AIAA JOURNAL

1712

VOL. 4, NO. 10

Second-Order Theory for Airfoils in Uniform Shear Flow

C. F. CHEN*
Rutgers-The State University, New Brunswick, N. J.
The first- and second-order problems for a uniform shear flow past an airfoil have
been formulated and solved. It has been assumed that the stream shear, when properly nondimensionalized, must be of order 1. Expressions for the first- and second-order pressure
coefficients have been obtained. The lift and moment coefficients are given in integral form.
Once the airfoil shape is known, the force coefficients can be obtained by integration. Numerical calculations have been carried out to obtain lift coefficients on a symmetric Joukowsky
airfoil, a circular arc, and a cambered Joukowsky airfoil for different values of stream vorticity. It is found that, in general, if the nondimensional stream vorticity (with respect to
the airfoil chord and a reference velocity) is limited to 1 or less, the second-order theory will
give lift coefficients within 5% of the exact theory up to 30 angle of attack. The uniformly
valid pressure distributions correct to the second order along a symmetric Joukowsky airfoil at 10 incidence are presented to exhibit the effect of stream shear.

I.

Introduction

N many engineering applications of airfoils, the approaching flow is not uniform. When airplanes take off into
the wind, the approaching flow is nonunif orm because of wind
shear. The approaching flow to that section of the wing,
which is situated in the slipstream of the propeller, is nonuniform. The rotor blades of helicopters operate in the
wakes of the other blades; the propellers of ships operate in
the wake of the stern. In both cases, the propeller blades
are operating in a nonunif orm stream. It was the first instance cited that prompted Tsien1 to look into the problem
of shear flow past airfoils. He succeeded in obtaining the
exact solution of a uniform shear flow past a symmetric
Joukowsky airfoil. More recently, Sowyrda2 extended
Tsien's result to include cambered Joukowsky airfoils. To
obtain the effects of nonunif orm shear on airfoils, Jones3-4
considered the slightly parabolic and hyperbolic shear flows
past Joukowsky airfoils and elliptic cylinders. Experimentally the effect of stream shear on the maximum lift of
an airfoil has been investigated by Vidal.5 Recently,
Weissinger6 studied the exponential shear flow past airfoils.
Confining our attention to the case of uniform shear flow
past an airfoil, the disturbance flow is irrotational. By the
use of conformal mapping, such a flow past a cambered
Joukowsky airfoil has been obtained.1-2 For arbitrary foil
sections, the task is considerably more difficult. Since in
practice the airfoils are thin and of small camber, and the
angles of attack are usually small, it seems reasonable to
develop a perturbation method to calculate the pressure distributions and the force coefficients of the foil. The pressure distribution along the foil may give some indication
of the stalling characteristics of the foil.5
In this paper, we first systematically expand the components of the disturbance velocity into a power series in e,
which is a small parameter characterizing the size of small
disturbances. The vorticity of the approaching stream need
not be small, but must be of order 1. When the series expansions are substituted into the boundary conditions along
the airfoil, first- and the second-order problems present
themselves which are similar to those for an airfoil in uniReceived January 4, 1966; revision received May 31, 1966.
This research was supported by the U. S. Army Research office
(Durham), under Contract DA-31-124-ARO(D)-387. Abstract
of this paper was presented at the Fifth U. S. National Congress
of Applied Mechanics, University of Minnesota, June 14-17,
1966.
* Associate professor of Mechanical Engineering. Member
AIAA.

form flow. Solutions can be obtained by using the method

of Lighthill.7 From the pressure distribution along the foil,
calculated according to Kuo,8 the lift and moment may be
obtained by integration. Numerical calculations have been
carried out to obtain lift coefficients on a symmetric Joukowsky airfoil, a circular arc, and a foil section approximating
a cambered Joukowsky airfoil for different values of shear
parameter or nondimensional vorticity. It is found that, hi
general, if the nondimensional vorticity (nondimensionalized
with respect to the airfoil chord and a reference velocity) is
equal to or less than 1 and the angle of attack is up to 30,
the second-order theory will give lift coefficients within 5%
of the exact solutions.1-2 The pressure distributions along
a symmetric Joukowsky airfoil at 10 angle of attack in an
approaching stream with or without shear are also presented.
II.

