Why a Biplane with Tension Wires? by Hans Appel
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Why a biplane with tension wires? by Hans Appel 1 / 8 © Hans Appel, 09-05-18 Why a biplane with tension wires? Preface A biplane is an airplane with two main wings one above the other. The first, motor-driven, aircraft that was heavier than air was the Wright Flyer. This aircraft had a double-wing construction, just like many other aircraft in the first years of aviation. Although a biplane wing configuration has a structural advantage over a monoplane, namely the stiffness of the wings, a biplane produces more resistance than a cantilevered monoplane wing. Improved construction techniques, better materials and more speed ensured that the biplane configuration was outdated by the end of the 1930s. Engine power vs stall In the first years of aviation, the engines only delivered a low power output. The low power meant that planes could only fly slowly. This lack of power, and therefore the low flight speed, was the cause of the low stall speed of those first aircraft. The slower the air flow over the wings, the less lift those wings generate. Increasing the wing area produces more lift and the angle of attack at which the stall takes place is thereby favorably influenced. However, a large wing area means a greater wing weight and weight hinders lift. So a large wing area with a low weight had to be combined. A double wing configuration with a specific wingspan and cord has twice the surface area of a comparable wing with a single wing. As a result, such a biplane can fly slower without increasing the angle of attack and thus produce more lift than a monoplane with the same wing surface. Biplanes offer more advantages over cantilevered monplane designs: they have lighter wing constructions, a lower wing load and a shorter wingspan for a given wing surface. However, the interference between the airflow between each wing increases the aerodynamic resistance considerably and, moreover, biplanes require extensive reinforcement of the wings (struts), which in turn causes additional resistance. Aerodynamic interference Biplanes therefore suffer from aerodynamic interference between the two wings. This means that in practice a biplane will not produce twice the lift of a monoplane with the same wing area. The farther apart the wings are, the less interference is produced, but the struts between the two wings must therefore be longer. Due to the low speed of the early aircraft, the resistance of the wires and struts and the mutual interference of air currents were relatively small and acceptable factors. When the engine power increased after the First World War, the heavy thick-walled cantilevered wing with great stiffness became possible for the monoplane (cantilever monoplane). And with its higher power and faster speed, from 1918 the monoplane began replacing the biplane with many new designs. 2 / 8 © Hans Appel, 09-05-18 With a biplane, two wings are placed one above the other. Each wing provides part of the total lift, but as noted earlier, they do not produce twice as much lift as a single wing of comparable size and shape. The cause of this is that the upper and lower wings work in the same part of the atmosphere and therefore interfere with each other's behavior. For example, in a wing with a slenderness of 6 (slenderness = wingspan / chord) and a separation distance between the wings with the length of the associated chord, a biplane configuration will produce only about 20 percent more lift than a single wing with the same shape and surface. To achieve maximum stability of the biplane, the upper and lower wings will be constructed 50% offset from each other. Furthermore an angle of 4˚ is given to the upper wing (figure 1). 4˚ Figure 1 In a biplane configuration, the lower wing is usually attached to the body. The upper wing is placed above the body with a construction of struts (cabane struts) and tension wires. One or both of the main wings may be provided with ailerons, while wing flaps are usually placed on the lower wing. Between the upper and lower wings, extra support is often given by means of wires and / or slender struts which are placed symmetrically on either side of the hull. Tension wires When designing the first motor-driven aircraft, heavier than air, we always see many tension wires applied. These wires are needed to achieve the greatest possible rigidity and robust construction when using relatively light materials. Basically it means that we want to use a frame (light weight, flexible) as a beam (heavy, stiff, robust). The cross-section of the tubular structure, for example the hull of an old-fashioned biplane, looks like Figure 2A. The hull is not massive, because then it would be way too heavy. The hull is therefore a tubular construction, covered with woven fabric. We therefore come across a tube “window” in a number of places in the hull as shown in 2A. Now this construction is far from stable. In Figure 2B we see that when a force is applied to the top left corner the "window" will twist. The construction of a diagonal pipe, however, results in a construction that will retain its stiffness with an exerted force from left or right, figure 2C. 3 / 8 © Hans Appel, 09-05-18 Figure 2A Figure 2B Figure 2C Installing such an extra tube will now increase the weight of the structure and certainly if this is necessary in a number of places. And we want to avoid more weight. We solve this problem by using a tension cable instead of an extra tube (see Figure 2A), which of course is a considerably lighter construction. The problem here is that when a tensile force is exerted on the top right corner, the whole thing starts twisting again. Figure 3A Figure 3B Figure 3C Solution for this is found by using two tension wires. Figure 2C shows that. The construction is now stable, rigid and sturdy while the weight is much less than if one or two tubes were used. Bays The space enclosed by a set of intermediate struts is called a "bay". In terms of force model, this space corresponds to the tubular "window" described above. A biplane (or triplane) with one set of such struts, which connect the wings on each side of the aircraft, is called a single-layer biplane or triplane. The bay provides sufficient strength for smaller aircraft. Examples are the Fokker D.VII fighter from the First World War, or the basic trainer from before the Second World War de Havilland Tiger Moth. Large double-deckers for transport and bombardment flights often require several bays in order to gain sufficient strength and rigidity. These are called multi-bay biplanes. Advantages and disadvantages of the double-decker The main advantage of the biplane over the monoplane is the combination of high rigidity with a relatively low weight. Stiffness requires a sturdy construction. And where complicated extra reinforcements had to be applied in early monoplane constructions, the biplane has a naturally stiff construction structure and it is therefore easier to make a biplane construction both light and strong. A wing of a monoplane must fully support itself, while the double wings help to reinforce each other. The biplane is therefore naturally stiffer than the monoplane. 4 / 8 © Hans Appel, 09-05-18 The structural forces in and on the wood of a biplane wing are also usually lower and can therefore be made much lighter. A disadvantage of the biplanes can be that there is a need for placing additional struts to allow the spacing of longer wings. Development In the period from 1914 to 1925, most of the new planes were double-deckers, although in 1918 the Germans experimented with a new generation of monoplanes such as the Junkers DI and Fokker D.VIII that canceled out the benefits of the biplanes. The French already employed the Morane-Saulnier AI "strut braced parasol" monoplane. Sesquiplane types, biplanes with abbreviated lower wings, such as the French Nieuport 17 and German Albatros D.III, had slightly less resistance than a conventional biplane while being stronger than a monoplane. The available engine power and speed increased, while better materials could be used for wing construction. As a result, all kinds of reinforcements that negatively affect the performance of the aircraft were no longer needed. It was therefore possible to proceed to constructions with aerodynamically clean, cantilevered wings. Triplanes Why did people ever come up with the idea of constructing triplanes? It was already known that around 1910, when this type of aircraft appeared, that the more wing surface was present, the more lift was produced at the same speed. At the beginning of the 20th century people were not yet able to make self-supporting wing constructions with sufficiently light materials that could provide sufficient lift with a limited engine capacity. The biplane was a good solution for this problem. But, one might wonder, why not go further and make three-, four- or even multi-wing planes? From a purely aerodynamic point of view, this is not good idea. After all, the construction of more wings not only increases the lift, but also increases the aerodynamic resistance. As a result, more power is required, and a larger engine that again uses more fuel. A balance has to be struck between increasing performance and increasing resistance, with the advantage of a better slenderness (wing length / width ratio) of the wings, so that lighter wings can be constructed. Wars always give an extra boost to technological development and the First World War was no exception.