Recent Results Pertaining to the Application of the "Area Rule"

This paper is concerned primarily with the application of the "area rule" to the interpretation and improvement of the drag-rise characteristics of wing-body combinations at transonic and moderate supersonic speeds. Consideration of the general physical nature of the flow at transonic speeds, together with comparisons of the flow fields and drag-rise characteristics for wing-body combinations and bodies of revolution has led to the conclusion that near the speed of sound the drag rise for a thin low-aspect-ratio wing-body combination is primarily dependent on the axial distribution of cross-sectional area normal to the airstream (ref. 1). (The drag rise, sometimes referred to as pressure drag, is the difference between the drag level near the speed of sound and the drag level at subsonic speeds where the drag is due primarily to skin friction.) In order to illustrate the concept, figure 1 shows a wing-body combination and a body of revolution. A typical cross section normal to the airstream for the wing-body combination is shown at AA. The cross-sectional area of the wing is wrapped around the body of revolution so that the body has the same cross-sectional area at BB. All the other cross-sectional areas of the body of revolution are the same as those for the wing-body combination at the same axial stations. On the basis of the conclusion just stated, the drag rise for this body of revolution should be similar to that for the wing-body combination.