An Electric Analogy for Modeling the Aerodynamics of Engineered and
Biological Flight 01-17-03-0016
This also appears in
SAE International Journal of Aerospace-V133-1EJ
There are examples in aerodynamics that take advantage of electric-to-aerodynamic
analogies, like the law of Biot–Savart, which is used in aerodynamic theory to
calculate the velocity induced by a vortex line. This article introduces an
electric-to-aerodynamic analogy that models the lift, drag, and thrust of an
airplane, a helicopter, a propeller, and a flapping bird. This model is intended
to complement the recently published aerodynamic equation of state for
lift, drag, and thrust of an
engineered or a biological flyer by means of an analogy between this equation
and Ohm’s law. This model, as well as the aerodynamic equation of state, are
both intended to include the familiar and time-proven parameters of
pressure, work, and
energy, analytical tools that are ubiquitous in all fields
of science but absent in an aerodynamicists’ day-to-day tasks. Illustrated by
various examples, this modeling approach, as treated in this article, is limited
to subsonic flight.
