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The Secret of Flight: How Ancient Greece Inspired Modern Aerodynamics?
The mystery of aerodynamics has been passed down to this day. From Icarus in ancient mythology to the design of modern aircraft, the movement of air has always been inseparable from the human dream of flying. Since ancient Greek times, many theories and observations about the movement of objects through air have evolved, paving the way for later scientific developments. In fact, the basic concepts of aerodynamics appear in the works of ancient Greek philosophers such as Aristotle and Archimedes.
Their research involved concepts such as flow, resistance and pressure gradients, laying the foundation for future scientific experiments.
The formal development of modern aerodynamics began in the eighteenth century, and the revolutionary progress in this field can be traced back to fluid mechanics and gas dynamics based on the Schrödinger equation. The four basic forces of aerodynamics, namely the reasonable relationship between gravity, lift, drag and propulsion, were first clearly defined by George Kelly in 1799. These principles still guide the design of aircraft today.
Kelly's theory suggests that mastering the interrelationships between these four forces is the key to achieving heavier aircraft flight.
In the 19th century, Francis Herbert Wenham built the first wind tunnel that allowed near-precision experiments in aerodynamics. With Otto Lilienthal's successful gliding flight, the concept of thin curved wings was proposed, which not only expanded the concept of lift but also reduced drag. Afterwards, the Wright brothers completed the first controlled powered flight in 1903, a landmark event that ushered in the aviation age.
As aircraft speeds increase, the compressibility of air creates design challenges. Ernst Mach introduced the concept of Mach number, a metric critical to understanding the sound barrier and its impact on aircraft design. The physical properties of supersonic and subsonic speeds are completely different when reflected in flow behavior at different velocities, which poses many questions and challenges for engineers.
In the rapid evolution of aerodynamics, emerging theories such as compressed flow and turbulence are pushing the boundaries of aviation technology.
With the development of computational fluid dynamics technology, designers can predict the performance of aircraft in computer simulations. On the one hand, this makes the design process more efficient; on the other hand, it also promotes a deep understanding of supersonic and hypersonic flows. In this process, Newton's laws of motion, conservation of energy, conservation of momentum and other principles still form the core theoretical basis of contemporary fluid dynamics.
As Aristotle once proposed, understanding the principles of air flow around an object can help us calculate the force on the object. This concept is still not out of date. Through continuous scientific research and exploration, from the early observations of the ancient Greeks to the advanced data simulation of today's ninety yards, human understanding of flight and technological applications are constantly being redefined and updated.
As our understanding of fluid mechanics continues to deepen, how will future flight technology be reshaped?
Today, designing aircraft is not only about the calculation of mechanics, but also about in-depth exploration of the interaction between flow and aircraft. From subsonic to supersonic to hypersonic mission requirements, the goal of modern aerodynamics research is to enable the design of aircraft to predictably interact with fluids in various flow fields. What future explorations will this bring? ?