Systematic Expansions

Consider an airfoil of unit chord is at an angle of attack

ea with respect to an approaching stream of incompressible,
inviscid fluid. Let the origin of the stream coordinate system (x'} y') be at the midpoint of the chord line of the foil,
and x' axis be in the direction of the undisturbed flow. The
approaching flow is uniformly sheared

Ky')

(1)

in which K is referred to as the shear parameter and physically

(KUo) is the vorticity of the approaching stream. The
stream function ^ of such a flow past an airfoil may be decomposed into that due to the undisturbed flow ^o and that
due to the disturbance \f/
+

(2)

where
*o = Uny'[l + (K/2)y']

(3)

Since ^0 contains the entire vorticity of the flowfield,

V2^

KUQ

(4)

the disturbance flow must be irrotational

V2t = 0

(5)

To complete the specification of the problem, the disturbance

velocity must 1) vanish far away from the airfoil, 2) cancel
the normal velocity induced by the approaching flow on the
surface of the foil, and 3) satisfy the Kutta condition at the
trailing edge.

OCTOBER 1966

SECOND-ORDER THEORY UNIFORM SHEAR FLOW

1713

For the solution of the disturbance flow, we first transform

to the body coordinate system (x, y ) , whose origin is at the
nose of the foil and the x axis is along the chord (see Fig. 1).
In the present coordinate system, the velocity components
far away from the foil are
(Um cosea, Ua> sinea)
U, = U0{1 + K[y cosea - (x - i) sinea]}

(6)

Let the foil section be

y = ef(x) = e[fc(x)

0< x<1

(7)

in which /. is the camber, and ft the thickness. The velocity

field is the sum of the undisturbed shear flow and the disturbance velocity caused by the presence of the airfoil:
j V) = (Um cosea + u, Um sinea + v)

(8)

We assume that the components of the disturbance velocity

(u, v) can be expanded into a power series in e:

u =
(9)
Fig. 1

Stream and body coordinate systems.

as well as the disturbance stream function

(10)
It is noted that the ui, Viy ft, etc., are nondimensional. The
problem reduces now to finding an analytic complex velocity
w(z) = u iv of the complex variable z = x + iy with
singularities admitted at the leading edge and satisfying the
following boundary conditions: 1) at the foil surface,
sinea + v
cosea + u

(U)

in which the prime denotes differentiation with respect to

the argument; 2) w vanishes at infinity; and 3) the Kutta
condition is satisfied, i.e., w(l) is bounded.
We substitute Eqs. (6) and (9) into the boundary condition (11). Since Um involves y and we are evaluating the
velocity components at the surface of the foil y = ef(x),
we can expand Um cosea and Um sinea into power series in
e. Furthermore, the unknown velocity components u and
v away from the x axis may be obtained by Taylor series
expansions about the x axis, We obtain
= (a + ,) + {a K[f(x)

- a(x - |)] +

/(aO@i/&y) + v,} + 0(e)

Eq. (15) may be integrated to give

P/P = -i(^2 + V*) + UQK* +

a
2

- a(x - i)] }

in which the expression for ^ is

^ = U0{y cosea (x \ ) sinea +
%K\y cosea (x %) sinea]2} + ^

C =

2K

(P - Poc

(13)
(14)

(19)

Pressure Expression

The method used to obtain an expression for the pressure

is essentially that of Kuo.1 Euler's equations of motion may
be written as follows :

bU
bx
oy

(-*r\.
7^bx 7

av1 -

ft = ft(0, 0) -

ft = ft(0, 0) - JQ
(15)

(20)

To obtain expression (20) we have used the irrotationality

condition bvi/bx = dui/dy. The pressure coefficients Cp
and Cp2 are indeterminate within a constant, since
:

dx

along?/ = 0db

bV

\bx ~

(17)

Along the line y = (x J) tanea, at x * < , the pressure

is POO, the magnitude of the velocity is C/c, and if we assign
the value zero to \//, we find

The continuity equation (buifbx) + (<dvi/dy) = 0 has been

used to obtain Eq. (14). Both Wi and Wz should vanish
far away from the foil and are finite at the trailing edge x = 1.
III.

