The lift on an aerofoil in starting flow

Abstract

An analysis is given of the initial development of the lift on an aerofoil in inviscid starting flow. It is shown that because of the spiral shape of the vortex sheet shed initially from the trailing edge the lift and drag are both singular at the start of impulsive motion. This result is in contrast with the prediction of finite forces by methods that assume the vortex sheet to be initially planar. The effect of a steady rate of change of incidence following the sudden onset of transverse (heaving) motion of an aerofoil in a steady stream is also discussed.