A steady and oscillatory kernel function method for interfering surfaces in subsonic, transonic and supersonic flow

Abstract

The theory, results and user instructions for an aerodynamic computer program are presented. The theory is based on linear lifting surface theory, and the method is the kernel function. The program is applicable to multiple interfering surfaces which may be coplanar or noncoplanar. Local linearization was used to treat nonuniform flow problems without shocks. For cases with imbedded shocks, the appropriate boundary conditions were added to account for the flow discontinuities. The data describing nonuniform flow fields must be input from some other source such as an experiment or a finite difference solution. The results are in the form of small linear perturbations about nonlinear flow fields. The method was applied to a wide variety of problems for which it is demonstrated to be significantly superior to the uniform flow method. Program user instructions are given for easy access.