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Incompressible flow past a flat plate aerofoil with leading edge separation bubble

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

B. G. Newman  and
M-C. Tse
B. G. Newman
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical EngineeringMcGill University, Montreal
M-C. Tse
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical EngineeringMcGill University, Montreal
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Summary

A simple flow model has been developed to predict the size of the separation bubble which forms at the sharp leading edge of a flat plate aerofoil at incidence a which are less than about 8°, and the corresponding lift and drag coefficients. This flow model is based on irrotational flow and source singularities which are determined indirectly from experiment. The bubble length is shown to be proportional to α2with a slope which depends on the rate of growth of the separated shear layer. A thin double-wedge aerofoil has been tested in a wind tunnel. It is concluded that these and previous measurements agree fairly well with the theory for chord Reynolds numbers greater than about 0.5 × 106.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 96 , Issue 952 , February 1992 , pp. 57 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1992 

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