REPORT No. 903 THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL DATA FOR A NUMBER OF NACA 64-SERIES AIRFOIL SECTIONS By Laonsxce K, Lorn, Jr SUMMARY The NACA Gc-eeriee airfoil sections scare designed to eliminate the trailing-edge cusp which is characteristic of the NACA G-series sections. Theoretical data are prevented for NACA @A-series basic thickness forms having the position of ‘minimum pressure at 30, 40, and 60 percent chord and with thickness ratios rarying from 6 percent to 16 percent. Also resented are data for a mean line designed to maintain straight ‘sides on the cambered section ‘The experimental results of a ttoo-dimensional wind-tunnel incestigation of the aerodynamic characteristics of Jice NACA hAcceries airfoil sections and two NACA 63A-series airfoil sections are presented. An analysis of theee results, which were obtained at Reynolds numbers of $X10', 6X10, and 9X10, indicates thatthe section minimum-drag and maximum- lift characteristics of comparable NACA 6-series and 6l-series airfoil sections are cosentially the same. The quarter-chord pitching-moment coefficients and angles of zero lift of NACA GA-series airfoil sections are slightly more negatize than those of corresponding NACA 6-series airfoil sections. The posi- tion of the aerodymamie center and the lift-curce slope of smooth NACA al-series airfoil sections appear to be essentially inde- pendent of airfoil thickness ratio in contrast to the trends shown by NACA 6-teries sections. The addition of standard leading-edge roughness causes the lift-curve slope of the newer ection to deerease with increasing airfoil thickness ratio. INTRODUCTION ‘Much interest is being shown in eirfoil sections having small thickness ratios because of their high critical Mach numbers. ‘The NACA 6-series airfoil sections of small thick- ness have relatively bigh critical Mach numbers but have the disadvantage of being very thin near the trailing edge, particularly when the sections considered have the position of minimum pressure well forward on the basic thickness form. The thin treiling-edge portions lead to difficulties in structural design and fabrication. In order to overcome these difficulties, the trailing-edge cusp hes been removed from a number of NACA 6-series basic thickness forms and the sides of the airfoil sections made straight from epproxi- ‘mately 80 percent chord to the trailing edge. ‘These new sections are designated NACA 6A-series airfoil sections. A special mean line, designated the a=0.8 (modified) mean Tino, has elso been designed toumsintain straight sides on the cambered sections. This paper presents theoretical pressure-distribution date and ordinates for NACA 6A-series besic thickness forms covering a range of thickness ratios extending from 6 to 15. percent and a range of positions of minimum pressure extend- ing from 30 percent to 50 pereent chord. ‘The aerodynamic characteristics of seven NACA 6A-series airfoil sections as determined in the Lengley two-dimensional Jow-turbulence pressure tunnel are also presented. ‘These data are analyzed and compared with similar data for NACA 6-series airfoil sections of comparable thickness and design lift coefficient. COEFFICIENTS AND SYMBOLS ce section drag coefficient Gm Minimum section drag coefficient ex section lift coefficient 4, design section lift coefficient Cimgy Maximum section lift coefficient ¢nj,_ section pitching-moment coefficient about aerodynamic center nay Section pitching-moment coefficient about querter- chord point : a section angle of attack a, section angle of attack corresponding to desiga lift coefficient GEE section lit-eurve slope TY" free-stream velocity » local velocity 4p increment of local velocity ‘40 increment of local velocity caused by additional type of load distribution Pe resultant pressure coefficient; difference between local upper-surface and lower-surface pressure coeflicients R Reynolds number ¢ airfoil chord length 2 distance along chord from leading edge ¥y distance perpendicular to chord Ye mean-line ordinate @ — mean-ine designation; fraction of chord from leading edge over which design load is uniform ¥ airfoil design perameter (reference 1) 203204 ‘THEORETICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ATRFOILS Designation —Tho system used for designating the new airfoil seotions is the same as that employed for the NACA. G-series sections (reference 1) except that the capital letter “4” is substituted for the dash which appears between the digit denoting the position of minimum pressure and that, denoting the ideal lift coefficient. For example, the NACA 64-212 becomes the NACA 64,A212 when the cusp is, removed from the trailing edge. In the absence of any further modification of the designation, the eambered airfoils are to be considered ashaving thea=0.8 (modified) meen line. Basic thickness forms —The theoretical methods by which the basic thickness forms of the NACA G-series family of airfoil sections were derived én order to have pressure dis- tributions of specified type are described in reference 1. Removing the treiling-edge cusp was accomplished by in- creasing the value of the airfoil design parameter yGeferetica 1) corresponding to the rear’ portion of the airfoil until the airfoil ordinates formed a straight line from approximately 80 percent chord to the trailing edge. Once the final form. of the ¥ curves was established, the new pressure disizibu- [REPORT NO, 003—NATIONAL, ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS tions corresponding to the modified thickness forms were calculated by the usual methods as described in reference 1. A comparison of the theoretical pressure distributions of an NACA 64,-012 airfoil soction and an NACA.64,A012 airfoil section (fg. 1) indicates that removing tho trailing-edge ‘cusp has little effect upon the velocities around the section. A slight reduction of the peak negative pressure and flatter pressure gradient over the forward and rearward portions of the aixfoil section seem to be the principel effects. The theoretical calculations also indicate the presenco trailing-edgo stagnation point caused by the finite trailing- ‘edge anglo of the NACA 64-serios sections. ‘This stagnation point is, of course, never realized experimentally. Ordinates and theoretical pressure-distribution data for NACA @4-series basic thickness forms having tho position of minimum pressure at 30, 40, and 50 perceiil clord are presented in figure 2 for airfoil thickness ratios of 6, 8, 10, 12, and 15 percent. If intermediate thickness ratios involving 8 change in thickness of not more than 1 to 2 percent are desired, the orditiates of tho basic thickness forms may be scaled tinearly without seriously altering the gradients of the theoretical pressure distribution, . EER | We [hs ACCT iy Ss t . > oe , Pec eae Ce i al 1 - t t ‘ | CPrer 4 1 T : | I 4 | iP ] gobs yl 1414 z o Chorewiss position =e rocas 1~Cosparon of trata! paste cto a eo Hoe NACA Oc? nd the NACA CAO estos,205 NACA 634008 BASIC THICKNESS FORM 5 SgRaRSEaRAn aS! SRSSRAGBERSE | 4 SSESHRQUARRRAST ANAS RACES 7 RRanBaagnaaaea ASASaagE 8 | Baagameggummguazaacames, | | | | segugaaseamesagessnsazza | | y| 5. susunenennnncnnsnescenss g 5 5 g z i § | eggeezammmemusssasszanss | | © | & | seguasmasnaengaasanzeess | | © | & | saganuquanaacunsenasasee a a ee| E/ 2 _ _ a7RRRagISaTeSR ASAE ER: ee @ | =f | Seseees2zesaceeseezauaags ee 3 a] SQREGREEScastuEseEsasaEs if ag) $ es] _ He a") og) ane o"7R22eeaanasaszaseroeag |EE| | +f) < ssasssssuneeasag |! wf] 7 eecaanassensensoang [El fe] | é e 70 fe) fT | 61208 (peer sunfoce) = Sel —~L_ | face) face enor ae MI Aca esha08 Hace 38008 79,2208 (eppar aur foe) "THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL DATA FOR A NUMBER OF NACA GA-SERIES AIRFOIL, SECTIONS. £8200 lipp8r, su 09 flower surfoce) 21 oweh 2 2 16}REPORT