Handbook

ZEIT 3503 is a 3rd year 6UoC core course for the BE Aero and BTech Aero programs.

This course builds on ZEIT2500 Thermofluids and ZEIT2503 Fluid Mechanics. The fluid mechanical knowledge assumed in the present course is the knowledge of the physical principles and, in particular, the conservation laws governing fluid flow and the forces exerted by fluids as they flow over solid objects.

The primary aim of this course is to impart knowledge and understanding of how wings and other bodies produce aerodynamic forces known as lift and drag in flight/motion. The course also aims at elucidating the physical origins of the more subtle aspects of the interaction between a fluid and a solid.

As flight speed rises, the physical behaviour of the flow around a solid body, such as an aircraft, alters markedly causing major changes in the forces the flow exerts on the body. Detailed understanding of flow behaviour is therefore vital for ensuring that an aircraft will behave as desired throughout the full range of its flight regime.

A further aim is to have students experience the acquisition of non-intuitive knowledge that is not easily accessible. This fits into the whole program’s underlying purpose to teach students how to learn.

A third aim is to demonstrate that such apparently esoteric theory can inform us about flight in “the real world”.