Study on Side Wind Effects on Aircraft Aerodynamics Characteristics

The objective of this research project is to investigate the effects of side wind on aircraft aerodynamics characteristics using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods. A background study was carried out to deduce the relationship between the microburst phenomenon and side wind. CFD simulations were carried out whereby the aircraft model was orientated at various angle of attack, bank and sideslip angles. The aerodynamic performance was determined in terms of its lift, drag, side force, pitching, rolling and yawing moments. A comparison was carried out between the results obtained for the case of undisturbed flow and the case with side flow. The numerical simulation results were compared to the experimental results and it was found that wind shear has the same effect on the aerodynamics of a wing, i.e. increase in wind shear results in an increase in drag and an adverse effect on the lift. Finally, an analysis was performed to justify the utilization of CFD methods in this project.