NO. 008—-NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS 206 NACA 63,4012 BASIC THICKNESS FORM y BRGARGRCSRAARSEAIRSEESSS i GERERRSSARNANSESESEREESE 3 SERURERUBERSSS 4 | AeRGESESSHERSRASEREREMEH | | | & | eendstansnanesenragucean | | y | «| auugugauazguceganeuaneaa_ 6 oe z oo —+ g g a , = z § | tuvamasnagaasacasstaneat | |_| § | fuwsaneseugraggmicegeses | | © | & | gagnsnsszsaesneqeagzauaa_ 3 g ald a 3 Bl eof 8] =] _ SRSEggE RUS ERES SERESCHNSS 2 i ongegagu agar eengn angen: SRE ie 2 “i aR! SHERSGERIZTARSHESES g g a z (oeceat Rhos oMasidanaanassaassresaeeg oneeat 9 (ouornt 2 os on aaSRongnnaesaassreeaaEs 18 "ye lowers surface) v Soe 2 19 Yorys000 thy wegoes = re lez lve ge y oy eed punsbon seouery219 ‘THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL DATA FOR A NUMBER OF NACA 64-SERIES AIRFOIL, SECTIONS ov z Pe “wo seme oper 19 yunraysoce wy vayoes (inary oe ae ote seo dgys90o' sswcpy : as 1 tumiysoo do.p vniaes © 20" 1EV9 YOY #19 SpIEREeDsREAPORY—OL EERO 00 *» 0140 40 oyun UnY20s ghee mana aaa NT ee ieee o a. lov. eee 9 Yunranse0e py voys0s. loz re los oe220 ‘The calculated position of the aerodynamic center and the variation of the pitching-moment coefficient with lift. cooffi- cient about this point are also included in these date.” The influence of the tannel boundaries has been removed from all the aerodynamic data by means of the following equa- |. tions (developed in reference 1): | ‘where the primed quantities denote the measured coefficients, DISCUSSION Although the emount of systemstic aerodynamic data pre- sented for NACA 6A-scries airfoil sections is not large, it is enough to indicate the relative metits of the NACA 6A- series airfoil sections as compared with the NACA 6-series sections. ‘The variation of the important aerodynamic char acteristics of the five NACA 64A-eries airfoils with the pertinent geometrical parameters of the airfoils is shown in figures 11 to 17, together with comparable data for NACA G4-series airfoils. ‘The curves shown in figures 11 to 17 are for the NACA 64-ceries airfoil sections and are taken. from the faired data of reference 1. The experimental points which eppear on these figures-represent the results obtained for the NAA 64A-series airfoil sections in the present investigation. Sinco only two NACA 63A-series sections ‘were tested, comparative results are not presented for them. ‘Tho effect of removing tho cusp from the NACA G3-series REPORT NO. 008—NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS sections is about the eame as that of removing tho euap from the NACA 64-cories sections. ive data showing the effects upon the acro- dynamic characteristics of removing the trailing-edgo cusp from NACA G-series airfoil sections should be used with caution if the cusp removal is affoctod in some manner other than that indicated earlier in this paper. For example, if the cusp should be removed from a cambered airfoil by metus of a straight-line fairing of the airfoil surfaces, the amount of camber would be decreased neer the trailing edge. Naturally the effect. upon the aerodynamic characteristies of removing the cusp in such @ manner would not bo the same as in dicated by the comparative results presented for NACA G-series and GA-series airfoils, Drag.—The variation of section minimum drag coefficient with airfoil thickness ratio at. Reynolds number of 6X10" is shown in figuro 11 for NACA 64-scries and NACA G4A- series airfoil sections of various eambers, both smooth and with standard leading-edge roughness. As with the NACA G-series sections (reference 1), tho minimum drag cocll- cients of the NACA 644-series sections show no consistent variation with camber. Comparison of the data of figure 11 indicates that removing the cusp from tho trailing edge hus xo appreciable effect upon the minimum dreg cocficionts of the irfoils, either smooth or with standard leading-edge roughness Increasing the Reynolds number from 3X10" to 0X10" hhns about the same effect upon the minimum drag coeffcical of NACA 64A-teries airfoils (figs. 4 to 10) as that indicated in reference 1 for the NACA 64-series airfoils. Some differences exist in the drag cocfficients of NACA 64- end 64A-ccries airfoils outside the low-drag range of lift coefficients but these differences are small and do not show any consistent trends (Bg. 4 to 10 and reference 1). : T ex! ° gel Sel ts ; 8 atid os olk oe ef RSE ae 7 ¢ | — 8 00a! ‘ | : |_—4 = rl = . i i. AiPtoll thickness, percent of chérd! ‘locns.