THE OPTIMUM AIRFOILS AT LOW ANGLES OF ATTACK IN A SUPERSONIC GAS-FLOW

The problem of determining the plane airfoil which has the minimum wav e drag in a uniform supersonic free stream is considered. The length, thickness, angle of attack, lift force and moment of the airfoil with respect to the origin of coordinates are assumed to be given. The cons ideration is confined to the class of bodies for which attached shock waves occur. It is assumed that the dow is supersonic and there are no internal shock waves in the regions where the how is affected by the components of the required contour. Numerical results are given. (C) 1 997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.