16.333: Lecture #2
Static Stability
Aircraft Static Stability (longitudinal)
Wing/Tail contributions
0
Fall 2004 16.333 2–1
Static Stability
? Static stability is all about the initial tendency of a body to
return to its equilibrium state after being disturbed
? To have a statically stable equilibrium point, the vehicle must develop
a restoring force/moment to bring it back to the eq. condition
? Later on we will also deal with dynamic stability, which is concerned
with the time history of the motion after the disturbance
– Can be SS but not DS, but to be DS, must be SS
? SS is a necessary, but not su?cient condition for DS
? To investigate the static stability of an aircraft, can analyze response
to a disturbance in the angle of attack
– At eq. pt., expect moment about c.g. to be zero C
M
cg
= 0
– If then perturb α up, need a restoring moment that pushes nose
back down (negative)
Fall 2004 16.333 2–2
? Classic analysis:
– Eq at point B
– A/C 1 is statically stable
? Conditions for static stability
?C
M
C
M
= 0; < 0
?α
≡ C
M
α
note that this requires C
M
|
α
0
> 0
? Since C
L
= C
L
α
(α ? α
0
) with C
L
α
> 0, then an equivalent condition
for SS is that
?C
M
< 0
?C
L
Fall 2004 16.333 2–3
Basic Aerodynamics
i
w
X
cg
X
ac
L
w
Z
cg
M
ac
w
D
w
c.g.
?
FRL
?
w
Fuselage Reference
Line (FRL)
Wing mean chord
? Take reference point for the wing to be the aerodynamic center
(roughly the 1/4 chord point)
1
? Consider wing contribution to the pitching moment about the c.g.
? Assume that wing incidence is i
w
so that, if α
w
= α
F RL
+ i
w
, then
α
F RL
= α
w
? i
w
– With x
k
measured from the leading edge, the moment is:
M
cg
= (L
w
cos α
F RL
+ D
w
sin α
F RL
)(x
cg
? x
ac
)
+(L
w
sin α
F RL
? D
w
cos α
F RL
)(z
cg
) + M
ac
w
– Assuming that α
F RL
? 1,
M
cg
≈ (L
w
+ D
w
α
AF RL
)(x
cg
? x
ac
)
+(L
w
α
F RL
? D
w
)(z
cg
) + M
ac
w
– But the second term contributes very little (drop)
1
The aerodynamic center (AC) is the point on the wing about which the coe?cient of pitching moment is constant. On all airfoils
the ac very close to the 25% chord point (+/- 2%) in subsonic ?ow.
Fall 2004 16.333 2–4
Non-dimensionalize: ?
L M
C
L
= C
M
=
1
ρV
2
S
1
ρV
2
Scˉ
2
2
? Gives:
C
M
cg
= (C
L
w
+ C
D
w
α
F RL
)(
x
cg
ˉc
?
x
ac
ˉc
) + C
M
ac
? De?ne:
– x
cg
= hˉc (leading edge to c.g.)
– x
ac
Then ?
= h
ˉn
cˉ (leading edge to AC)
C
M
cg
= (C
L
w
+ C
D
w
α
F RL
)(h ? h ) + C
ˉ Mn
ac
≈ (C
L
w
)(h ? h
= C
L
α
w
) + C
ˉ Mn
ac
(α
w
? α
w
0
)(h ? h ) + C
ˉ Mn
ac
? Result is interesting, but the key part is how this helps us analyze the
static stability:
?C
M
cg
?C
L
w
= (h ? h ) 0>
ˉn
since c.g. typically further back that AC
– Why most planes have a second lifting surface (front or back)
Fall 2004 16.333 2–5
Contribution of the Tail
FRL
FRL
?
FRL
?
W
i
w i
t
L
w
L
t
D
w D
t
M
ac
w
M
t
Z
cg
w
V
V
l
t
V'
Z
cg
t
?
c.g.
ac
? Some lift provided, but moment is the key part
? Key items:
1. Angle of attack α
t
= α
F RL
+ i
t
? ?, ? is wing downwash
2. Lift L = L
w
+ L
t
with L
w
? L
t
and
S
t
C
L
= C
L
w
+ η C
L
t
S
η = (1/2ρV
t
2
)/(1/2ρV
w
2
) ≈0.8–1.2 depending on location of tail
3. Downwash usually approximated as
d?
