around the simulated body. This knowledge is then used to compute the aerodynamic coef ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irrotational
In vector calculus, a conservative vector field is a vector field that is the gradient of some function. A conservative vector field has the property that its line integral is path independent; the choice of any path between two points does not change the value of the line integral. Path independence of the line integral is equivalent to the vector field under the line integral being conservative. A conservative vector field is also irrotational; in three dimensions, this means that it has vanishing curl. An irrotational vector field is necessarily conservative provided that the domain is simply connected. Conservative vector fields appear naturally in mechanics: They are vector fields representing forces of physical systems in which energy is conserved. For a conservative system, the work done in moving along a path in a configuration space depends on only the endpoints of the path, so it is possible to define potential energy that is independent of the actual path taken. Infor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dirichlet Boundary Condition
In the mathematical study of differential equations, the Dirichlet (or first-type) boundary condition is a type of boundary condition, named after Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet (1805–1859). When imposed on an ordinary or a partial differential equation, it specifies the values that a solution needs to take along the boundary of the domain. In finite element method (FEM) analysis, ''essential'' or Dirichlet boundary condition is defined by weighted-integral form of a differential equation. The dependent unknown ''u in the same form as the weight function w'' appearing in the boundary expression is termed a ''primary variable'', and its specification constitutes the ''essential'' or Dirichlet boundary condition. The question of finding solutions to such equations is known as the Dirichlet problem. In applied sciences, a Dirichlet boundary condition may also be referred to as a fixed boundary condition. Examples ODE For an ordinary differential equation, for instance, y'' + y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neumann Boundary Condition
In mathematics, the Neumann (or second-type) boundary condition is a type of boundary condition, named after Carl Neumann. When imposed on an ordinary or a partial differential equation, the condition specifies the values of the derivative applied at the boundary of the domain. It is possible to describe the problem using other boundary conditions: a Dirichlet boundary condition specifies the values of the solution itself (as opposed to its derivative) on the boundary, whereas the Cauchy boundary condition, mixed boundary condition and Robin boundary condition are all different types of combinations of the Neumann and Dirichlet boundary conditions. Examples ODE For an ordinary differential equation, for instance, :y'' + y = 0, the Neumann boundary conditions on the interval take the form :y'(a)= \alpha, \quad y'(b) = \beta, where and are given numbers. PDE For a partial differential equation, for instance, :\nabla^2 y + y = 0, where denotes the Laplace operator, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horseshoe Vortex
The horseshoe vortex model is a simplified representation of the vortex system present in the flow of air around a wing. This vortex system is modelled by the ''bound vortex'' (bound to the wing) and two '' trailing vortices'', therefore having a shape vaguely reminiscent of a horseshoe. A starting vortex is shed as the wing begins to move through the fluid, which dissipates under the action of viscosity, as do the trailing vortices far behind the aircraft. The downwash is associated with induced drag and is a component of the system of trailing vortices. The horseshoe vortex model is unrealistic in that it implies uniform circulation (and hence, according to the Kutta–Joukowski theorem, uniform lift) at all sections on the wingspan. In a more realistic model, the lifting-line theory, the vortex strength varies along the wingspan, and the loss in vortex strength is shed as a vortex ''sheet'' all along the trailing edge, rather than as a single trail at the wing-tips. Neverthe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vortex Sheet
A vortex sheet is a term used in fluid mechanics for a surface across which there is a continuous function, discontinuity in flow velocity, fluid velocity, such as in slippage of one layer of fluid over another. While the tangential components of the flow velocity are discontinuous across the vortex sheet, the normal (geometry), normal component of the flow velocity is continuous. The discontinuity in the tangential velocity means the flow has infinite vorticity on a vortex sheet. At high Reynolds numbers, vortex sheets tend to be unstable. In particular, they may exhibit Kelvin–Helmholtz instability. The formulation of the vortex sheet equation of motion is given in terms of a complex coordinate z = x + iy. The sheet is described parametrically by z(s,t) where s is the arclength between coordinate z and a reference point, and t is time. Let \gamma(s,t) denote the strength of the sheet, that is, the jump in the tangential discontinuity. Then the velocity field induced by the sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vortex Line
