Aerodynamic Study of Boeing 747-400 Airfoil

Ahmed Adel Mohamed Abdel-Raheem, Poula Awad Suleiman Hanna, Islam Atef Mohamed Abdel-Hameed
4th Year, Mech. Power Eng. Dept., Faculty of Eng., Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Ahmed Farouk AbdelGawad, Prof. Dr. Mofreh Melad Nassief
Mech. Power Eng. Dept., Faculty of Eng., Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt
[email protected], [email protected]

Abstract– After a long history of human kind, new means of values of the angle of attack () equal to 2o, 6o, and 8o. For 
transportation existed such as trains, cars, and airplanes. Definitely, equals to 2o, 6o, and 8o, Mach number (M) was taken as 0.24
after the Second World War, Airplanes became more commonly near ground surface, pressure far-field boundary condition was
used for both commercial and military sectors because of its high
used with Spalart-Allmaras model as the turbulence model.
speed and reliability. For a successful flight, sufficient lift force
should be exerted on the airplane body. Thus, the most important Moreover, the present study covers the aerodynamic
thing is the wing cross section; for which the Bernoulli principle is behavior at 9,000 m with other values of Mach numbers
applied “the pressure decreases as the velocity increases and vice “cruising speed” of 0.65, 0.7, and 0.85 using the same
versa”. Hence, a computational model was developed to compute boundary conditions and turbulence model. The chord length
the forces exerted on the airfoil such as drag, and lift using of the airfoil, that equals 14.6304 m, was taken at the root of
SolidWorks and ANSYS-Fluent software. the wing (at the airplane fuselage). Temperature was kept at
Keywords– CFD, Boeing 747-400 Airfoil, Lift force, Drag 288 K.
force, Spalart-Allmaras model.

I. INTRODUCTION
The main objective of this paper is a computational fluid
dynamic (CFD) study of the flow behavior over BOEING 747-
400 airfoil “BACXXX” by using SolidWorks and ANSYS-
Fluent software.
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a numerical
method based on computer programing in which all the
governing equations are approximated to find efficient results
by averaging them. CFD graphics-interface is a good
technique to demonstrate the accurate formation of the
behavior that can happen in an experimental wind tunnel setup.
CFD results are directly analogous to wind tunnel results
obtained in a laboratory. They both represent sets of data for
given flow configurations at different Mach numbers, Fig. 1 The nomenclature of the airfoil [5].
Reynolds numbers, etc. However, unlike a wind tunnel, which Table I. Nomenclature of airfoil and related properties.
is generally a heavy, unwieldy device, a computer program is Symbol Description
something you can carry around in your hand. Or better yet, a Angle of attack of the wings [o]
source program in the memory of a given computer can be MACH number
accessed remotely by people on terminals that can be Lift coefficient
thousands of miles away from the computer itself. A computer Drag coefficient
program is, therefore, a readily transportable tool, a
Cm Pitching Moment Coefficient
“transportable wind tunnel.” [1].
Cp Pressure coefficient

II. PRESENT MODEL Lift force

Drag force
SolidWorks [2] and ANSYS-Fluent [3] software were
Total pressure [Pa]
used for graphics and computational analysis, respectively.
Total temperature [K]
The Boing airfoil BACXXX has maximum thickness of
11.3% at 35% of chord and maximum chamber of 1.4% at V Cruising speed of the airplane [m/s]
Chord length of airfoil cross section [m]
15% of chord [4]. Figure 1 illustrates the nomenclature of the
airfoil. Table I shows the nomenclature of airfoil and related Kinematic viscosity of the air (m2/s)
properties. The present study was carried out at different

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 III. METHODOLOGY
A. Governing Equations [6]
 Continuity equation.

(1)

 Energy equation.

(2) Fig. 3(b) Mesh.

 Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model [6].

B. Model Graphics
SolidWorks software was used to construct the airfoil
shape, Fig. 2, using its coordinates [4].

Fig. 3(c) Mesh (enlarged view).

Fig. 3 Computational domain (a) and mesh (b, c).

Fig. 2 Airfoil shape using SolidWorks software.

D. Numerical Solver
The solver was 2D, double-precision, implicit,
C. Computational Domain and Mesh second-order upwind.
ANSYS software was used to establish the two-
dimensional (2D) domain and construct the mesh, Fig. 3. IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Careful consideration was taken to ensure mesh-independency
A. Angle of attach  = 2o, and free-stream M = 0.24
of the solution [7].
The results of this simulation are summarized in table II.
The distributions of the two important parameters pressure
coefficient (Cp) and Mach number (M) around the airfoil are
shown in Fig. 4 as contours.
Table II. Summary of results,  = 2o, and free-stream M = 0.24.
Coefficient or property Value
0.61
0.009
1.41
Min Max
Pressure coefficient (Cp) -0.90 1.01
Velocity [m/s] 0 113.39
Temperature [K] 285 291
Mach number (M) 0 0.34

Fig. 3(a) Computational domain.

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 Fig. 5(a) Pressure coefficient (Cp) contours.
Fig. 4(a) Pressure coefficient (Cp) contours.

Fig. 5(b) Mach number (M) contours.

