Wing during a sandstorm

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moss

Filing Flight Plan
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moss
Hi guys

I'm designing a wing for one of my courses in uni and I need some specific info.

How would the loads acting on an airplane wing change during a sandstorm? How would the lift and drag coefficients change? How would the mass of the wing change? Is there anything else I need to know about in terms of wing structural design?

If you don't know, then could you point me in the right direction?

I'm sorry if this is not the right place to post this, I'm new here.
 
Need more context - is this for a physics course, aerodynamics or weather?
Next - how/why would a sandstorm be different from any wind event?
Otherwise you'll probably need a new paint job, hence a strip & repaint then a new Weight & Balance form.
 
It's a strength of materials course. Strength of aerial structures (not sure if I translated that correctly, English is my second language and the course isn't taught in English), to be more exact. We use all the same concepts as in a strength of materials course.
 
moss said:
How would the loads acting on an airplane wing change during a sandstorm? How would the lift and drag coefficients change? How would the mass of the wing change? Is there anything else I need to know about in terms of wing structural design?
Click to expand...
I'm thinking that sandstorms are similar to sleet. If so, a big consideration would be the paint job. I ran into a friend and he was raging mad. He had a recent paint job on his Bonanza. It seems that an ATC controller ran him smack into an imbedded T-storm. It sand blasted the leading edges of everything down to bare metal.
I had a similar experience when I was a military pilot and was assigned a midnight Med Evac mission. Started in FL and finished in GA. A UH-1 with a pretty good paint job. Picked up a clearance. OATs were zero C, maybe minus one. One hour enroute. It sounded like we were following an uncovered truck load of sand. Landed OK and we put the bird to bed about two hours before sun up. Post flight looked OK. About 0700 the Commander found me at my desk. (Asleep) He led me out to the ship and said "Explain." It looked like it had been sandblasted. The leading edge of every thing was bare metal.
Flight performance and handling were very normal.
 
moss said:
Hi guys

I'm designing a wing for one of my courses in uni and I need some specific info.

How would the loads acting on an airplane wing change during a sandstorm? How would the lift and drag coefficients change? How would the mass of the wing change? Is there anything else I need to know about in terms of wing structural design?

If you don't know, then could you point me in the right direction?

I'm sorry if this is not the right place to post this, I'm new here.
Click to expand...

Stick around, you might get an answer. In the mean time you'll probably have to endure being called a Troll and all kinds of other stuff. Best I can come up with, based on not actually knowing much is. It isn't going to change the mass of the wing unless it sticks somehow. It's going to have an effect on some things though. Sand grains have mass and there isn't a way of getting around the opposite and equal reaction thing. Is it significant, even measurable? Probably not.
 
My guess is that the sand might hasten the transition between a laminar and turbulent boundary layer, so if you're using a laminar flow airfoil in what is now the turbulent range, the chordwise lift distribution might change, it might (again just a guess) act like the same airfoil at a much higher Reynolds number.

The sand might affect the density of the air, too...

Your English is fine. Here we'd call the class "aerospace structures".
 
Other items to consider....speed of wind, characteristics of sand - how large are the particles, type of sand which contributes to the weight of the sand and how much per 1 cubic centimeter of air?

There are any number of airfoil (wing) designs. Start here:
https://nasa.fandom.com/wiki/NACA_airfoil

Gory details:
http://airfoiltools.com/search/index?m[grp]=naca4d&m[sort]=1

Pressure definitions (part of what you're going to need)
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19930090976

If a specific wing isn't required, use the most common, a Cessna 172.
[Sidebar: NACA was the original name of the organization. It's better known as NASA these days, but airfoil designation still uses the NACA designation]

You'll note that an airfoil is a "slice" of a wing.

Anything past this, I'm not much help. I do software, not hardware, but have taken aerodynamics courses in college.
 
Cd and mass aren't going to change unless the sand sticks or seriously erodes the leading edge. Air density would probably be different in dirty air vs clean air. Enough to make a significant difference? Doubtful.

Helicopters fly in sandstorms and rotor induced blowing dust / sand all the time. Personally never seen any changes in torque and I don’t know of any materiel that suggests changes in drag or lift can occur. The only harmful effects are blade erosion, engine compressor erosion (compressor stalls) and wear / tear on actuators and seals. Of course there’s static build up (St Elmos Fire) but that’s not really a safety issue.
 
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