In continuum mechanics, vorticity is a pseudovector field that describes the local spinning motion of a continuum near some point (the tendency of something to rotate), as would be seen by an observer located at that point and traveling along with the flow. It is an important quantity in the dynamical theory of fluids and provides a convenient framework for understanding a variety of complex flow phenomena, such as the formation and motion of vortex rings. Mathematically, the vorticity \vec is the curl of the flow velocity \vec: :\vec \equiv \nabla \times \vec\,, where \nabla is the nabla operator. Conceptually, \vec could be determined by marking parts of a continuum in a small neighborhood of the point in question, and watching their ''relative'' displacements as they move along the flow. The vorticity \vec would be twice the mean angular velocity vector of those particles relative to their center of mass, oriented according to the right-hand rule. In a two-dimensional ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Point Source
A point source is a single identifiable ''localised'' source of something. A point source has negligible extent, distinguishing it from other source geometries. Sources are called point sources because in mathematical modeling, these sources can usually be approximated as a mathematical point to simplify analysis. The actual source need not be physically small, if its size is negligible relative to other length scales in the problem. For example, in astronomy, stars are routinely treated as point sources, even though they are in actuality much larger than the Earth. In three dimensions, the density of something leaving a point source decreases in proportion to the inverse square of the distance from the source, if the distribution is isotropic, and there is no absorption or other loss. Mathematics In mathematics, a point source is a singularity from which flux or flow is emanating. Although singularities such as this do not exist in the observable universe, mathematical po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laplace's Equation
In mathematics and physics, Laplace's equation is a second-order partial differential equation named after Pierre-Simon Laplace, who first studied its properties. This is often written as \nabla^2\! f = 0 or \Delta f = 0, where \Delta = \nabla \cdot \nabla = \nabla^2 is the Laplace operator,The delta symbol, Δ, is also commonly used to represent a finite change in some quantity, for example, \Delta x = x_1 - x_2. Its use to represent the Laplacian should not be confused with this use. \nabla \cdot is the divergence operator (also symbolized "div"), \nabla is the gradient operator (also symbolized "grad"), and f (x, y, z) is a twice-differentiable real-valued function. The Laplace operator therefore maps a scalar function to another scalar function. If the right-hand side is specified as a given function, h(x, y, z), we have \Delta f = h. This is called Poisson's equation, a generalization of Laplace's equation. Laplace's equation and Poisson's equation are the simplest exa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conservative Vector Field
In vector calculus, a conservative vector field is a vector field that is the gradient of some function. A conservative vector field has the property that its line integral is path independent; the choice of any path between two points does not change the value of the line integral. Path independence of the line integral is equivalent to the vector field under the line integral being conservative. A conservative vector field is also irrotational; in three dimensions, this means that it has vanishing curl. An irrotational vector field is necessarily conservative provided that the domain is simply connected. Conservative vector fields appear naturally in mechanics: They are vector fields representing forces of physical systems in which energy is conserved. For a conservative system, the work done in moving along a path in a configuration space depends on only the endpoints of the path, so it is possible to define potential energy that is independent of the actual path taken. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Small Angle Approximation
The small-angle approximations can be used to approximate the values of the main trigonometric functions, provided that the angle in question is small and is measured in radians: : \begin \sin \theta &\approx \theta \\ \cos \theta &\approx 1 - \frac \approx 1\\ \tan \theta &\approx \theta \end These approximations have a wide range of uses in branches of physics and engineering, including mechanics, electromagnetism, optics, cartography, astronomy, and computer science. One reason for this is that they can greatly simplify differential equations that do not need to be answered with absolute precision. There are a number of ways to demonstrate the validity of the small-angle approximations. The most direct method is to truncate the Maclaurin series for each of the trigonometric functions. Depending on the order of the approximation, \textstyle \cos \theta is approximated as either 1 or as 1-\frac. Justifications Graphic The accuracy of the approximations can be seen belo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
