Joukowsky Airfoil

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Consider the uniform flow past a circular cylinder with circulation $C$ and speed $U>0$ given by the complex potential

The streamfunction is just the imaginary part of this function, namely Hence the circle $x^2+y^2=a^2$ is still a streamline, with $\psi = -(C/2\pi)\log a$.

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Simulation

Consider now the uniform flow past the circular cylinder $c_0$ for $a=1$. We use the linear transformation $T(z)=-0.15+0.23i +r z$ to map the flow with circulation $C$ and speed $U$ around $|z|=1$ onto the flow around the circle $c_1$ with center $z_1=-0.15+0.23i$ and radius $r=0.23\sqrt{13\cdot 2}$. Then we use the mapping \[ J(z)=z+\frac{1}{z} \] to map this flow around the Joukowsky airfoil.

The following simulation shows the uniform flow past the circular cylinder $c_1$ and its transformation to the Joukowsky airfoil. Drag the sliders to interact:

• Slider U = speed.
• Slider C = circulation.
• Slider T = apply transformation.
• Trace button = streamlines.

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