A Theory of Thin Airfoils, Isolated and in Cascade, Yielding Finite Pressures at Smooth Leading Edges

Abstract

SUMMARY By employing well-known relations connecting conjugate har­ monic functions, integral equations are obtained for the incom­ pressible velocity distribution over thin airfoils, isolated and in cascade. Solution of these integral equations with the boundary condition v = u (dy/dx) in place of the usual v — V (dy/dx) [i.e., classical] condition gives distributions free of the usual leadingedge singularity. When the classical boundary condition is introduced, the integral equations reduce to the familiar isolated thin airfoil theory and its extensions to cascade.