Fundamental Aerodynamics

Aerodynamics is the branch of Fluid Mechanics that deals with the flow of air around obstacles or in wakes. The objective is to predict the forces that will allow an aircraft to perform a flight piloted with a force of lift while being braked by a drag force.

In a pedagogical spirit, the book includes the elements necessary to understand the different theories in all flight regimes from low speeds during landing or takeoff, through average speeds in subsonic or supersonic cruising flight and up to very high hypersonic speeds during the atmospheric re-entry of spacecraft.

The content is the result of years of research and teaching experience accumulated by the authors at ONERA, the University of Toulouse III, in aeronautical engineering schools and other continuing education organizations.

This book is intended for Master's students and engineering students who wish to understand in detail the foundations of aerodynamic theories. It is also intended for engineers, often numerical engineers, who wish to deepen their fundamental knowledge in order to understand, analyze and solve their practical aerodynamic problems. Some parts are aimed at postgraduate students or researchers who need basic or advanced aerodynamics in their work. We also hope that this book can be used as a reference by fellow teachers to prepare courses and tutorials. Finally, any aerodynamics enthusiast with a sufficient scientific level will find pleasure in it.

This book is organized into themes with an emphasis on modeling. All chapters are completed by application exercises that help to understand or develop a specific or technical aspect. Numerous illustrations, diagrams or curves allow a better visualization, quantification and parameterization of the results coming from the different theories. All numerical results are obtained by simulations carried out by the authors. Many analytical solutions have been verified using a formal language.