(16)

By substituting the series expansions of the velocity components, Eq. (8) and (9), and the definition of ^ into the
foregoing equation, we obtain the first- and second-order
pressure coefficients along the airfoil, y = 0 = b , 0 < # < 1:

first- and second-order problems.

0(e ):

= (U, V)

of like powers of e, we obtain the boundary conditions for the

0(e):

and the velocity components are derivable from the stream

function

(12)

for 0 < x < 1, y = 0 as the case may be. Equating terms

- (bU/by) = -UoK

whence we obtain the pressure coefficient

e/'(*)(l + e{Ul + K\J(x) - a(x - *)]} + 0(e'))

2

Since the vorticity is constant,

dx

0<a;<l
(21)

The values of ft(0, 0) and ft(0, 0) can only be found if the

exact solution is known. However, it is the pressure gradient

C. F. CHEN

1714

of Eqs. (19, 21, and 22) the first-order lift coefficient is

-SOWYRDA ( r e f . 2 )

- 2 n d ORDER

AIAA JOURNAL

THEORY

TT JO

/K-5

/<*>*
Fig. 2 Lift coefficient of a symmetric
Joukowsky airfoil in
uniform shear flow
(r = 0.17, h = 0).

/K.I
^K=O

which may be simplified further by interchanging the order

of integration of the double integral :
1/2

j, = 2 - 4

ri
+ 4K J Q ft(x)dx

/'(*)

(25)
The first-order moment coefficient is
1/2
20

40 c,degrees

30

that determines the behavior of the boundary-layer flow

along the wing; the undetermined constant does not detract
from the usefulness of the pressure expressions.
The lift coefficient CL may be obtained by integration along
the foil surf ace:
CL = (f)
*jr

foil

Cp cos[ea -

Since ds = dx[l + 0(e 2 )] and CP may be expanded into a

series, we may write
CL = e

&Cpdx + e2

a+ 2

(2x -Vf'.

dx

- C

L l

(26)

The only first-order effect attributable to shear is that of the

interaction between the shear and thickness.
To obtain the solutions to the second-order problem, first
we need to decompose the boundary condition on v%, Eq.
(14), into symmetric and antisymmetric parts. These may
then be treated separately as thickness and camber effects
as in the first-order problem. Let u\\ and Ui2 denote the
symmetric and antisymmetric parts of ui at y = 0, 0 <

&CPdx + 0(e3) =
eCLi + e*CL2 + 0(e3)

(27)

(22)

in which A(7P denotes the pressure jump across the foil,

The moment coefficient about the midchord due to the

forces acting in the x direction is order e3. The principal
contribution is due to the vertical forces :

(28)
We write the boundary condition (14) on y2 as

v, = Ka*(x - I) + 8'(x) A'(x)

CM =

(29)

in which the symmetric and the antisymmetric functions

S(x) and A(x) are defined as

S(x) = uuft + unfc

0(e3)

A(x) = unft + u

- 2a(x + i)/c]

(30)

+ 2a(x - J)/f]

(31)

V' 2d?
,,

(32)

The second-order complex velocity is

= eC

0(e3)

IV.

(23)

Solutions

It is noted that the flow shear has no effect on the firstorder boundary condition (13); however, it does have an
effect on the pressure coefficient, Eq. (19). The solution to
the first-order problem is the same as that for a uniform flow.
Following Lighthill,7 by considering two fundamental solutions, one being a symmetric (with respect to the x axis) and
the other yielding an antisymmetric velocity distribution, we
obtain the first-order complex velocity as

1 f i [Ka\t - |) + S'(&] (

- J 0 ^T| r^

from which, with the aid of Eqs. (20-22) the second-order

lift coefficient is
/* i
= -4|
/ o

X1/2
x/
(33)

The second-order moment coefficient is

i
}

in which the branch cut is introduced such that the square

root in front of the second term is negative at y = 0+ , 0 <
x < 1 and positive at y = 0 , 0 < re < 1. Cauchy's principal values of the singular integrals are implied. By the use

S'(
^ (x - |
X

OCTOBER 1966

SECOND-ORDER THEORY UNIFORM SHEAR FLOW

Table 1

Comparison of coefficients in Eqs. (37) and (38)

27

k +

0.0618
0.1179
0.1687
0.2150
0.2958

1 . 0476
1 . 0909
1 . 1304
1 . 1667
1 . 2308

V.

