
The design and goals of experimental investigations of supercritical LFC airfoils conducted in the NASA Langley 8-ft Transonic Pressure Tunnel beginning in March 1982 are reviewed. NASA supercritical laminar flow control airfoil experiment The new airfoil's boundary layer stability characteristics are determined, and this iterative process continues until an airfoil is designed that meets the laminar flow requirement and as many of the other constraints as possible. A new design method then calculates a target pressure distribution that will increase the larninar flow toward the desired amounl An airfoil design method is then iteratively used to design an airfoil that possesses that target pressure distribution.
#LAMINAR FLOW AIRFOIL CODE#
After obtaining the initial airfoil's pressure distribution at the design lift coefficient using an Euler solver coupled with an integml turbulent boundary layer method, the calculations from a laminar boundary layer solver are used by a stability analysis code to obtain estimates of the transition location (using N-Factors) for the starting airfoil. The new airfoil's boundary layer stability characteristics are determined, and this iterative process continues until an airfoil is designed that meets the laminar flow requirement and as many of the other constraints as possible.Īn approach to the constrained design of natural laminar flow airfoilsĪ design method has been developed by which an airfoil with a substantial amount of natural laminar flow can be designed, while maintaining other aerodynamic and geometric constraints. An airfoil design method is then iteratively used to design an airfoil that possesses that target pressure distribution. A new design method then calculates a target pressure distribution that will increase the laminar flow toward the desired amount. After obtaining the initial airfoil's pressure distribution at the design lift coefficient using an Euler solver coupled with an integral turbulent boundary layer method, the calculations from a laminar boundary layer solver are used by a stability analysis code to obtain estimates of the transition location (using N-Factors) for the starting airfoil. Incorporation of the airfoil into a natural laminar flow transport configuration is addressed and a comparison of fuel requirements and operating costs between the natural laminar flow transport and an equivalent turbulent flow transport is addressed.Īn Approach to the Constrained Design of Natural Laminar Flow AirfoilsĪ design method has been developed by which an airfoil with a substantial amount of natural laminar flow can be designed, while maintaining other aerodynamic and geometric constraints.

Natural laminar flow airfoil analysis and trade studiesĪn analysis of an airfoil for a large commercial transport cruising at Mach 0.8 and the use of advanced computer techniques to perform the analysis are described.
