A fast higher-order integral equation method for solution of the full potential equation around airfoils

A method based on an integral equation formulation is described for solutio n of the full potential equation in terms of the velocity field. In additio n to the conventional distribution of singularities over the boundaries of field, a field source distribution is added in the how region in order to r epresent the non-linear compressibility effect. The unknown source distribu tion in the field is calculated from the full potential equation by iterati vely updating the normal velocity boundary conditions. In order to treat mo re complex configurations, local transformations provided by higher-order e lements are used. Computation time required for integration of the domain i s improved by using a domain decomposition. Results of calculations demonst rate substantial improvement in computation time and are in good agreement with independent results. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserve d.