Wake curvature and trailing edge interaction effects in viscous flow over airfoils

Abstract

A theory developed for analyzing viscous flows over airfoils at high Reynolds numbers is described. The theory includes a complete treatment of viscous interaction effects induced by the curved wake behind the airfoil and accounts for normal pressure gradients across the boundary layer in the trailing edge region. A brief description of a computer code that was developed to solve the extended viscous interaction equations is given. Comparisons of the theoretical results with wind tunnel data for two rear loaded airfoils at supercritical conditions are presented