Aerodynamic Characteristics of Scissor-Wing Geometries

Abstract

A scissor-wing configuration, consisting of two independently sweeping-wing surfaces, is compared with an equivalent fixed-wing geometry baseline over a wide Mach number range. The scissor-wing configuration is shown to have a higher total lift-to-drag ratio than the baseline in the subsonic region primarily due to the slightly higher aspect ratio of the unswept scissor wing. In the transonic region, the scissor wing is shown to have a higher lift-to-drag ratio than the baseline for values of lift coefficient > 0.35. It is also shown that, through the use of wing decalage, the lift of the two independent scissor wings can be equalized. In the supersonic regime, the zero lift wave drag of the scissor wing at maximum sweep is shown to be 50 and 28% less than the zero lift wave drag of the baseline at Mach numbers 1.5 and 3.0, respectively. In addition, a pivot-wing configuration is introduced and compared with the scissor wing. The pivot-wing configuration is shown to have a slightly higher total lift-to-drag ratio than the scissor wing in the supersonic region due to the decreased zero lift wave drag of the pivot-wing configuration.

Department(s)

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0021-8669

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 1991 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 1991

Link to Full Text

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