Experimental and numerical studies of the incompressible viscous flow over a two-dimensional airfoil
Physical and numerical experiments for the low Reynolds number flow over a two-dimensional NACA 66(3)-018 airfoil have been performed. Pressure distributions and smoke flow photographs have been obtained for a Reynolds number based on airfoil chord and free-stream conditions of approximately 40,000 at angles of attack of 0 and 6 deg, and for a Reynolds number based on airfoil chord and free-stream conditions of approximately 400,000 at angles of attack of 0 and 12 deg in a low turbulence wind tunnel. Finite difference numerical experiments, using an approximate factorization method, have been obtained for a Reynolds number of 40,000 at angles of attack of 0 and 6 deg. Although the comparison of the wind tunnel and computer results is encouraging, further studies of this type are clearly necessary.