Subsonic loads on wings having sharp leading edges and tips

Abstract

A vortex-lattice method for predicting the aerodynamics of wings having separation at the sharp edges in incompressible flows is extended to compressible subsonic flows using a modified Prandtl-Glauert transformation. Numerical results showing the effect of freestream Mach number on the aerodynamic coefficients are compared with available experimental data for several planforms. It is shown that the proposed method is suitable for predicting the aerodynamic loads on low-aspect wings at moderate angles of attack for high subsonic freestream Mach number. The method is limited to angles of attack up to 12 deg for high subsonic freestream Mach number and to angles of attack up to 20 deg for Mach number not exceeding 0.5.