ME 5440 Intermediate Fluid Mechanics

Fall 2016
Homework 4
Due Tuesday November 22th, 2016

Problem 1: (25 points)

Show that the mapping:

z e i
corresponds to a rotation of the plane by an angle . Do this by showing that a point in
the plane written in polar coordinates gets mapped to a point in the z plane with the
same radius but different angle.
Show that any circle centered at the origin in the plane gets mapped to a circle centered
at the origin in the z plane.
Consider the potential flow over a cylinder with circulation in the plane:
a2
i
F ( ) U ( )
ln

2
Derive the complex potential for this flow in the mapped plane z e i
Show that this also represents flow over a circle
Show that the flow far away from the circle is inclined to the horizontal axis with angle .

Derive an expression for the amount of circulation required for the rear stagnation point
on the circle to coincide with the x axis in the z plane.

Problem 2: (25 points)

Consider a symmetric Joukowski airfoil in the z plane that is obtained by the Jowkowski
mapping of a circle in the plane following:
c2
z

This airfoil is obtained by mapping the circle centered at m c with radius

r c(1 ) such that the circle passes through the point c into the plane.
Assuming that is small (and thus neglecting powers of higher than 1) show that the
length of the airfoil is approximately l 4c

Derive an equation for the airfoil shape, in terms of x and y as functions of c, and ,
where R and represent the polar coordinates of a point in the plane (ie. = R ei).
Note that along the circle centered at m c , R is not constant (since the circle is
not centered at the origin). You can use the following equation for R as a function of
along this offset circle:
R c[1 (1 cos )]
Show that the maximum thickness t of the airfoil (twice the maximum y value) is given
by:
t 3 3

l
4
Derive an expression for the lift coefficient of this airfoil as a function of the angle of
attack of the flow , the thickness of the airfoil t, and the length of the airfoil l.

Problem 3: (25 points)

Consider an airfoil of length L with a lift coefficient given as:
C L 2
where a is the angle of attack of the airfoil with respect to the freestream flow.
If the airfoil is initially at =0 in a constant flow of velocity U and density , and then
suddenly rotates to , determine the strength of the vortex shed at the trailing edge of
the airfoil. Sketch this vortex and its direction.
If after a time t=L/U, the airfoil returns to the initial position, =0, sketch the vortices in
the flow.
Determine the path of the vortices in the flow if the airfoil remain in this position
thereafter.
Finally, consider the case where the airfoil starts at =0, but slowly changes its angle of
d
attack through a constant rotation of the airfoil of rotational velocity
. Sketch the
dt
configuration of the flow in the wake of the airfoil.