Airfoil Analysis

Several methods are available for predicting the pressure distribution around airfoils. These are discussed in the following sections.

1. Conformal Mapping uses the fact that solutions to Laplace's equation can be easily constructed using analytic functions of a complex variable.

2. Thin Airfoil Theory is described in most every textbook on aerodynamics. It is derived briefly here because, although it is not used for analysis in the days of high-speed computers, it leads to some very important insights about airfoils.

3. Surface Panel Methods provide a more accurate analysis method for airfoils and are still widely used although they are limited by the assumptions inherent in the linear differential equations they solve.