? = ?
0
+ α
w
dα
where ?
0
is the downwash at α
0
. For a wing with an elliptic
distribution
2C
L
w
d?
2C
L
α
w
=? ≈
πAR
?
dα πAR
Fall 2004 16.333 2–6
? Pitching moment contribution: L
t
and D
t
are ⊥, ? to V
?
not V
ˉ– So they are at angle α = α
F RL
?? to FRL, so must rotate and
then apply moment arms l
t
and z
t
.
α + D
t
sin ˉM
t
= ?l
t
[L
t
cos ˉ α]
α ?L
t
sin ˉz
t
[D
t
cos ˉ α] + M
ac
t
?
ˉ? First term largest by far. Assume that α ? 1, so that M
t
≈?l
t
L
t
1
L
t
= ρV
2
S
t
C
L
t
2
t
1
ρV
2
S
t
C
L
t
M
t
l
t
2
t
C
M
t
= =
11
ρV
2
Scˉ
?
cˉ ρV
2
S
2 2
l
t
S
t
= ηC
L
t
?
Scˉ
De?ne the horizontal tail volume ratio V
H
=
l
t
S
t
, so that
Scˉ
?
C
M
t
= ?V
H
ηC
L
t
? Note: angle of attack of the tail α
t
= α
w
?i
w
+ i
t
??, so that
C
L
t
= C
L
α
t
α
t
= C
L
α
t
(α
w
?i
w
+ i
t
??)
where ? = ?
0
+ ?
α
α
w
So that ?
C
M
t
= ?V
H
ηC
L
α
t
(α
w
?i
w
+ i
t
?(?
0
+ ?
α
α
w
))
= V
H
ηC
L
α
t
(?
0
+ i
w
?i
t
?α
w
(1 ??
α
))
Fall 2004 16.333 2–7
? More compact form:
C
M
t
= C
M
0
t
+ C
M
α
t
α
w
= V
H
ηC
L
α
t
(?
0
+ i
w
? i
t
)? C
M
0
t
= ?V
H
ηC
L
α
t
(1 ? ?
α
)? C
M
α
t
where we can chose V
H
by selecting l
t
, S
t
and i
t
? Write wing form as C
M
w
= C
M
0
w
+ C
M
α
w
α
w
= C
M
ac
? C
L
α
w
α
w
0
(h ? h
ˉn
)? C
M
0
w
= C
L
α
w
(h ? h
ˉn
)? C
M
α
w
And total is: ?
= C
M
0
+ C
M
α
α
w
C
M
cg
? C
M
0
= C
M
ac
? C
L
α
w
α
w
0
(h ? h
ˉn
) + V
H
ηC
L
α
t
(?
0
+ i
w
? i
t
)
? C
M
α
= C
L
α
w
(h ? h
ˉn
) ? V
H
ηC
L
α
t
(1 ? ?
α
)
Fall 2004 16.333 2–8
? For static stability need C
M
= 0 and C
M
α
< 0
– To ensure that C
M
= 0 for reasonable value of α, need C
M
0
> 0
use i
t
to trim the aircraft ?
? For C
M
α
< 0, consider setup for case that makes C
M
α
= 0
– Note that this is a discussion of the aircraft cg location (“?nd h”)
– But tail location currently given relative to c.g. (l
t
behind it),
which is buried in V
H
? need to de?ne it di?erently
? De?ne l
t
= ˉc(h
t
? h); h
t
measured from the wing leading edge, then
V
H
=
l
t
S
t
ˉcS
=
S
t
S
(h
t
? h)
which gives
S
t
n
) ? (h
t
? h)ηC
L
α
t
(1 ? ?
α
)C
M
α
C
L
α
w
(h ? h
ˉ
=
S
S
t
S
t
= h(C
L
α
w
+ η C
L
α
t
(1 ? ?