—Vortloaotmttnom ecto dng enln wih fl hekes fr tre NACA Bac Gaoe 1 Abd NACA Ghai lo tos falas aati oot conticn aed wih sandard digas rose P= ch Bast spb nats NACA Gas eins we sana eh‘THEORETIOAL AND EXPERIMENTAL DATA FOR A NUMBER OF NACA 6A-SERIES AIRFOIL SECTIONS: Lift.—The section angle of zero lift ase function of thick- nese ratio is shown in figure 12 for NACA 64- and 64A-ceries, airfoil sections of various cambers. ‘Thece results show that the angle of zero lft is nearly independent of thickness ane is primarily dependent upon the amount of camber for particular type of mean line. ‘Theoretical caleulations made by use of the mean-line data of figure 3 and reference 1 indicate thet eirfoils with the a=0.8 (modified) meen Tine should have angles of zero lift less negative then those with the a=1.0 mean line. Actually, the reverse appears to be the ease, and this effect is due mainly to the fact thet air- foils having the a=1.0 type of mean line have angles of zero lift which are only about 74 percent of their thooretical value (reference 1), and those having the a=0.8 (modified) mean lines have angles of zero lift larger than indicated by theory. ‘The measured lift-curve slopes corresponding to the NACA G4-series end NACA 644-series airfoils of various cambers are presented in figure 18 as a function of airfoil thickness ratio, No consistent. variation of lift-curve slope with ‘camber or Reynolds number is shown by either type of air- foil. The increase in trailing-edge angle which accompanies, removal of the cusp would be expected to reduce the lift curve slope by en amount which increases with airfoil thick- ness ratio (references 3 and 4). Because the present data for the NACA GA-series sections show essentially no varia- tion in lift-curve slope with thickness ratio, it appears that 221 balanced by the incresse in liftcurve slope with thickness ratio shown by NACA G-series sections. The value of the lift-curve slope for smooth NACA 64A-series airfoil sections is very close to that predicted from thin eirfoil theory (2x per redian or 0.110 per degree). Removing the trailing- edge cusp from an airfoil section with standard leading-edge roughness causes the lift-curve slope to decrease quite rapidly with increasing airfoil thickness ratio. ‘The variation of the maximum seotion lift coefficient with. airfoil thickness ratio and eamber at a Reynolds number of 6X10" is shown in figure 14 for NACA 64-series and NACA 644-series sirfoil sections with and without standard leading-edge roughness and simulated split flaps deflected 60°. A comparison of these data indicates that the char acter of the variation of maximum lift coefficient with airfoil thickness ratio and camber is nearly the same for the NACA 64scries and NACA 64A-ceries airfoil sections. ‘The magni- tude of the maximum lift coefficient appears to be slightly less for the plain NACA 64A-series airfoils and slightly higher for the NACA 044-series airfoils with split flaps than corresponding values for the NACA 64-series airfoils. These differences are small, however, and for engineering spplice- tions the maximum-lift characteristics of NACA G4-series and 64A-ceries airfoil sections of comparable thickness and design lft coefficient may be considered practically the same, the effect of increasing the trailing-edge angle is about a2 Linden eager & 2a} Lira eager, nick e-tories) Bt ee. 2 5 83 . be 2d } eI é § at 3. 