Compressibility on Lift of Aerofoil.

113

flow and consequent permanent strain caused by the rubbing ; (3) temperature
changes affecting both (1) and (2).
The second (1926) paper establishes (2) and, more significant, proves that the
tribo-electric charges depend on the amount of strain.]

Summary.
1. Commercial textile material is unsuitable for precise tribo-electric experi­
ments, on account of natural and artificial impurities. Well-cleansed material
acts consistently on the various solid elements.
2. The arrangement of the different elements, according as they charge
textiles and glass, is found to correspond closely to their chemical qualities.
3. Anomalies are found in the case of some strongly electro-positive elements,
which appear in two places in the tribo-electric series. An attem pt is made to
apportion to each known source of charge its own weight in these phenomena.

The Effect o f Compressibility on the L ift o f an Aerofoil.

By H. G lauert , M.A.

(Communicated by G. I. T aylor, F.R.S.—Received November 24, 1927.)

1. Introduction.
At ordinary aeroplane speeds the effect of the compressibility of the air is
very small, and there is complete justification for the usual assumption that the
air may be regarded effectively as an incompressible medium. This assump­
tion, however, ceases to be valid in the case of high tip-speed airscrews and is
not really satisfactory even when the tip speed is no greater than 800 f.p.s.
I t is important, therefore, to examine, both theoretically and experimentally,
the effect of compressibility at high speed on the characteristics of an aerofoil.
Experimental investigations are in progress at the Royal Aircraft Establish­
ment in which the aerofoil characteristics are derived by analysing the observed
behaviour of high-speed model airscrews, but owing to the complexity both
of the experiments and of the analysis it is impossible that the results should
have the same accuracy as those obtained from direct tests of an aerofoil at
low speed.
An attempt has now been made to estimate theoretically the effect of com-
vol . cxvm.—A. i
114 II. G lau ert.

pressibility on the lift of an aerofoil in two-dimensional motion and to indicate

the nature of the variation which may be anticipated in the curve of lift
coefficient against angle of incidence. I t is unfortunately impossible at the
present state of knowledge to make any similar calculation for the drag of the
aerofoil, but on general grounds we may anticipate that the drag coefficient
will rise at an increasing rate until the velocity of sound is reached, and that
above this speed the drag coefficient will decrease again, remaining, however,
higher than at low speeds.

2. Circulation in a Compressible Fluid.

The irrotational motion of a compressible fluid, expressed in polar co-ordinates,
is governed by the following equations: The condition for irrotational
motion is
3 (rv) 3u 0
(1)
3 r 30
where u and vare respectively the radial and circumferential components
the resultant velocity The equation

3 (pru) , 3 (pv) _ f
dr '1~ 30 ’

3 (ru) , dv , ru 3p , v 3p A
" a r + Fe + i 37 + ; 3 i - 0 ’
and the relationship between pressure and velocity is determined by Ber­
noulli’s equation

I or adiabatic expansion
it + - q2 = constant.
Ji
p is proportional to p* and the velo
iffithe undisturbed fluid is
a = x /y . p0.
Assuming V to be the velocity of the undisturbed stream, Bernoulli’s equation
becomes
-3l— P_
|_ I ^2 _ T— i 1 y 2
- i p 1 2 ? y —1 Po + 2 v ’
and hence finally

z f? = (
■Pol W* r = 1 - 1 2a2 (?2 - V s). (3)
 Compressibility on Lift of Aerofoil. 115

Consider now the flow past a body round which there is a circulation K in
the clockwise sense. Then for any circle enclosing the body we have the two
integral relationships

(4)
and
(5)

The lift and drag experienced by the body can also be determined by evaluating
the integrals
t
L= - {pisn 0 -f- p u s(uin 0 -f- vcos 0)}
JO

13 = — I {pcos 0 p
Jo 3
All these integrals may be taken round any circle enclosing the body, but it
is convenient to consider a circle of very large radius. The body is then equiva­
lent to a point vortex of strength K at the origin and the velocity components
u and v may be expanded in the series
u —V

where An and Bn are functions of 0. Moreover, to evaluate the integrals over

the large circle, it is sufficient to retain only the first terms of each power series,
and on this basis we have simply

u = V (cos 0 -j- Air) 1

y. (8)
v = — Y (sin 0 -f- B
To this order
q2/V2= 1 + 2 (A cos 0 -f- B sin 0)/r,
and writing
X= (9)
equation (3) gives
p = op — p0V2 (A cos 0 + B sin 0)/r
p/p0 = 1 — X (A cos 0 -j- B sin 0)/r
- ^ — — (A cos 0 -f- B sin 0) (10)
p o r r
- ^ = - (A sin 0 — B cos 0 — ^ cos 0 — sin 0)
p o0 r d0 u0
 116 H . G lau ert.

