Calculating the lift on a finite stack of cylindrical aerofoils

Abstract

The classic exact solution due to Lagally (Lagally, M. 1929 Die reibungslose strömung im aussengebiet zweier kreise. Z. Angew. Math. Mech . 9 , 299–305.) for streaming flow past two cylindrical aerofoils (or obstacles) is generalized to the case of an arbitrary finite number of cylindrical aerofoils. Given the geometry of the aerofoils, the speed and direction of the oncoming uniform flow and the individual round-aerofoil circulations, the complex potential associated with the flow is found in analytical form in a parametric pre-image region that can be conformally mapped to the fluid region. A complete determination of the flow then follows from knowledge of the conformal mapping between the two regions. In the special case where the aerofoils are all circular, the conformal mapping from the parametric pre-image region to the fluid domain is a Möbius mapping. The solution for the complex potential in such a case can then be used, in combination with the Blasius theorem, to compute the distribution of hydrodynamic forces on the multi-aerofoil configuration.