Limitations of the (inviscid) airfoil theory

• Assumptions: - inviscid, irrotational flow

- incompressible

• What is correctly predicted: the pressure distribution

over the airfoil
» lift and pitching moment

• What is absent: viscous effects: - boundary layer

development - friction
forces -
flow separation
» no prediction of drag (D = 0!) or maximum lift

Conclusion: airfoil theory can reasonably predict lift and pitching moment
as long as the flow does not separate
 Theory: the vortex sheet
Basic idea: to reconstruct the lifting flow around a body (airfoil) by placing
many elementary vortices at convenient locations in the flow
(airfoil: on the contour, the camber line or the chord line)

point vortex

vortex sheet:
distributed vorticity along a line
with variable strength (s)

 A segment of length ds acts as a point

vortex with strength (s).ds
 Properties of the vortex sheet (1)
A segment of length ds acts as a
point vortex with strength: (s).ds

Induced Velocity: (vectorial addition)

 ds
dVP 
2 r

Velocity Potential: (scalar addition)

b
 ds 1
d P  
2
 P  
2   ( s) ( s) ds
a
 Properties of the vortex sheet (2)
b
1. Total circulation around the vortex sheet
    ds
= total vortex strength a

2. Across the vortex sheet there is a

jump in the tangential velocity
that is equal to the
local vortex strength

Proof:
circulation = total vortex strength   ds  (u1  u2 )ds  (v1  v2 )dn

let now: dn  0   u1  u2
 Properties of the vortex sheet (3)
3. There is a pressure difference across the vortex
sheet proportional to the local vortex strength:

p  p2  p1  V
u1  u2
p2  p1  12  (u1  u2 )   (u1  u 2 )  V 
2 2
(Bernoulli:)
2

4. This pressure difference generates lift on the vortex sheet:

dL'  p ds  V  ds
(=Kutta-Joukowski)
Total lift: L'   dL' ds  V   ds  V 
Application of the vortex sheet to airfoil analysis
1. Arbitrary shape (thick airfoil):
vortex sheet on airfoil surface
- Task: determine vortex strength (s) such that airfoil surface
becomes a streamline of the flow (numerical solution)
- The vorticity sheet can be seen to represent the (vorticity in the)
thin boundary layer
- The lift follows from: L'  V   V  ds 
2. Approximation for thin airfoil: vortex sheet on the camber line
 The Kutta condition
Potential flow with lift is not unique!
(Circulation  may have any value)

Potential flow around a cylinder

The same happens for the flow

around an airfoil

Which flow occurs in reality?

The flow that leaves smoothly at the trailing edge

The “Kutta condition”
 The Kutta condition
• Be aware that the Kutta condition is an artificial, additional
condition introduced to describe an effect that is the result
of viscosity
• This does not mean that the entire effect of viscosity is
included correctly, for example, there is still no drag!
 Kutta condition
To apply the Kutta condition in a theoretical analysis.
we need to be more precise about the nature of the flow at the trailing edge.

No pressure loading at the trailing edge: p  p2  p1  0

p 1 = p2 = p a

Velocity at the trailing edge: V1  V2

 Summary of the Kutta condition
For a given airfoil at a given angle of attack,
the value of around the airfoil is such that
the flow leaves the trailing edge smoothly.
If the trailing-edge angle is finite, then the
trailing edge is a stagnation point.
If the trailing edge is cusped, then the
velocities leaving the top and bottom
surfaces at the trailing edge are finite and
equal in magnitude and direction.
Strength of the vortex sheet
at the trailing edge:
 TE  V1  V2  0
Kutta condition
 The basic concept of the thin airfoil theory

The airfoil is replaced by a vortex sheet along the camber line

The (variable) strength of the vortex sheet is to be determined, such
that the camber line is a streamline of the flow(the flow tangency
condition)
The Kutta condition is imposed to fix the value of the circulation of the airfoil: TE = 0
 CLASSICAL THIN AIRFOIL THEORY:
THE SYMMETRIC AIRFOIL
The (variable) strength of the For the total velocity component
vortex sheet is to be determined, normal to the camber line:
such that the camber line is a
streamline of the flow

V ,n  w' ( s )  0
normal component induced velocity of
of the freestream the vortex sheet

w' ( s )  w( x )
 THIN SYMMETRIC AIRFOIL

thin airfoil at small angle of attack:

α small
tan-1(−dz/dx) small

for small θsin θ ≈ tan θ ≈ θ

slope of the
camber line

 ( )d
dw  
2 ( x   )
c
 ( )
w   d
0
2 ( x   ) (x is fixed;  is running variable)
 THIN SYMMETRIC AIRFOIL
boundary condition necessary for
the camber line to be a streamline.