20) 3 g Sa eae |G ‘irfot thickness, percent of chord i le ‘iooux 12k of mtn scala ome it witha thcknes aoand cantertor | & ae eae et aca as |S a 3 af 5° 3 {ial 3 j _ WACA B4A-saries | 3.2, ; ol J = s700thh nace 6a-se ° je @ 7 16 2 Re ree ‘Airtel thickness, percent of chord 4 é. 2 id 20 ” -Adefotl with atmulated sp! detected 80" ‘ute rhchmess, percent of chore 9 se maa mt a tat ‘iovas 14 Vets oft corve sop with rf bots ate forsee NACA Sts (eects) ang NACA tanta selon Yana eve bts a te moh ‘adion and wif standard natngadgs ropes.” =X; Sage embo a [NACA olsaersetons with andar oud. [cons 1—Varatien of maximum ston it coeclnt its ll tikes ra wo ‘confi sone NACA Gers (eres) ana NACA dhs aa eons lb ‘bd win nub ep pes standard ong, 0X00; lapped pale Tnate NACA ok las wth andar ears222 A comparison of the maximumdift. date for NACA S4- ies airfoil sections, presented in figures'4 to 10, wiih similar date for NACA G4-series eirfoil sections indicates that the scale-ffect characteristics of the two types of section are essentially the same for the rango of Reynolds number from 3X10! to 8X10". Pitching moment.—Thin-eirfoil theory provides means for calculating the theoretical quarter-chord pitching-moment | coefficients of airfoil sections having various amounts and (ance ehoserts 2 0. ACA G4-Sbrie: 8% ee 64 1 L fe Section pitching-moment coefficient, Coy ze 4 ase (9 seer 6 apne Ogee a “Airtel thickness, percent of chord Patan, (3) Ata wt mune pt up etn rooms .— Varo of mln untae pleng omen cola re sgh ink wits afta la ood camber tema NACA Seas Cues 3 eo RAOA tutes eral son wind wiht ota B=d3e a ated tbe {bdtata NACA tom as ib sonia wp an. 7 3 a i baad ates £ cet rman . | (eee teat | Neca omnes yo [feet ease = ¥ x02 i z i | j Mitt Teorenical moment costfickent fb airtel ‘neon line about querter-chord point Poor it—Couparen of heal and mares ping moment welt ose NACA talenangOhann aio ona aE [REPORT NO, 903—-NATIONAL ADVISORY COSIMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS types of camber. Calculations were mado according to these methods for airfoils having the a==1.0 and 1=0.8 (modified) ‘mean lines by using the theoretical mean-line data presented in Ogure 3 and in referenco 1, ‘The results of these calculn- tions indicate that the quarter-chord pitching-moment cocffi- cients of the NACA G4Aseries airfoil sections having the a=0.8 (modified) mean line should be only about 87 percent of those for the NACA 64-scries airfoil sections with the 1.0 mean line. The experimental relationship betwee the quarter-chord pitching-moment coofficient. and airfoil thickness ratio and camber, shown in figure 15, discloses that the plain NACA G£4-series have pitehing-moment cocficients which aro slightly more negative than, those for the plain NACA 64-series airfoils. The increase in the magnitude of the pitching-moment cocflciont of NACA G4A~ series airfoils as compered with NACA 64-scries airfoils becomes greater when the airfoils are equipped with simulated split flaps deflected 60°. A comparison of the Uheoretical and measured pitching-moment coefficients is shown in figure 16 for NACA 64-series and 04A-series airfoil sections. ‘These comparative date indicate (hat the NACA G4A-serics sections much more nearly realize their theoretical moment coefficients than do the 64-series airfoil sections. Similar trends have been shown to result when mean lines such as the a=0.5 type are employed with NACA G-series airfils (referenice 1) Aerodynamic center.