BOUNDARY LAYER,

PARASITIC AND INDUCED

DRAG
Fundamentals of Flight
NDAE-Feb06
Khaled N. Al Masri
 OBJECTIVE/ADVICE

• To study the next stage of the effects of an

aircraft in flight, in particular to look into other
forms of drag which help to make up the total
drag on an airplane.

• In order to get the most from this booklet first

make sure that you have completed, to your
own satisfaction, the booklet on LIFT, DRAG,
THRUST AND WEIGHT
 INTRODUCTION

• This lesson should introduce the students to

the 2 main types of drag which an airplane
encounters in flight, PARASITIC and
INDUCED DRAG.

•  Although we shall be mentioning skin friction

again, this time we will be looking at the
phenomenon which gives rise to it, which is
known as BOUNDARY LAYER EFFECT.
Introduction
• Air has mass.
• When an airplane travels through the
air, air is moved.
• When any mass is moved or
accelerated, force is required, and the
application of force produces an equal
and opposite force. (Newton’s 3rd Law).
Introduction
• The impact of the air against the surface of
the airplane applies force, which tends to hold
the airplane back.

THIS IS DRAG!

• Drag is a retarding force acting upon a

body.
Different Types of Drag
PARASITIC DRAG
• The term Parasite Drag describes the
resistance of the air produced by any
part of the airplane that does not
produce Lift.
 Parasite Drag
• Parasite Drag can be further classified
into:
1. Pressure Drag/Form drag

2. Skin Friction Drag

3. Interference Drag
SKIN FRICTION DRAG
• Imagine a stream of air as a large
number of molecules passing over a flat
plate at a velocity V.
Skin Friction Drag
• The particles of air separate at the
leading edge and flow over the upper
surface and under the lower surface,
reuniting at the trailing edge.
• The resistance of skin friction is caused
by a tendency of the particles to cling to
the surface of the aircraft skin.
• There are two reasons for that
tendency:
– Skin has a certain amount of roughness. It
is impossible to make it perfectly smooth.
– Air has viscosity (resistance offered by a
fluid to the relative motion of its particles).
Think of the difference between water and
honey!
Boundary Layer
• This gives a rise to a phenomenon
known as:

Boundary Layer
Boundary Layer
• Laminar Flow describes the situation
when air is flowing in thin sheets, or
layers close to the surface of a wing
with NO DISTURBANCE between the
layers (no cross flow of air particles
from one layer to another).
Boundary Layer and Laminar
Flow
• Laminar Flow is most likely to occur
where the surface is extremely smooth
and especially near the wing’s leading
edge.
• Under these conditions the boundary
layer will be very thin.
Boundary Layer
• Boundary Layer is that layer of air
adjacent to the airfoil surface.

• The air velocity in the boundary layer

varies from zero on the surface of the
airfoil to the velocity of t he free stream
at the outer edge of the boundary layer.
SKIN FRICTION
BOUNDARY LAYER

• The boundary layer is caused by the

viscosity of the air sticking to the
surface and is also a result of the
roughness of the surface.
BOUNDARY LAYER
• It is worth noting that the boundary layer
(lamina of air) can be either
– Laminar
– Turbulent
• When laminar, then skin friction would
be reduced as we go up the thickness
of the layer.
Boundary Layer
• Ordinarily, the airflow at the leading
edge of a wing will be laminar, but as
the air moves toward the trailing edge of
the wing, the boundary layer becomes
thicker and laminar flow diminishes.
• The area where the airflow changes
from laminar to turbulent is called the
Transition region.
Laminar Flow Transition Region
It is desirable to keep laminar flow
over the airfoil as much as possible
Activity 1

• Write down three practical instances

where a boundary layer is likely to exist
Comments on Activity 1

• An airstream passing over the top

surface of an aerofoil.
• An airstream entering an engine air
intake or over nacelles.
• In fact a boundary layer can be
generated over any surface which offers
resistance to the free passage of an
airstream.
 Boundary Layer & AOA
• As AOA is increased the area of turbulence moves
forward towards the leading edge of the airfoil.

• Let’s say an airfoil is approaching the stall angle of

15° where the turbulent air towards the leading
edge is becoming more and more turbulent and
starts moving forward towards the leading edge of
the wing.

