MODERN AERODYNAMICS AS PSEUDO-SCIENCE CLAES JOHNSON
PSEUDO-SCIENCE SUBSTANTIAL EFFECT FROM UNKNOWN CAUSE OR CAUSE TOO SMALL FOR EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION
EXAMPLES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE ASTROLOGY CROP CIRCLES LYSENKOISM PARAPSYCHOLOGY UFOLOGY PSYCHOKINESIS LEVITATION
PSEUDO-SCIENCE PSYCHO-ANALYSIS: UNCONSCIOUS SELF MARXISM: SOCIALISM INEVITABLE + GOOD BECAUSE CAPITALISM IS UNSTABLE BASIC ASSUMPTIONS CANNOT BE TESTED PREDICTIONS CANNOT BE TESTED EXPERIMENTALLY OR THEORETICALLY
PSEUDO-SCIENCE?? STRING THEORY: TOO SMALL SCALES STATISTICAL MECHANICS: MOLECULAR CHAOS BASIC ASSUMPTIONS CANNOT BE TESTED PREDICTIONS CAN/CANNOT BE TESTED
KUTTA + ZHUKOVSKY + PRANDTL 1904 FATHERS OF MODERN AERODYNAMICS
PROVED THAT FLYING IS POSSIBLE AFTER WRIGHT SHOWED IT IN 1903
MODERN AERODYNAMICS: LIFT + DRAG KUTTA-ZHUKOVSKY: LIFT FROM CIRCULATION FROM SHARP TRAILING EDGE SINGULARITY PRANDTL: DRAG FROM VANISHINGLY THIN BOUNDARY LAYER
UNKNOWN OR SMALL CAUSE: TESTING IMPOSSIBLE LIFT: SHARP TRAILING EDGE SINGULARITY DRAG: VANISHINGLY THIN BOUNDARY LAYER
EFFECT OF KUTTA-ZHUKOVSKY UIUC AIRFOIL DATABASE: 1500 AIRFOILS ALL WITH SHARP TRAILING EDGE REAL WING: ROUNDED OR BLUNT 1% - 10% CHORD LENGTH
ROUNDED TRAILING EDGE: REAL TURBIN BLADE
EFFECT OF PRANDTL AERODYNAMICS UNCOMPUTABLE AERODYNAMICS MYSTERY
LUDWIG PRANDTL: BIG EFFECT FROM SMALL FRICTION
PRANDTL BOUNDARY LAYER 1904 A very satisfactory explanation of the physical process in the boundary layer [Grenz-schicht] between a fluid and a solid body could be obtained by the hypothesis of an adhesion of the fluid to the walls, that is, by the hypothesis of a zero relative velocity between fluid and wall.
SMALL FRICTION – BIG EFFECT If the viscosity was very small and the fluid path along the wall not too long, the fluid velocity ought to resume its normal value at a very short distance from the wall. In the thin transition layer, however, the sharp changes of velocity, even with small coefficient of friction, produce marked results.
EFFECT FROM EVER-SO-SMALL VISC. In the steady motion around a sphere, there is a transition from the motion with viscosity to the limit of non-viscosity, then something quite different from the Dirichlet motion is produced. The latter is then only an initial condition, which is soon disturbed by the effect of an ever- so-small viscosity.
SUCCESS CLAIMED This plan has proved to be very fruitful, in that, on the one hand, it produces mathematical formulas, which enable a solution of the problems and, on the other hand, the agreement with observations promises to be very satisfactory.
KUTTA-ZHUKOVSKY: BIG EFFECT FROM UNKNOWN CAUSE IF THERE IS CIRCULATION THEN THERE IS LIFT INCORRECT LOGIC: LIFT IS OBSERVED HENCE THERE MUST BE CIRCULATION BUT FROM WHERE? NO ANSWER. HENCE IT MUST BE: TRAILING EDGE SINGULARITY + VISCOSITY
KUETHE-SCHETZER: TEXT BOOK: FOUNDATIONS OF AERODYNAMICS: A body with a sharp trailing edge which is moving through a fluid will create about itself a circulation of sufficient strength to hold the rear stagnation point at the trailing edge.
SCHLICHTING: STUDENT OF PRANDTL: The technically most important wing profiles have, in general, a more or less sharp trailing edge. Then the magnitude of circulation can be derived from experience, namely, that there is no flow around the trailing edge, but that the fluid flows off the trailing edge smoothly.
DANGER OF SUCCESS AND FATHERHOOD KZP PARALYZED MODERN AERODYNAMICS INTO PSEUDO-SCIENCE