—The position of the aerodynamic center and the variation of the moment coefficient coefficient about this point were calculated from the qu chord pitching-moment data for each of the seven airfoils tested. ‘The varietion of the chordwise position of the dynamic center with airfoil thicknogs ratio is shown, 17 for the NACA Of-series and G4A-sories Sinee the data for the NACA 64-scries airfoils showed no consistent variation with camber, the results aro represanted by a single faired curve for ell eambers, Following this same trend, the position of the aerodynamic center for the NACA {64A-ceries airfoils shows no consistent, variation with camber. ‘The daia of figures 4 to 10 show that the variations in the Reynolds number have no consistent effect. upon the chord= ‘wise position of the aerodynamic center. Perfect fluid theory indicates thet the position of the aerodynamic center should move rearward with increasing airfoil thickness and the experimental results for die NACA G4-reries airfoil sections follow this trend. ‘Tho data of sh ar T sha 3% [rect Cthsertes Ga i ai bag Bee as Wot oa, area chad owt (elt of ht ati nl eve en tatoo smn NAGA etc rose 1 aed lary al ats of diet Sabin, eas‘THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL DATA FOR A NUMBER OF NACA SA-SERIES AIRFOIL SECTIONS reference 5 show important forward movements of the aero- dynamic center with increasing trailing-edge angle for a given airfoil thickness ratio. ‘Tho results obteined for the NACA 24, 44-, and 230-series airfoil sections (reference 1) reveal that the effect of increasing trailing-edge angle pre- dominates over the effect of increasing thickness because the position of the eerodynemic center moves forward with jnereasing thickness ratio for these airfoil sections. For the NACA 64A-series airfoils (fig. 17) the aerodynamic center is slightly behind the quarter-chord point and does not appear to vary with increasing thickness. These results suggest that the effect of incressing thickness is counterbalanced by increasing treiling-edge angle for these airfoil sections. CONCLUSIONS From « two dimensional wind-tunnel investigation of the eerodynamic characteristics of five NACA 64A-series and two NACA 63A-series airfoil sections the following conclu- sions based upon data obtained at Reynolds numbers of 3X10, 61X10", and 9X10" may be drawn: 1, The section minimum drag and maximum lift coef ficients of corresponding NACA 6-series and GA-series airfoil sections are essentially the same. 2. The lift-curve slopes of smooth NACA 6A-series airfoil sections appear to be essentially independent of airfoil thickness ratio, in contrast to the trends shown by NACA G-series airfoil sections. ‘The addition of standard leading- edge roughness causes the lift-curve slope to decrease with increasing airfoil thickness ratio for NACA 6A-ceries airfoil sections. 228 3, The section angles of zero lift of NACA GA-series airfoil sections ero slightly more negative then those of comparable NAGA 6-series airfoil sections. 4, Tho section quarter-chord pitching-moment coefficients of NACA 6A-series airfoil sections are slightly more negative than those of comparable NACA G-series airfoil sect ‘Tho position of the aerodynamic center is essentially inde. pendent of airfoil thickness ratio for NACA 64-series airfoil sections. ‘Laxouer Mewonta, Azronauticas, Lazonarony, Narionat Apvisory Couairram ror AERONAUTICS, Lanezer Freup, Va., May 6, 1947. REFERENCES 1, Abbott, Ise H., Von Doenhof, Albert E., and Stivers, Louis 8., Jr: Summary of Alrfoll Data. NACA Rep. No, 824, 1945. 2, Jacobs, Eastman N., Ward, Kenneth E, and Pinkerton, Robert M, "Tho Charactersties of 78 Related Aitfoll Sections from Teeta in the Variable-Dessity Wind Tunnel. NACA Rep. No. 460, 1038. 8, Purser, Paul E,, and MeKoo, John W.: WindTunnel Investigation ‘of @ Plain Aileron with Thickened and Beveled Treling Edges on Tapered Low-Drag Wing. NACA ACR, Jan, 1983. 4. Jones, Robert T., and Ames, Milton B, Jr: Wind-Tunnel Investigae ‘on of Control Surface Charactersties. V—The Uso of & Bovsled Tralling Bdge to Reduce the Hinge Moment of a Control Surface. NACA ARR, March 1942, 5, Purer, Paul E., and Johnson, Harold &: Effcts of Tralling-Edgo ‘Modifeations on Pitching-Moment Characteristics of Airfol NACA CB No. L4130, 1044.