An investigation into how machines and living creatures fly, and of the similarities between butterflies and Boeings, paper airplanes and plovers. From the smallest gnat to the largest aircraft, all things that fly obey the same aerodynamic principles. In The Simple Science of Flight, Henk Tennekes investigates just how machines and creatures fly: what size wings they need, how much energy is required for their journeys, how they cross deserts and oceans, how they take off, climb, and soar. Fascinated by the similarities between nature and technology, Tennekes offers an introduction to flight that teaches by association. Swans and Boeings differ in numerous ways, but they follow the same aerodynamic principles. Biological evolution and its technical counterpart exhibit exciting parallels. What makes some airplanes successful and others misfits? Why does the Boeing 747 endure but the Concorde now seem a fluke? Tennekes explains the science of flight through comparisons, examples, equations, and anecdotes. The new edition of this popular book has been thoroughly revised and much expanded. Highlights of the new material include a description of the incredible performance of bar-tailed godwits (7,000 miles nonstop from Alaska to New Zealand), an analysis of the convergence of modern jetliners (from both Boeing and Airbus), a discussion of the metabolization of energy featuring Lance Armstrong, a novel treatment of the aerodynamics of drag and trailing vortices, and an emphasis throughout on evolution, in nature and in engineering. Tennekes draws on new evidence on bird migration, new wind-tunnel studies, and data on new airliners. And his analysis of the relative efficiency of planes, trains, and automobiles is newly relevant. (On a cost-per-seat scale, a 747 is more efficient than a passenger car.)

Over the past three decades, information in the aerospace and mechanical engineering fields in general and turbomachinery in particular has grown at an exponential rate. Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer of Turbomachinery is the first book, in one complete volume, to bring together the modern approaches and advances in the field, providing the most up-to-date, unified treatment available on basic principles, physical aspects of the aerothermal field, analysis, performance, theory, and computation of turbomachinery flow and heat transfer.

Presenting a unified approach to turbomachinery fluid dynamics and aerothermodynamics, the book concentrates on the fluid dynamic aspects of flows and thermodynamic considerations rather than on those related to materials, structure, or mechanical aspects. It covers the latest material and all types of turbomachinery used in modern-day aircraft, automotive, marine, spacecraft, power, and industrial applications; and there is an entire chapter devoted to modern approaches on computation of turbomachinery flow. An additional chapter on turbine cooling and heat transfer is unique for a turbomachinery book.

The author has undertaken a systematic approach, through more than three hundred illustrations, in developing the knowledge base. He uses analysis and data correlation in his discussion of most recent developments in this area, drawn from over nine hundred references and from research projects carried out by various organizations in the United States and abroad.

This book is extremely useful for anyone involved in the analysis, design, and testing of turbomachinery. For students, it can be used as a two-semester course of senior undergraduate or graduate study: the first semester dealing with the basic principles and analysis of turbomachinery, the second exploring three-dimensional viscid flows, computation, and heat transfer. Many sections are quite general and applicable to other areas in fluid dynamics and heat transfer. The book can also be used as a self-study guide to those who want to acquire this knowledge.

The ordered, meticulous, and unified approach of Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer of Turbomachinery should make the specialization of turbomachinery in aerospace and mechanical engineering much more accessible to students and professionals alike, in universities, industry, and government.

Turbomachinery theory, performance, and analysis made accessible with a new, unified approach

For the first time in nearly three decades, here is a completely up-to-date and unified approach to turbomachinery fluid dynamics and aerothermodynamics. Combining the latest advances, methods, and approaches in the field, Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer of Turbomachinery features:

• The most comprehensive and complete coverage of the fluid dynamics and aerothermodynamics of turbomachinery to date
• A spotlight on the fluid dynamic aspects of flows and the thermodynamic considerations for turbomachinery (rather than the structural or material aspects)
• A detailed, step-by-step presentation of the analytical and computational models involved, which allows the reader to easily construct a flowchart from which to operate
• Critical reviews of all the existing analytical and numerical models, highlighting the advantages and drawbacks of each
• Comprehensive coverage of turbine cooling and heat transfer, a unique feature for a book on turbomachinery
• An appendix of basic computation techniques, numerous tables, and listings of common terminology, abbreviations, and nomenclature

Broad in scope, yet concise, and drawing on the author's teaching experience and research projects for government and industry, Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer of Turbomachinery explains and simplifies an increasingly complex field. It is an invaluable resource for undergraduate and graduate students in aerospace and mechanical engineering specializing in turbomachinery, for research and design engineers, and for all professionals who are—or wish to be—at the cutting edge of this technology.

This essential book describes the mathematical formulations and subsequent computer simulations required to accurately project the trajectory of spacecraft and rockets in space, using the formalism of optimal control for minimum-time transfer in general elliptic orbit. The material will aid research students in aerospace engineering, as well as practitioners in the field of spaceflight dynamics, in developing simulation software to carry out trade studies useful in vehicle and mission design. It will teach readers to develop flight software for operational applications in autonomous mode, so to actually transfer space vehicles from one orbit to another. The practical, real-life applications discussed will give readers a clear understanding of the mathematics of orbit transfer, allow them to develop their own operational software to fly missions, and to use the contents as a research tool to carry out even more complex analyses.

Still relevant decades after its 1950 publication, this legendary reference text on aircraft stress analysis is considered the best book on the subject. It emphasizes basic structural theory, which remains unchanged with the development of new materials and construction methods, and the application of the elementary principles of mechanics to the analysis of aircraft structures.
Suitable for undergraduate students, this volume covers equilibrium of forces, space structures, inertia forces and load factors, shear and bending stresses, and beams with unsymmetrical cross sections. Additional topics include spanwise air-load distribution, external loads on the airplane, joints and fittings, deflections of structures, and special methods of analysis. Topics involving a knowledge of aerodynamics appear in final chapters, allowing students to study the prerequisite aerodynamics topics in concurrent courses.

This book provides a thorough description of actual, working aerodynamic design and analysis systems, for both axial-flow and radial-flow turbines. It describes the basic fluid dynamic and thermodynamic principles, empirical models and numerical methods used for the full range of procedures and analytical tools that an engineer needs for virtually any type of aerodynamic design or analysis activity for both types of turbine. The book includes sufficient detail for readers to implement all or part of the systems. The author provides practical and effective design strategies for applying both turbine types, which are illustrated by design examples. Comparisons with experimental results are included to demonstrate the prediction accuracy to be expected. This book is intended for practicing engineers concerned with the design and development of turbines and related machinery.