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Design of a natural laminar flow airfoil for light aircraft

K. R. Srilatha, GS Dwarakanath, P Ramamoorthy

Open publisher page 7 citations

Abstract

A new natural laminar flow (NLF) airfoil, the NALNLF-13; 208, has been designed for a light aircraft. It has been shown that the NAL-NLF-208 airfoil performs better than the Wortmann FX-60-177 airfoil because it is thicker and is estimated to give better aerodynamic performance larger L/ D) in the operating CL range. To take account of the difficulties in fabrication, the NALNLF-208 airfoil has been modified to incorporate appropriate bluntness at the trailing edge. A surface waviness (amplitude of 0.025070and wavelength of 4.1 %, each of the local chord) superimposed on the blunted airfoil is shown to have no significant 13; effect. It is concluded that the NAL-NLF-208 is robust with respect to performance and fabrication and could replace the Wortmann airfoil as a candidate for light aircraft after13; testing.

About this research paper

What this paper is about

A new natural laminar flow (NLF) airfoil, the NALNLF-13; 208, has been designed for a light aircraft. It has been shown that the NAL-NLF-208 airfoil performs better than the Wortmann FX-60-177 airfoil because it is thicker and is estimated to give better aerodynamic performance larger L/ D) in the operating CL range. To take account of the difficulties in fabrication, the NALNLF-208 airfoil has been modified to incorporate appropriate bluntness at the trailing edge. A surface waviness (amplitude of 0.025070and wavelength of 4.1 %, each of the local chord) superimposed on the blunted airfoil is shown to have no significant 13; effect. It is concluded that the NAL-NLF-208 is robust with respect to performance and fabrication and could replace the Wortmann airfoil as a candidate for light aircraft after13; testing.

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OpenAlex reports 7 citations for this work. Citation counts describe recorded attention and do not establish research quality.

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Available abstract

A new natural laminar flow (NLF) airfoil, the NALNLF-13; 208, has been designed for a light aircraft. It has been shown that the NAL-NLF-208 airfoil performs better than the Wortmann FX-60-177 airfoil because it is thicker and is estimated to give better aerodynamic performance larger L/ D) in the operating CL range. To take account of the difficulties in fabrication, the NALNLF-208 airfoil has been modified to incorporate appropriate bluntness at the trailing edge. A surface waviness (amplitude of 0.025070and wavelength of 4.1 %, each of the local chord) superimposed on the blunted airfoil is shown to have no significant 13; effect. It is concluded that the NAL-NLF-208 is robust with respect to performance and fabrication and could replace the Wortmann airfoil as a candidate for light aircraft after13; testing.

Key concepts: Airfoil, Laminar flow, Aerospace engineering, Flow (mathematics), NACA airfoil, Angle of attack, Mechanics, Materials science

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