1715

1.0476
1.0907
1 . 1300
1 . 1656
1.2275

0.0131
0.0268
0.0409
0.0552
0.0829

0.0131
0.0270
0.0414
0.0561
0.0855

Examples

In this section, we apply the results obtained to specific

airfoil sections and compare these results to those obtained
by exact calculation. The only existing exact solution is for
a cambered Joukowsky airfoil in uniform shear flow.1'2 It
is known that for a symmetric Joukowsky airfoil of thickness
ratio r, the approximate expression for the cross section,
which is correct to 0(r 2 ), is
0(r3)

ft(x) =

I* + 3Z4

24(3) 1 <

0.0015
0.0033
0.0050
0.0066
0.0099

0.0015
0.0026
0.0041
0.0052
0.0071

a 2 term due to shear; the lift curve slope is a constant. The

effects of shear on such a foil have been discussed by Tsien1
and Sowyrda.2 However, with exact solutions, the effects of
thickness and camber cannot be clearly separated unless
numerical computations are resorted to.
The exact lift coefficient obtained by Tsien1 for a symmetric Joukowsky airfoil can be expanded for small values
of a into
CL = 27r{/0 + K[(k + k) - 2/ 2 a 2 ] +

K*(k + 3/4) a + 0(a 3 )}

It also is known that, for a pure camber case, the Joukowsky

transformation gives a circular arc that can be approximated
to the second order by

fe(x) = 4hx(l - x) + 0(/*3)

where the I's are tabulated.

have
CL =

1/2

f(x) = 4hx(l - x) [8r/3(3) ](l -

24(3) */2

(38)

(35)

in which both h and r are of order e, to approximate a cambered Joukowsky airfoil. This approximation may not be
correct to the second order, since we have neglected any possible interaction terms between h and r. To avoid excessive
numerical computation, we shall only calculate the lift
coefficient for this foil at different angles of attack.
The lift coefficient, which is correct to the second order,
can be calculated according to Eqs. (25) and (33) together
with definitions (30) and (31) . The result is

3(3)1/2

(37)

Writing Eq. (36) for h = 0, we

in which h is the maximum camber. We have therefore

selected an airfoil the cross section of which is

CL = 2vr < (a + 2h)

0.0018
0.0066
0.0138
0.0230
0.0454

r(a + 2h)

(36)

The first two terms are the familiar linearized airfoil results.
It can be seen that thickness introduces by far the most important effect in a shear flow; it introduces both an added
camber effect and an increase in lift curve slope. Camber
introduces no first-order effect due to shear. There is no

These coefficients are compared in Table 1. Except for the

coefficients of a2, i.e., 2fe vs 0, the agreement is quite good.
To see how the results of the second-order theory fare at
different angles of attack as compared to the exact results
of Sowyrda,2 we have selected the following airfoils for numerical evaluation: 1) symmetric Joukowsky airfoil, r =
0.17, h = 0; 2) circular arc airfoil, r = 0, h = 0.11; and
3) cambered Joukowsky airfoil, r = 0.17, h = 0.11. Lift
coefficients have been computed up to a = 30 for K = 0,
1, and 5. In Fig. 2, the results for the symmetric Joukowsky
airfoil are presented. It is seen that the second-order theory
predicts a lift coefficient that is within 5% of the exact solution for angles of attack up to 30 and a shear parameter K
up to 5. The results for the circular arc are presented in
Fig. 3. The second-order theory is not as successful in camber effects as in thickness effects. For the shear parameter
K up to 1 and angle of attack limited to 30, the agreement
with the exact theory is still within 5%. However, at K =
5, the agreement deteriorates to about 15%. The combined effects of camber and thickness are presented in Fig.
4. Again for K = I or smaller, the second-order theory
is adequate (within 5% of the exact value) up to a = 30.

S O W Y R D A (ref. 2)
2nd ORDER THEORY

Fig. 3 Lift coefficient of a circular arc

in uniform shear
flow (T = 0, h =
0.11).

