EFFECT OF THICKNESS ON THE UNSTEADY AERODYNAMICS OF CLOSELY COUPLED OSCILLATING AIRFOILS

A vortex panel method is presented for the solution of incompressible unsteady aerodynamic problems for airfoils with finite thickness. The accuracy and robustness of the method is demonstrated through comparisons with the existing numerical data and independent test cases. Also, through numerous examples, the flexibility of this method in handling different types of trailing-edge shapes and multiple interfering geometries is shown. furthermore, the method is used to analyse the effects of airfoil thickness on aerodynamic coefficients of multi-element or multiple airfoils. It is shown that, although the influence of thickness is negligible for single element airfoil, it can be profound for closely coupled airfoils and slotted flaps.