Questions tagged [airfoil]
The 2D shape of a section of aircraft wing.
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How to calculate pressure distribution over an airfoil from its coordinates?
I need to compute the pressure distribution over an airfoil (I have the coordinates, but any will do) with the streamline curvature method. Unfortunately, I cannot find much on the web.
Can someone ...
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Why the gradient of $C_L$-$\alpha$ graph increases with the Mach number?
From the JAA ATPL Book 13 (Principles of flight) the gradient $\frac{dC_L}{d\alpha}$ of the $C_L$-$\alpha$ graph increases for higher Mach numbers. Can someone explain why this is the case?
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How to reproduce NASA/Langley airfoils for general aviation with long chord lengths?
I have scaled a NASA/Langley LS(1)-0413 airfoil to a 90 inch chord length, and now the trailing edge is 0.5in. Any longer chord length would have a larger trailing edge thickness.
(90in*(0.0071-0....
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How is rotor airfoil analysis different than fixed wing airfoil analysis?
What the is difference between rotor airfoil analysis and fixed-wing airfoil analysis?
Intuitively, it seems that the airspeed at the tip of a rotor blade would be more than that at its root. Wouldn'...
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Why is the pitching moment of this symmetric aerofoil non-zero?
As I understand it, the pitching moment coefficient of a symmetric aerofoil should be zero, under potential flow assumptions. Obviously, approaching stall and post-stall, these assumptions are invalid ...
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How accurate is XFoil / XFLR5 at 'kinda high' Reynolds numbers?
How accurate is XFoil/XFLR5 at Reynolds numbers between 2 million and 10 million?
From my understanding it's only accurate at lower Re values.
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Why are highly cambered airfoils rarely used in propellers or wings?
Highly cambered airfoils like the Seligs and Epplers are hardly ever used in propeller or wing sections. Why?
Does their performance reduce at high Re? Are they only adequate at low Mach, low Re?
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How to increase payload capacity of plane?
Keeping thrust, wing span, weight (of plane) constant, can we increase the payload capacity (nearly 50% more)? Adding payload to plane, it decreases thrust/weight ratio, how does it affect the control ...
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Can lift be increased by increasing the angle of incidence of the wing? [closed]
Can the lift of a plane be increased by increasing the Angle of Incidence (angle between the chord line of the main wing and the axis of the fuselage)? Meaning, can more lift be generated while the ...
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What are Uses of thin airfoil and thick airfoil?
I have heard that thin airfoils are used for fast fyling and thick airfoil a are used for more lift. Is it true? Can you explain specific uses of thick and thin airfoils ?
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Why do intermeshing helicopters use asymmetric airfoils?
I am referring to the Kaman K-max and the Kaman Huskie here. They both use NACA 23012, which is an asymmetric airfoil. Any reason as to why this is? Is there a different mechanic in play when ...
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The numerical method used by F.X Wortmann for inverse design
Apologies in advance for a long-winded question.
Can someone who understands some airfoil theory and German language please help me understand the method outlined in this paper from Prof. FX Wortmann....
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F.X Wortmann airfoil naming convention
Does anyone happen to have a reference or such that explains the naming convention used by Prof. Wortmann for his airfoils?
Usually it follows that for symmetrical ones, the first 2 digits are to ...
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Would a airfoil move backwards if you rotate it vertical
Lets say i have a wing with an engine attached to it like a propellor.
And now i point the nose of my airplane up untill it is vertical.
Would the wing still generate lift because of the air flowing ...
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Are there any NACA airfoils that resemble the X-29's wing?
As a part of my project, I am trying to perform structural and aerodynamic analysis of a forward swept wing on an aircraft, specifically the Grumman X-29 (pictured below).
I am assuming that ...
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Vertical autorotation with passive rotor
Let's say we have a simple hollow cube(chosen for simplicity) with outside side length=10cm, thickness=5mm (or another arbitrary shape with arbitrary dimensions).
Clarification: I am NOT talking ...
