Subsonic natural-laminar-flow airfoils

Abstract

An account is given of the development history of natural laminar-flow (NLF) airfoil profiles under guidance of an experimentally well-verified theoretical method for the design of airfoils suited to virtually all subcritical applications. This method, the Eppler Airfoil Design and Analysis Program, contains a conformal-mapping method for airfoils having prescribed velocity-distribution characteristics, as well as a panel method for the analysis of potential flow about given airfoils and a boundary-layer method. Several of the NLF airfoils thus obtained are discussed.