Fig. 4(b) Mach number (M) contours. Fig.5 Results at  = 6o, free-stream M = 0.24.
Fig. 4 Results at  = 2o, free-stream M = 0.24.
C. Angle of attach  = 8o, and free-stream M = 0.24
B. Angle of attach  = 6o, and free-stream M = 0.24 The results of this simulation are summarized in table IV.
The results of this simulation are summarized in table III.
Table IV. Summary of results,  = 8o, and free-stream M = 0.24.
The distributions of the two important parameters pressure
coefficient (Cp) and Mach number (M) around the airfoil are Coefficient or property Value
1.54
shown in Fig. 5 as contours.
0.147
Table III. Summary of results,  = 6o, and free-stream M = 0.24. 4.93
Min Max
Coefficient or property Value
Pressure coefficient (Cp) -3.92 1.01
1.25
Velocity [m/s] 0 167.43
0.075 Temperature [K] 277.45 291.36
3.78 Mach number (M) 0 0.50
Min Max
Pressure coefficient (Cp) -2.17 1.01 When considering cases A, B, and C, it is clear from tables
Velocity [m/s] 0 144.61 II-IV, and Figs. 4 and 5 that the values of Cl, Cd, and Cm
Temperature [K] 281 291
Mach number (M) 0 0.43
increases with the increase of, which is typically expected.
Moreover, Figs. 4 and 5 show good prediction of the
distributions of Cp and M above and below the airfoil. Thus,
these results gives confidence in the present simulations.

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D. Angle of attach  = 4o, and free-stream M = 0.6 E. Angle of attach  = 2o, free-stream M = 0.65,
The results of this simulation are summarized in table V. altitude = 9,000 m
The distributions of the two important parameters pressure The results of this simulation are summarized in table VI.
coefficient (Cp) and Mach number (M) around the airfoil are The variations of Cl, Cd, and Cm with iterations are shown in
shown in Fig. 6 as contours. Fig. 7.

Table V. Summary of results,  = 4o, and free-stream M = 0.6. Table VI. Summary of results, =2o, and free-stream M=0.65, altitude=9,000 m.
Coefficient or property Value Quantity Value
7.0 8.4001
-0.168 0.1585
-2.08 22.2002
Min Max Min Max
Pressure coefficient (Cp) -12.18 6.67 Velocity [m/s] 0 320
Velocity [m/s] 0 380 Temperature [K] 198.4 K 250
Temperature [K] 237 309 Mach number (M) 0 1.03
Mach number (M) 0 1.23

Fig. 7(a) Cl.

Fig. 6(a) Pressure coefficient (Cp) contours.

Fig. 7(b) Cd.

Fig.7(c) Cm.
Fig. 7(a) Results at  = 2o, free-stream M = 0.65, altitude = 9,000 m.
Fig. 6(b) Mach number (M) contours.
Fig.6 Results at  = 4o, free-stream M = 0.6.
F. Angle of attach  = 2o, free-stream M = 0.7,
altitude = 9,000 m
The results of this simulation are summarized in table VII.
The variations of Cl, Cd, and Cm with iterations are shown in
Fig. 8.

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Military Technical College, Cairo, Egypt, July 29-August 1, 2019.
Table VII. Summary of results, =2o, and free-stream M=0.7, altitude=9,000 m. Table VIII. Summary of results, =2o, and free-stream M=0.85, altitude=9,000 m.
Quantity Value Quantity Value
7.8 4.5
0.10338 0.85
19.29 6.5
Min Max Min Max
Velocity [m/s] 0 351 Velocity [m/s] 0 392
Temperature [K] 191 252.6 Temperature [K] 187 263
Mach number (M) 0 1.03 Mach number (M) 0 1.15

Fig. 8(a) Cl. Fig. 9(a) Cl.

Fig. 9(b) Cd.

Fig. 8(b) Cd.

Fig. 8(c) Cm. Fig. 9(c) Cm.

Fig. 8 Results at  = 2o, free-stream M = 0.7, altitude = 9,000 m. Fig. 9 Results at  = 2o, free-stream M = 0.85, altitude = 9,000 m.

G. Angle of attach  = 2o, free-stream M = 0.85, When considering cases E, F, and G, it is clear from
altitude = 9,000 m tables VI-VIII, and Figs. 7-9 that the values of Cl, Cd, and Cm
The results of this simulation are summarized in table changes dramatically with Mach number (M). Both Cl and Cm
VIII. The variations of Cl, Cd, and Cm with iterations are shown decrease with Mach number. However, serious decrease is
in Fig. 9. noticed for M = 0.85. On the contrary, a remarkable increase
in the value of Cd is noticed for M = 0.85. All this suggests that

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great caution should be taken when cruising near sonic speed REFERENCES
(at M = 0.85 or higher). [1] V. K. Rajamani, “Design and Analysis of Winged Hovercraft,” Journal of
Applied Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 4, No. 5, 2015.
V. CONCLUSION DOI: 10.4172/2168-9873.1000179
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demonstrate the aerodynamic characteristics of Boing 747-400 [4] http://airfoiltools.com/airfoil/details?airfoil=bacxxx-il
airfoil (BACXXX airfoil). The investigation covered different [5] Y. A. Cengel, and J. M. Cimbala, Fluid Mechanics: Fundamentals and
Applications, McGraw-Hill Education-Europe, 3rd Ed., 2013.
values of angle of attack, Mach number, and altitude. Exciting [6] www.sharcnet.ca
results and discussions are introduced. Based on the present [7] J. D. Anderson, Jr., Computational Fluid Dynamics: The Basis with
results it can be stated that BACXXX airfoil has a high value of Applications, McGraw-Hill, Inc. 1995. ISBN: 0-07-113210-4
lift coefficient and low value of both drag and pitching
moment coefficient. Thus, this airfoil produces sufficient lift
force for a successful flight of BOEING 747-400.

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Military Technical College, Cairo, Egypt, July 29-August 1, 2019.