Fig. 4 Lift coefficient of a cambered

foil in uniform shear
flow (r = 0.17, h =
0.11).
S O W Y R D A (ref. 2)
2nd ORDER
THEORY

20

30

40 ,degrees

10

30

40 o.,degrees

1716

C. F. CHEN

AIAA JOURNAL

for K = 0 and 1. We note here that the apparent shift in

the pressure distribution is not to be given too much significance because of the uncertainties mentioned previously. It
does show, however, a more favorable pressure gradient along
the bottom surface near the trailing edge when the stream
is sheared.
VI.

-1.6

Fig. 5 Pressure distribution on a symmetric Joukowsky

airfoil for K = 0 and 1 (r = 0.17, h = 0, a = 10).

For shear parameter K as high as 5, a more accurate method

must be resorted to. It should be noted, however, for K =
5, the approach velocity increases sixfold over a vertical distance of one wing chord, which is a very high value of shear.
Furthermore, the stipulation that K must be of order 1 may
not be satisfied fully when K = 5.
The pressure coefficient along a 17%-thick symmetric
Joukowsky airfoil at 10 angle of attack has been calculated
to the second order. Although the symmetric Joukowsky
airfoil in shear flow has been treated exactly by Tsien,1 the
disturbance stream function was not given. The method
used by Tsien was series expansion of \[/. Only the first few
coefficients of the series have been evaluated, since only these
contributed to the lift and moment. To avoid excessive
computation, we have taken both ^ (0, 0) and \f/% (0, 0) to be
0 in the present computation. The uniformly valid pressure
coefficient Cp correct to the second order is (see Lighthill1 or
Van Dyke9)

in which the nose radius RL = (ff)T 2 - At the nose, Cp is

independent of shear and has the following value:

* = o = 1 - TS
16 '

-78

.(40)

The uniformly valid pressure coefficient is shown in Fig. 5

Summary

A second-order theory for airfoils in uniform shear flow

has been presented. By suitable series expansions of the
disturbance stream function and velocity components due
to the presence of the foil, and by limiting the shear parameter to be of order 1, the first- and second-order problems
present themselves. The method of Lighthill7 has been used
for these solutions. The lift and moment coefficients correct
to the second order are presented in integral form. Once
the airfoil shape is known, the force coefficients can be obtained by integration. Numerical calculations have been
carried out to obtain lift coefficients on a symmetric Joukowsky airfoil, a circular arc, and a cambered Joukowsky airfoil for different values of stream vorticity. It is found that,
in general, if the nondimensional stream vorticity (with
respect to the airfoil chord and a reference velocity) is
limited to 1 or less, the second-order theory will give lift
coefficients within 5% of the exact theory up to 30 angle of
attack. The uniformly valid pressure distributions correct
to the second order along a symmetric Joukowsky airfoil
at 10 incidence are presented to exhibit the effect of stream
shear.
References
1

Tsien, H. S., "Symmetric Joukowsk}^ airfoils in shear flow,"

Quart. Appl. Math. 1, 130-148 (1943).
2
Sowyrda, A., "Theory of cambered Joukowsky airfoils in
shear flow," Cornell Aeronautical Lab. Kept. AI-1190-A-2
(September 1958).
3
Jones, E. E., "The forces on a thin airfoil in slightly parabolic
shear flow," Z. Angew. Math. Mech. 37, 362-370 (1957).
4
Jones, E. E., "The elliptic cylinder in a shear flow with hyperbolic velocity profile," Quart. J. Mech. Appl. Math. 12, 191-210
(1959).
5
Vidal, R. J., "The influence of two-dimensional stream shear
on airfoil maximum lift," J. Aerospace Sci. 29, 889-904 (1962).
6
Weissinger, J., "Nonuniform steady flow of an ideal fluid
past airfoils," Univ. of Wisconsin, Mathematics Research Center
Tech. Summary Rept. 515 (October 1964).
7
Lighthill, M. J., "A new approach to thin aerofoil theory,"
Aeronaut. Quart. 3, 193-210 (1951).
8
Kuo, Y. H., "On the force and moment acting on a body in
shear flow," Quart. Appl. Math. 1, 273-275 (1943).
9
Van Dyke, M. D., "Second-order subsonic airfoil theory
including edge effects," NACA TR 1274 (1956).