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Transonic Airfoil with high critical mach number
does anyone know, how I can find a transonic airfoil (high subsonic, Ma=0.88) with a high critical mach number?
I know that if I know c,0,min = minimal pressure coefficient of the airfoil, then I can ...
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What causes the vortex on the tip of this vertical stabilizer (CFD Simulation)
This is a computational fluid dynamics simulation of an airfoil that is oriented to look like a vertical stabilizer. After watching the video, it becomes clear that the tip of the stabilizer causes a ...
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What is the effect of wing flex on wing's airfoil shape and its performance effect on wing?
There are good amount of discussion on wing flex in this forum.
I am more interested in understanding the effect of flex on aerofoil shape of the wing and its impact on flight performance.
Do ...
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Turbulent flows over 6 series airfoils
6 Series Airfoils were developed to enhance the laminar flow region over the airfoil. But, the Reynolds number at which planes fly are high for the flow to be Laminar. Then what's point of introducing ...
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When calculating the lift coefficient, what area is used?
Lets say I had this rectangular double curve wing. Orange represents the chord length, red represents the airfoil outline length below the chord line, green represents the airfoil outline length above ...
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Why do airfoils in an airplane's wings have different shape and size along its span?
Why wings of an airplane consist of different shape and size of airfoil. What will happen if the thickness of wing are same throughout the wing?
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Is there a database of airfoils for a given Reynolds number? [closed]
I'm trying to design my ultralight airplane. I know the basics of aerodynamics and airplane design, however, my question is
if there are any tools (online, software, database ) that suggest the best ...
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What are the differences between symmetrical and cambered airfoils?
I have seen images of cambered and symmetrical wings but apart from that what are the major differences between them?
I have also read that symmetric wings don't produce any lift at 0° AOA whereas ...
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How do I calculate the air pressure on the maximum bulge of the airfoil?
Picture 2: source.
Consider I have an airplane and it wing, of course. The cross-section of the airfoil is as the picture 1. The leading edge and the wind direction are depicted there. The leading ...
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What happens to the high pressure below an airfoil when the angle of attack increases?
I recently came across this question in a principles of flight exam:
When the angle of attack of an airfoil increases
the high pressure below the airfoil increases, the induced drag increases
the ...
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Are there any lift or lift coefficient equations which factor in the flap deflection angle?
I'm asking this because I tested a NACA 2412 wing with an adjustable flap in a subsonic wind tunnel and I'm getting the lowest Cl values for the highest flap deflection angle.. which to my knowledge ...
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How much lift do supercritical airfoils produce?
Compared to your regular asymmetric cambered airfoil, How much does lift do supercritical airfoils produce?
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Why does the stall angle decrease as camber increases?
I have a rough idea about why $C_{{l}_{max}}$ increases with increase in camber.
But I can't explain why the stall angle decreases simultaneously.
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How to calculate the moment/torque at the center axis of a blade?
How do I calculate the moment/torque at the center axis (same plane with lift and drag force) of a blade with NACA airfoil standard when it is placed inside a wind tunnel or exposed to airflow?
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Is the highly optimized high subsonic cruise airfoil less safe for higher AOA flight? [duplicate]
An examination of the 737 airliner wing profile and that of a blue whale leads to the question of whether the high Reynolds number subsonic cruising airfoil and the low speed, high AOA airfoil are ...
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Why are the wings of some modern gliders tadpole shaped?
Why are the wings of some modern gliders tadpole shaped, rather than teardrop shaped? An example is the Schleicher ASG 29. Or did they just add a flat plate at the trailing edge for the flaps and ...
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Why the lift and drag coefficients for the simulations differ from the experimental value?
I am doing CFD simulations for NACA Airfoil 2415 using K-Omega SST model on ANSYS fluent. I am using an tetrahedral unstructured mesh with 20 Inflation layers on the wall. I have been comparing my ...
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Do commercial passenger airplanes have cambered airfoils?
It seems to me that they logically would, since they have no need to fly upside down like an aerobatic plane would (so they would not need a symmetric airfoil for any conceivable reason). That being ...