α
)) ? C
L
α
w
h
ˉn
? h
t
η C
L
α
t
(1 ? ?
α
)
S S
? A bit messy, but note that if L
T
= L
w
+ L
t
, then
S
t
C
L
T
= C
L
w
+ η C
L
t
S
so that
S
t
C
L
T
= C
L
α
w
(α
w
? α
w
0
) + η C
L
α
t
(??
0
? i
w
+ i
t
+ α
w
(1 ? ?
α
))
S
= C
L
0
T
+ C
L
α
T
α
w
with C
L
α
T
= C
L
α
w
+ η
S
t
C
L
α
t
(1 ? ?
α
)
S
? ?
?
? ? ? ?
Fall 2004 16.333 2–9
Now have that ?
h η?
ˉ tn
S
t
S
C
L
α
t
(1 ? ?
α
)C
M
α
= hC
L
α
T
? C
L
α
w
h
? Solve for the case with C
M
α
= 0, which gives
C
L
α
w
S
t
C
L
α
t
h = h + η h
t
(1 ? ?
α
)
ˉn
C
L
α
T
S C
L
α
T
+ (γ 1)h
ˉ t
?
n
C
L
α
T
? Note that with γ =
C
L
α
w
≈ 1, then
h
h = ≡ h
N P
γ
which is called the stick ?xed neutral point
Can rewrite as
C
L
α
w
S
t
C
L
α
t
C
M
α
= C
L
α
T
h ? h ? η h
t
(1 ? ?
α
)
ˉn
C
L
α
T
S C
L
α
T
= C
L
α
T
(h ? h
N P
)
which gives the pitching moment about the c.g. as a function of the
location of the c.g. with respect to the stick ?xed neutral point
– For static stability, c.g. must be in front of NP (h
N P
> h)
Fall 2004 16.333 2–10
? Summary plot: (a = C
L
α
T
) and (h
n
= h
N P
)
C
m
0
0
C
m
C
m m
0
(h - h
n
)?
CG aft
CG forward
n
n
n
?
= C + a
h > h
h = h
h < h
Observations: ?
– If c.g. at h
N P
, then C
M
α
= 0
– If c.g. aft of h
N P
, then C
M
α
> 0 (statically unstable)
– What is the problem with the c.g. being too far forward?
Fall 2004 16.333 2–11
Control E?ects
? Can use elevators to provide incremental lift and moments
– Use this to trim aircraft at di?erent ?ight settings, i.e. C
M
= 0
?
e
Horizontal tail
? De?ecting elevator gives:
ΔC
L
=
dC
L
δ
e
= C
L
δ
e
δ
e
, with C
L
δ
e
> 0
dδ
e
? C
L
= C
L
α
(α ? α
0
) + C
L
δ
e
δ
e
C
m
?C
m
0
?
e
= 0
?
e
> 0
?
Original trim ?
Final trim
ΔC
m
=
dC
m
δ
e
= C
m
δ
e
δ
e
, with C
m
δ
e
< 0
dδ
e
? C
m
= C
m
0
+ C
m
α
α + C
m
δ
e
δ
e
C
L
0
Final
trim
pt.
?C
L
?
e
= 0
?
e
> 0
?
Original trim pt.
Fall 2004 16.333 2–12
? For trim, need C
m
= 0 and C
L
TRIM
? ?? ? ? ?
C
m
α
C
m
δ
e
α
T RIM
?C
m
0
=
C
L
α
C
L
δ
e
(δ
e
)
TRIM
C
L
TRIM
+ C
L
α
α
0
So elevator angle needed to trim:
α
0
)C
L
α
C
m
0
+ C
m
α
(C
L
TRIM
+ C
L
α
=(δ
e
)
TRIM
C
m
α
C
L
δ
e
? C
L
α
C
m
δ
e
? Note that typically elevator down is taken as being positive
? Also, for level ?ight, C
L
TRIM
= W/(1/2ρV
2
S), so expect (δ
e
)
TRIM
to change with speed.