The solution is now obtained by inserting these expressions in the fundamental

equations. The condition for irrotational motion (1) requires that A shall be
a constant, and the equation of continuity (2) gives

— (1 — X sin2 6) = X (A cos 20 -j- B sin 20), (ID

while the integral equations (4) and (5) become respectively

( 12)

and
|X B sin 20 d0 = 2tcA (1 — -|X). (13)
o
It is now possible to determine the lift and drag of the body by means of these
relationships, without proceeding to the actual determination of A and B, for
equations (6) lead quite simply to the values
. L = p0VK \
(14)
D= 0 / '
The integration of equation (11) gives
B (1 — X sin2 0) = C + JX A sin 20,
where C is a constant, and on inserting this expression in the integral equation
(13) it is found that the value of A must be zero. Finally the value of C is
determined from equation (12) as

C - KV l - X/2tcV
: -and the expressions (8) for the velocity components then become

(15)

It appears, therefore, that the effect of the compressibility, at a considerable

distance from the body, is simply to modify the expression for the
velocity due to the circulation by the addition of a factor depending on X or
(V/a)2. The solution is clearly valid only when X is less than unity, i.e., for
speeds below that of sound. When the speed exceeds this value, compression
waves ar:se in the fluid and the flow is no longer of the type considered in the
analysis.
 Compressibility on Lift of Aerofoil. 117

3. The Lift of an Aerofoil.

A thin aerofoil in two-dimensional motion may be regarded approximately
as a line distribution of point vortices whose strength is such th at the com­
ponent of the velocity due to these vortices at each point of the aerofoil normal
to its surface exactly balances the normal component of the velocity V. If
the preceding analysis can be applied to this case in spite of the small distances
involved, it would appear th at in a compressible fluid the induced velocity
receives the factor
"\/1 — X/(l — X sin2 0),
and for points on the aerofoil, which is inclined at a small angle to the direction
of the velocity V, this factor is sensibly equal to
Vl — X.
In order to obtain the correct induced velocity at the surface of the aerofoil,
it is therefore necessary to increase the strength of all the elementary vortices
bv the factor
(1 - X)-* (16)
and by virtue of equation (14) the lift at a given angle of incidence will rise
by the same factor,* the lift distribution along the chord remaining unaltered.
Some insight into the assumptions involved in applying the analysis for
points distant from a vortex to the induced velocity at the surface of an aero­
foil is obtained by considering the problem in an alternative manner. In
Cartesian co-ordinates the fundamental equations for the irrotational flow of
a compressible fluid may be expressed in the form
dv 3 u A
dx a7=0
3 u _j_ dp
u A-
dx !r
dy + L <
p • ox + " D
= 0

-l
( t ) r = 1 — T — ■V- V2).
'p J 2a2
Hence
1 3p 1 / 3u dv]
(w
-T p dx a2 \Ud~x 1 ' ' 3 -J
n
w
_11 3p
p dy
l_ / du. . dv
(u 5 - + V g -
a2 \ dy dy
* This result is quoted w ithout proof by Ackeret in th e * H andbuch der Physik, ’
vol. 7, p. 340 (1927), as given by P ran d tl in his lectures a t Gottingen in 1922.
118 H . G la u ert.

and the equation of continuity becomes

Now let the aerofoil be part of the * axis, to which the velocity Y is inclined
at a small angle a. Then on the surface of the aerofoil v is zero, and the equation
of continuity becomes

which may be written in the form

+ 1 =°-
where

The assumption is now made that the velocity u does not differ appreciably
from the undisturbed velocity V, and then the value of h becomes (\ .o.) or X,
as previously defined. Now let
u'= uA/l —
x —A
x' /l — X
and then the equations of irrotational motion and continuity become
vd_ 0M_' __ 0
37 d
3 u', dv „
07+ 07 5
which represent a corresponding perfect fluid solution in which %' is greater
than x. This distortion of the system is necessary near the aerofoil, but the
flow at infinity is unaltered and hence the lift is the same in both cases. The
chord of the aerofoil in the compressible fluid, however, is less than in the
perfect fluid, and hence for a given aerofoil the lift in a compressible fluid is
increased by the factor (1 — X)~J-.
In view of this discussion it would appear that the validity of the result (16)
depends on the assumption that the velocity at the surface of the aerofoil does
not differ appreciably from the undisturbed velocity Y. High velocity occur
 Compressibility on Lift of Aerofoil. 119

over the shoulder of ail aerofoil, but for aerofoils of medium thickness working
at moderate lift coefficients the maximum velocity is not greater than 2Y.
The theoretical formula may, therefore, be expected to give a good indication
of the effect of compressibility on the lift of an aerofoil as the speed increases,
but to breakdown before the velocity of sound is attained, and the breakdown of
the formula, due to the local velocity over an appreciable part of the aerofoil
rising to a high value, may be expected to show itself first at high lift
coefficients.
These theoretical predictions are confirmed qualitatively by the experi­
mental tests of high-speed airscrews, and the table below gives the comparison
between the observed and calculated slopes of the lift curve for a thin biconvex
section.* The no-lift angle remained constant at — 3-|° for the range Y = 0*4
to 0-7 aand then fell to zero for V = a . T h e slope of the lift curve began to
fall off above 0-6a, but the critical drop of lift occurred at a slightly higher
speed. Owing to the necessity of obtaining the experimental results from the
analysis of tests of an airscrew, these results are a surprisingly good confirma­
tion of the theory.
Slope of Lift Curve.

V la. 0 0-4 0-6 0-7 1-0

Observed.............................................. — 0-060 0-075 0-060 0-058

Calculated .......................................... 0-055 0-060 0-069 0-077 —

The general conclusions, which should apply to any aerofoil, may now be
stated as follows :—
(1) As the speed increases from zero to O'6a, the slope of the lift curve
increases according to the factor (1 — Y2/a2)- i , and the no-lift angle is unaltered.
The increase at Y = O’6a is therefore 25 per cent.
(2) Between V == 0-6a and V = a the lift decreases, but the critical speed
at which the lift begins to fall rapidly depends on the shape of the aerofoil.
The rapid decrease probably shows itself first at the higher lift coefficients.
*
* ‘ The Characteristics of Biconvex No. 2 Aerofoil Section a t High Speeds,’ by G. F.
Douglas and W. G. A. Perring (Aeronautical Research Committee, R. & M. 1115).