Homework 9

Thin Airfoil Theory and 3D Ideal Flow

Your answers to these questions, and what you learn from them, will be greatly enhanced through
collaboration and discussion amongst your discussion group. This is actively encouraged. However,
once you have decided how to answer these, the final solutions must be prepared individually. One
of the questions below, selected at random, will be graded for credit.
1. Using thin airfoil theory design an airfoil camber line so that the airfoil has a -3 degree zero lift angle
of attack and a moment coefficient about the aerodynamic center of 0.05. Give an explicit expression
for the camber line coordinate. Don't forget that the camber coordinate must be zero at the leading
and trailing edges.
2. The figure shows an
idealization of a probe
to be used in a lowspeed
flow
measurement.
The
probe consists of a rod
of cylindrical cross
section and rounded
nose aligned with the
flow direction. The
probe is held using
another rod of circular
cross section, that
sheds a wake into the
flow, mounted normal to the flow direction and spanning the whole flow. The measurement location
lies at point P.
(a) Construct an analytical 3D potential flow model that approximates the flow around the probe by
using a 3D point source at its tip and a 2D line source at the center of the support. Give the velocity
field of the flow in terms of L and U. You may choose your coordinate system origin wherever is
convenient.
(b) Choose the strengths of the elementary flows in terms of L and U. so that the ultimate width of
the 2D and 3D plumes produced matches the probe/support diameter of L/5.
(c) Estimate the flow velocity at the measurement point P in terms of that of the undisturbed flow U.
(d) Estimate the streamwise pressure gradient Cp/x at the measurement point in terms of the length
L.

3. The code DoubletPanel3D.m (one of the 3D panel method codes distributed on the course website)
uses doublet panels to model 3D non-lifting bodies. The code outputs pressure distributions and
streamline patterns as well as moment coefficients about the origin (forces are of course zero) which
for such a body are normalized on the body volume and free stream dynamic pressure. (a) The default
test case for the code is a sphere in a free stream directed along the x axis. Run this case. Explain why
the moments should be zero. Plot the streamlines of your test case. (b) Modify the code to make the
sphere elliptical. This can be done by scaling down the y coordinates at the start of the code, which
appear in the variable yp in line 6. Adjust these so that the the flow about an ellipsoid with an axis
ratio of 4:1:1 in the x, y and z directions is being computed. Calculate the flow for zero angle of attack.
Plot streamlines. Record the pitching moment coefficient. (c) The 4:1 ellipsoid of part (b) may be
thought of as a generic submarine. Slender body theory, an approximate linearized theory for these
types of shapes (see Karamcheti, chapter 20) predicts that at small angles of attack the pitching
moment coefficient on such a body should be simply twice the angle of attack expressed in radians.
Vary the angle of attack of your ellipsoid (giving the free stream a component in the z direction) and
record the moment coefficient for 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 degrees. Tabulate and plot the results (pitching
moment vs angle of attack) and compare with the slender body prediction. Plot streamlines for the
flow at 10 degrees angle of attack. (d) Some future submarine designs call for hulls that are wider
than they are tall. Modify the code to compute flow around an 4:2:1 ellipsoid. In addition to the
changes made for part (b) this will require scaling (doubling) of the y coordinates returned by the body
of revolution function in line 7 in the variables r and rc (specifically r(2,:,:) and rc(2,:,:)). Repeat the
calculations, table and plot you did for the conventional shape and compare the moment coefficient
variation with angle of attack with the 4:1:1 ellipsoid and slender body theory.