The airfoil used in this study is the NACA 0012.

The O-grid computational

domain consists of 770,000 grid points. A Reynolds number of 12,000 is
selected for the current computations. A low Mach number of 0.025 is used
for simulating the incompressible limit in the current compressible Navier-
Stokes Solver. The non-dimensional time-step, !!"
#
$%, is 1.0!10
-4
in
conjunction with four sub-iterations to advance the solution. Boundary
conditions consist of an adiabatic, no-slip condition with a zero normal
pressure gradient at the surface and freestream conditions at 100 chord
lengths from the airfoil.
Classical theories have been developed for inviscid flows around
thin airfoils that predict the aerodynamic forces, specifically the lift
force. The most famous among these is the Kutta-Joukowski
theorem, which states that the lift is proportional to the circulation
around the airfoil. However, the applicability of this theorem to
flows at low Reynolds numbers (see equation (1)), where the inviscid
flow assumption is invalid, remains in question. Thus, the purpose
of the present study is to investigate the validity of the Kutta-
Joukowski theorem using a computational approach where the flow
field information and force data are directly available, therefore
allowing the examination of the relation between the lift force and
airfoil circulation. The Reynolds number is defined as:




The circulation, !, of an airfoil is defined as the surface integral of
the spanwise vorticity, "
#
$ over a finite domain, A, as illustrated in
Figure 1:
Low Reynolds Number Validation of
Kutta-Joukowski Theorem
Dominic V. Roberts II, Patrick R. Hammer, David A. Olson, and Manoochehr M. Koochesfahani
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824
I. Introduction
VI. Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge collaboration with Dr. Miguel Visbals CFD group from the Air
Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Wright Patterson Air Force Base. The FDL3DI solver used
in this investigation was developed by this group. This work was supported by AFOSR grant
FA9550-10-1-0342.
II. Computational Method
Computations are performed using the high-order, parallelized
FDL3DI Navier-Stokes solver, which numerically solves the full,
non-dimensional, unfiltered, compressible, unsteady Navier-Stokes
equations in strong conservative form (equation (6)). In the below
expression, Q is the solution vector, F
I
, G
I
, and H
I
are the inviscid
fluxes, F
V
, G
V
, and H
V
are the viscous fluxes, and J is the
transformation Jacobian between physical coordinates (x,y,z,)
and computational coordinates (&'(')'!%&

III. Numerical Considerations
V. Conclusions
The applicability of the Kutta-Joukowski theorem at low Reynolds
numbers has been studied using a NACA 0012 airfoil at a range of
angles of attack. By computing the airfoils circulation, the Kutta-
Joukowksi prediction of lift may be obtained and compared with the
actual lift experienced by the airfoil. It was found that the Kutta-
Joukowski predicted lift compares very well with actual lift values
from the computations, even at angles of attack where flow separation
occurs. In the future, it will be of interest to apply the circulation
computation method to the investigation of the circulation time
history of moving airfoils.
(6)
(1)
IV. Results
!
"
#
$
%
&
'
'
+
'
'
+
'
'
=
'
'
+
'
'
+
'
'
+
(
(
)
*
+
+
,
-
'
'
. / 0 . / 0 1
V V V I I I
H G F H G F
J
Q
! ! ! ! ! ! "
Re
1
!
! !
=

" c U
Re
! Sample instantaneous and time-averaged flow fields, shown in
Figure 6 below, demonstrate the Kutta-Joukowski theorems
applicability even when flow is separated.
Figure 4: C
L
vs. " from actual computations and Kutta-Joukowski prediction
M!= 0.100
(7)
(8)
!"'
i!1
+"'
i
+!"'
i+1
= a
"
i+1
!"
i!1
2
+b
"
i+2
!"
i!2
4
!
f

"
i!1
+

"
i
+!
f

"
i+1
=
a
f
2

"
i+n
!

"
i!n ( )
n=0
N
"
For any scalar, !, spatial derivatives are calculated using a high-order,
compact finite difference scheme (up to 6th order accurate, see equation
(7)), while stability is achieved using a high-order, low-pass spatial filter (up
to 10th order accurate, see equation (8)), where , a, and b set the order of
accuracy for the compact scheme and a
f
and
f
are coefficients that
determine the filter order of accuracy. High-order one-sided formulas are
used for the compact scheme and filter near the boundaries. Time-marching
is performed with the diagonalized, 2nd order Beam-Warming method,
augmented by Newton-like sub-iterations and artificial dissipation terms
(not shown here).
!!
= "
A
z
dA #
The circulation of the airfoil is
computed over an integration domain
which surrounds the airfoil and ends
at the trailing edge (see Figure 2).
The size of the domain is selected such
that all of the airfoil's vorticity is
captured.
Figure 5: C
L
CFD data vs. Kutta-Joukowski theorem predicted C
L
data
Figure 6: Instantaneous and time-averaged flow fields at ! = 0
o
, 4
o
, and 8
o

!c
U
!
:
! For Re = 12,000, the Kutta-Joukowski theorem predicts the actual lift
coefficient from the CFD around a NACA 0012 airfoil very well over the
range of investigated angles of attack (see Figure 3).

c U
L
C
L
2
2
1
! !
"
#
The lift coefficient is defined as:
(2)
C
By making various assumptions, including incompressible, inviscid,
and attached flow, the lift of an airfoil may be related to the airfoils
circulation by the Kutta-Joukowski theorem, presented in both lift
per unit span and lift coefficient formulations (see equations (4)
and (5), respectively).
(3)
(4)
*
,
2
2
! =
!
=
"
cU
C
KJ L ! =
" "
U L
KJ
# (5)
Increasing "
Slope = 1
! The lift coefficient data from the actual computations versus the Kutta-
Joukowski prediction fits a trend line with a slope of 1 to an R
2
= .9990
(see Figure 5).

(9)
(10)
Instantaneous
Time-averaged
" = 0
o
" = 4
o
" = 8
o
Instantaneous
Time-averaged
Instantaneous
Time-averaged
Figure 3: Cell area schematic
Figure 2: Integration domain around
NACA 0012 airfoil cutoff at trailing
edge.
Trailing edge (TE)
Figure 1: Schematic of circulation around airfoil
(Airfoil w/streamlines image from: http://cronodon.com/BioTech/Biorheology.html)
Lift, L
Flow Speed, U
"
Fluid viscosity, #
"
$
Chord, c
Surface integration is accomplished by
adding the cell-averaged vorticity, , (see
equation (9)) multiplied by the cell area
over the entire integration domain. The
cell area, dA, was computed using
equation (10).
!
! =
!
1
+!
2
+!
3
+!
4
4
dA =
1
2
!
B!
!
C
Fluid Density, "
!