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Do Alaskan bush pilots generate a Clmax of 5 with 90° flaps?
I understand the Alaskan bush pilots use 90° flaps in the Valdez STOL competition. I think this would stall the flaps. And if so, it wouldn't increase lift and reduce stall speed, but Javafoil says ...
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How can a NACA2312 airfoil or similar have a camber location from 30 to 39% without a change in airfoil name?
How can a NACA2312 airfoil or similar have a camber location from 30 to 39% without a change in airfoil name?
Was fooling around in javafoil, and noticed I could go from 30% camber to 39% camber, ...
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Shouldn't the upwash on an airfoil increase the effective angle of attack?
From what I understand, induced drag comes from a reduction of the effective angle seen by the airfoil.
However, from wind tunnel smoke visualization, we can see that the streamlines at the leading ...
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What is the reason for circulation of air around an airfoil? Based upon the circulation of air, why are airfoils shaped the way they are? [duplicate]
Foreword: I am an Aerospace Engineering student and next year is my third and final year, starting September 2019.
I was taught approximately 2 semesters ago that the correct theory of lift is that ...
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What is the comparative roughness of fabric surfaces?
"The Design of the Aeroplane" by Darrol Stinton (1983) lists comparative roughness of aircraft skin material (pg 154). Unfortunately it does not list dope & fabric.
What is the comparative ...
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Where is the midspan airfoil located on the 737?
The 737 has a root airfoil, two midspans, and one outboard. Is the midspan located under the fuselage or between root and tip?
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What are the effects of endplate on airfoil section?
A 3D wing cannot achieve the same high lift/drag ratio (more than a hundred sometimes) displayed by a 2D profile (airfoil section).
This is due to 3D effects like spanwise flow, wingtip losses(...
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Shock wave on airfoil
I was wondering the other day, during the trans sonic regime, when the velocity over the airfoil becomes supersonic,why does the shock wave standing on the airfoil moves downstream when the free ...
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Would adding a slat and a slotted flap increase the max CL of a multi element airfoil to 6.5?
Would adding a slat and a slotted flap increase the of a multi element foil to 6.5?
I understand, as a general rule, the max $C_L$ for a classic NACA airfoil is as follows:
Base: 1.5
Slat: + 0.7
...
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What are the scale effects of GA wing tip airfoils?
[ update: I am adopting an improved description provided by Peter Kämpf: "...only looking at the airfoils in isolation..." ]
The goal of this question is to determine if wing tip airfoil scale plays ...
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NACA Airfoil 0005.4
I have come across this NACA profile
NACA 0005.4 mod
and it is not clear how to interpret this airfoil. Is this considered a 4 digit NACA profile? What does the number after dot mean?
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How could I find the air velocity and lift force?
As shown below I have this information as shown below in the picture. I got the density according to the ISA standard 𝜌 = 1.225[kg/m^3] and 𝐶𝐿 = 𝐶𝐿𝛼 (𝛼−𝛼0) is calculated as below :
α=−4: CL=...
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How could I find 𝐶𝐿𝛼 lift coefficient slope?
I'm trying to find 𝐶𝐿𝛼 lift coefficient slope through the below diagram, could anyone explain for me please, how could I find it?
by the way, I depend on this equation 𝐶𝐿 = 𝐶𝐿𝛼 (𝛼−𝛼0)
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As you make a symmetrical airfoil thicker, in which direction does the lift force increase?
I am working on a project and just need to understand one concept that I cannot find an answer to anywhere and hoping you could answer for me.
The project I'm working on is with airfoils and the main ...
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Is drag coefficient lowest at zero angle of attack?
The drag coefficient of a symmetric airfoil is lowest when its angle of attack is zero. I'm not sure if this is true in general.
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Does an rc plane tail also have airfoil or is it just flat material? [closed]
I've chosen an airfoil for the wing, now i'm confused weather i should do the same for tail or just attach a flat piece of wood as tail. I'm going for conventional tail design.
This is my first ever ...
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