Airfoil

About: Airfoil is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 24696 publications have been published within this topic receiving 337709 citations. The topic is also known as: aerofoil & wing section.

State-space representation of unsteady airfoil behavior

Abstract: A method is presented to model the unsteady lift, pitching moment, and drag acting on a two-dimensional airfoil operating under attached-flow conditions in a compressible flow. Starting from suitable generalizations and approximations to aerodynamic indicial functions, the unsteady airloads due to an artibrary forcing are represented in a state-space (differential equation) form. This model is in a form compatible with the aeroelastic analyses of both fixed-wing and rotary-wing systems

Two-Dimensional Transonic Aerodynamic Design Method

Abstract: This paper demonstrates the capabilities of a new transonic, two-dimensional design method, based on the simultaneous solution of multiple streamtubes, coupled through the position of, and pressure at, the streamline interfaces. This allows the specification of either the airfoil shape (direct, analysis mode) or the airfoil surface pressure distribution (inverse, design mode). The nonlinear system of equations is formulated in a conservative manner, which guarantees the correct treatment of shocks, and is solved by a rapid Newton solution method. Viscous effects can also be included through a coupled integral boundary-layer analysis. The first set of results shows the effect of different far-field treatments, demonstrating the improvement in accuracy obtained by including the second-order doublet terms in addition to the usual first-order vortex term. The results are also compared to those obtained by specifying straight far-field streamlines (corresponding to solid-wall wind-tunnel experiments) or constant far-field pressure (corresponding to freejet experiments) to show the sensitivity to the farfield distance. In the second set of results, the design method is used to design a transonic airfoil with C/ = 1.000 at A/oo = 0.70. It is shown that the off-design performance is improved by specifying a surface pressure distribution with a very weak shock.

Natural-laminar-flow airfoil for general-aviation applications

Abstract: A natural-Iamina r-flow airfoil, the NLF(1)-0115, has been recently designed for general-aviation aircraft at the NASA Langley Research Center. During the design of this airfoil, special emphasis was placed on experiences and observations gleaned from other successful general-aviation airfoils. For example, the flight lift-coefficient range is the same as that of the turbulent-flow NACA 23015 airfoil. Also, although beneficial for reducing drag and producing high lift, the NLF(1)-0115 airfoil avoids the use of aft loading, which can lead to large stick forces if utilized on portions of the wing having ailerons. Furthermore, not using aft loading eliminates the concern that the high pitching-moment coefficient generated by such airfoils can result in large trim drag if cruise flaps are not employed. The NASA NLF(1)-0115 airfoil has a thickness of 15% chord. It is designed primarily for general-aviation aircraft with wing loadings of 720-960 N/m2 (15-20 lb/ft2). Low-profile drag as a result of laminar flow is obtained over the range from c, = 0.1 and R = 9 x 106 (the cruise condition) to c, = 0.6 and R = 4 x 106 (the climb condition). While this airfoil can be used with flaps, it is designed to achieve a c,,max of 1.5 at R = 2.6 x 10 6 without flaps. The zero-lift pitching moment is held to c,H,0 = -0.055. The hinge moment for a 20% chord aileron is fixed at a value equal to that of the NACA 632-215 airfoil, CH = — 0.0022. The loss in cAmax due to leading-edge roughness at R = 2.6 x 10 6 is 11% as compared with 14% for the NACA 23015.

A natural low-frequency oscillation of the flow over an airfoil near stalling conditions

Abstract: An experimental and computational study of the low-frequency oscillation observed in the flow over an airfoil at the onset of static stall is presented. Wind-tunnel results obtained with two-dimensional airfoil models show that this phenomena takes place only with a transitional state of the separating boundary layer. It is noted that the flowfield does not involve a Karman vortex street. The experimental results agree well with the results of a two-dimensional Navier-Stokes code. The present study demonstrates that the low-frequency oscillations produce intense flow fluctuations which impart much larger unsteady forces to the airfoil than experienced by bluff-body shedding and which may represent the primary aerodynamics of stall flutter of blades and wings.

Far-field boundary conditions for transonic lifting solutions to the Euler equations

Abstract: Far-field boundary conditions for the Euler equations are formulated and applied to transonic lifting flow over an airfoil in an unbounded domain. An expansion of the linearized small-disturbance equation in the far field is developed and the leading-order term, corresponding to a point vortex representation for the airfoil, is retained. A comprehensive evaluation across the Mach number range of the procedure's effectiveness in eliminating dependence of the numerical results on the boundary extent is presented. Extension of the method to three dimensions is also outlined.