Theoretical and experimental investigation of the effect of tunnel walls on the forces on an oscillating airfoil in two-dimensional subsonic compressible flow

Abstract

This paper presents a theoretical and experimental investigation of the effect of wind-tunnel walls on the air forces on an oscillating wing in two-dimensional subsonic compressible flow. A method of solving an integral equation which relates the downwash on a wing to the unknown loading is given, and some comparisons are made between the theoretical results and the experimental results. A resonance condition, which was predicted by theory in a previous report (NACA Rep. 1150), is shown experimentally to exist. In addition, application of the analysis is made to a number of examples in order to illustrate the influence of walls due to variations in frequency of oscillation, Mach number, and ratio of tunnel height to wing semichord.