(FIG. 2 shows an ideal illustration of boundary layer

formation.)
 BOUNDARY LAYER AND STALL
• EVENTUALLY, WE WILL HAVE A POINT WHERE THE
AIR FLOW WILL BREAK AWAY FROM SURFACE (Loss of
Laminar properties) TO BECOME TURBULENT GIVING A
THICKER BOUNDARY LAYER

• THE SEPARATION OF THE AIRFLOW IS WHAT CAUSES

THE LIFT LOSS, AND THUS CAUSING STALL, WHERE
ALL LIFT GENERATED BY WING IS LOST.
Form Drag/Pressure Drag
• Caused by the frontal area of the
airplane components being exposed to
the airstream.

• This drag is caused by the form (shape)

of the object and is the reason
streamlining is necessary to increase
airplane efficiency.
Drag
• Most parts of the airplane, such as the
fuselage, cowlings, landing gear struts,
and other components, will have both
thickness and surface area, surface
area, resulting in both form drag and
skin friction drag.
 Interference Drag
• Caused by the interference of the airflow
between adjacent parts of the airplane, such as
the intersection of wings and tail sections with
the fuselage.
• Fairings are used to streamline these
intersections and decrease interference drag.
Activity 2
• Write down. briefly how you think
Parasitic Drag could be reduced.
 comments on Activity 2

• Experimental work has shown that

streamlining component parts such as struts,
antennas, fairings and other exposed parts,
will reduce parasitic drag to comparatively
minimal proportions.
• Polishing the aircraft’s skin surface can also
assist in reducing skin friction, particularly if it
is an area which is found to be critical in
affecting aircraft performance.
Factors affecting Drag
• Factors that affect drag:
(Directly related):
– Airspeed
– Air Density
– Size of Object
(Inversely related):
– Streamlining of airfoil (Fineness Ratio)
FINENESS RATIO
• It is worth noting that when referring to
streamline shapes we talk in terms of a
FINENESS RATIO i.e.
• Ratio of Wing Chord/Maximum
Thickness, as illustrated below, which
should occur at approximately 1/3 back
from the leading edge for a standard
type aerofoil.
ASPECT RATIO

• When we looked at lift on an airfoil we dealt

only with the aerofoil in cross-section,
consideration must be given now to the effect
of its plan form.
• First think of an aerofoil having certain plan
area, this could be achieved in a number of
ways by varying both the CHORD AND WING
SPAN.
• The ratio of wing span/wing chord is called
ASPECT RATIO.
ASPECT RATIO
• Since lift and drag are proportional to wing
area, each of these wings should have the
same value of lift and drag.
• Unfortunately this is not exactly true,
experiments have shown that wings with a
LARGER SPAN have a small advantage in
terms of LIFT AND LIFT DRAG RATIO, from
this point of view a HIGHER ASPECT RATIO
gives better results in the subsonic region.
INDUCED DRAG
• Wing tip effect is the second step we have to
take in understanding the problem of induced
drag.
• From what you have already learned, you will
know that to obtain lift, the pressure on the
upper surface of a wing must be lower than
the pressure on the bottom surface.
• This will result in a transfer of air between
surfaces around the wing tips for the reasons
given.
WING TIP EFFECT
• This means the outward and inward
movement of the air below and above
the wings, coupled with its relative
backward motion, caused by the
forward flight of the aircraft, will result in
many tiny vortices at the trailing edge,
finally uniting to form two vortices, one
at each wing tip. See FIG. 8
 Video
• C130_flares and vortices.mpeg
Wingtip Effect/Induced Drag
• The pressure differential between the
upper and the lower surfaces of the
wing result in a vortex being formed at
each wingtip, causing a downward push
on the air leaving the trailing edge.
INDUCED DRAG

• An upward flow of air outside the wing

span.
• A downward flow of air behind the
trailing edge of the wing.
Induced Drag
• The term Induced Drag describes the
unavoidable by-product of lift.
• The wingtip vortex causes a downward push
on the air leaving the trailing edge.
• This downward component is termed
downwash.
• The lift component is most effective acting
vertically. When the lift vector if tilted
rearward due to downwash, lift is lost. This
loss of lift is Induced Drag.
 Induced Drag Factors
• Induced drag increase in direct proportion to
increases in the angle of attack (up to the critical
angle).
• The amount of air deflected downward increases
greatly at higher AOA’s; therefore, the higher the
AOA, the greater the induced drag.
• Induced drag decreases with velocity.
total drag = induced drag +parasite drag
Activity 3
• When is it likely that a wing tip vortex
would be visible and why?