Substituting Equations (4.14), (4.15), and (4.17) into (4.12), we obtain

 THIN SYMMETRIC AIRFOIL
1. The fundamental equation of the thin airfoil theory:
the flow-tangency condition
(making the camber line z(x) a streamline)

1
c
 ( ) dz
2 
0
(x   )
d  V (  )
dx

2. The relation that determines the circulation of the airfoil:

the Kutta condition
(making the flow smooth at the trailing edge)

 (c )  0
 THIN SYMMETRIC AIRFOIL
c
dz 1  ( )
Symmetrical airfoil: z ( x )  0,
dx
 0,
2 
0
(x  )
d  V

Coordinate c c c
  (1  cos  ) x (1  cos 0 ) d  sin  d
transformation: 2 2 2
0  c

0   1  ( ) sin 
2 
0
(cos  cos  0 )
d  V

1  cos cx
Solution is given by:  ( )  2V  2V
sin  x
 THIN SYMMETRIC AIRFOIL
Vorticity distribution for the 1  cos cx
symmetrical airfoil  ( )  2V  2V
sin  x

Note:the vorticity distribution is 

proportional to the lift distribution
on the airfoil

Is the Kutta condition at the

trailing edge satisfied? LE x TE
i.e.:  = 0 for  =  L’Hopital’s rule

1  cos  sin 
 ( )  2V lim   2V 0
sin  cos  YES!
 THIN SYMMETRIC AIRFOL: lift
1  cos c
 ( )  2V d  sin  d
Calculation of the lift: sin  2

c c 
 1  cos  c 
L'   (dL)  V   ( )d  V   2V  sin  d 
0 0 0
sin   2 

 V  c  (1  cos )d  V  c
2 2
dL  V d
0

Lift coefficient: Lift slope:

L' dcl
cl   2  2
2 V c.(1)
2
1
d
 THIN SYMMETRIC AIRFOL: pitching moment
dL  V d
Calculation of the pitching moment
about the leading edge:
c c
M ' LE     (dL)   V    ( ) d
0 0


c  1  cos  c 
  V   (1  cos )  2V  sin  d 
0
2  sin   2 

V 2 c 2 1 2 
0     
2
 (1  cos )(1  cos )d   V c
2 2 2

Moment coefficient M ' LE 

c m , LE   
about leading edge: 1
2  V  2 c 2 .(1) 2
 the center of pressure and the aerodynamic center
FOR THIN SYMMETRIC AIRFOL
Lift coefficient: Moment coefficient about leading edge:
L' M ' LE 
cl   2 c m , LE   
1
2  V c.(1)
2 1
2  V  2 c 2 .( 1 ) 2

L M ' LE   L ' x CP
Center of x CP c m , LE 1
  
pressure: c cl 4
LE

xCP x x  x CP x
c m ,x  cl  c m , LE  c l
c c

Moment coefficient
about quarter-chord point:
c m ,c / 4  0

quarter-chord point is also the aerodynamic center: c m , c / 4 is independent of !

 THIN SYMMETRIC AIRFOL: Summary
Vorticity distribution 1  cos cx
 ( )  2V  2V
(=lift distribution) sin  x

L'
Lift coefficient: cl   2
2 V c.(1)
1 2

dcl
Lift slope:  2
d
Moment coefficient cl
about quarter-chord point:
c m , c / 4  c m , LE  0
4

quarter-chord point is both the center of pressure: c m , c / 4  0

and the aerodynamic center: c m , c / 4 is independent of 
 EXAMPLE 4.4
• For the NACA 2412 airfoil at the conditions
given in Example 4.1, calculate the strength
of the steady-state starting vortex.
 Solution
• From the given conditions in Example 4.1,

From the Kutta-Joukowski theorem, Equation (3.140),

the circulation associated with the flow over the airfoil is

• Note: Example 4.4
• For practical calculations in aerodynamics, an actual number for
circulation is rarely needed.
• Circulation is a mathematical quantity defined by Equation (2.136), and
it is an essential theoretical concept within the framework of the
circulation theory of lift.
• For example, in Section 4.7, an analytical expression for circulation is
derived as Equation (4.30), and then immediately inserted into the
Kutta-Joukowski theorem, Equation (4.31), yielding a formula for the lift
coefficient, Equation (4.33).
• Nowhere do we need to calculate an actual number for . In the present
example, however, the strength of the starting vortex is indeed given by
its circulation, and hence to compare the strengths of various starting
vortices, calculating numbers for is relevant.
• Even this can be considered only an academic exercise.
• In this author’s experience, no practical aerodynamic calculation
requires the strength of a starting vortex.
• The starting vortex is simply a theoretical construct that is consistent
with the generation of circulation around a lifting two-dimensional body.