Tornado supersonic module development

Abstract: This academic writing details the TGZD15 engineering project executed by Ester Garrido Estrada at Linköping University during the academic year 2010/2011. The goal is to develop a supersonic module for the conceptual design tool Tornado. When the project was defined, there was only a subsonic Tornado module available. However, Tornado code was designed to be modular in order to be easily extended with a created supersonic module and other future extensions. The physical and mathematical problem is to find the aerodynamic forces and moments acting on any aircraft lifting-surface flying at supersonic speeds. The proposed solution to this problem is to uses the standard vortex lattice method. The force acting on each vortex segment defined in every panel is determined by the Kutta-Jukovski theorem. The supersonic module differs from the subsonic in the aerodynamic influence between panels. Understanding Tornado subsonic module is the background work. The computational problem is divided in two different stages. On the one hand, the supersonic module code must be implemented. On the other hand, it is necessary to establish a connection between both modules to adapt the subsonic code to supersonic cases with the least possible changes. The Tornado supersonic module results have a good relation with the theoretical and experimental aerodynamic data shown and analyzed in the NACA documents quotes at the end of this writing. For example, the lift curve results for the unswept wings tested have 2 percent of error approximately. This error increases to 9 percent for swept wings. Results accuracy can be increased or decreased according with the number of panels used in the simulations. The conclusion is that Tornado subsonic and supersonic module can be used in different applications, including educational fields, because it offers a wide variety of results with an acceptable error.