Abstract
A finite element formulation based on superposition is proposed for a lifting aerofoil in incompressible potential flow. An accuracy improvement technique for the singularity at the aerofoil trailing edge is discussed. It is shown that the quarter-node quadrilateral element can be readily employed to simulate this singularity. It is also demonstrated that the circulation in the flow field can be easily represented by a single constraint equation rather than introducing an artificial cut line in the mesh. The influence of finite-element mesh size on solution accuracy and the correct form of the boundary condition have been investigated as well. Numerical examples are given for both steady and quasisteady Joukowski aerofoils of various thicknesses and at a range of incidences. In all test cases, good agreement is observed between the analytical solution and the numerical result.
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