Aerodynamics of porous airfoils using a novel panel method

Natural flyers have porous wings. This thesis studies the aerodynamic properties of a porous airfoil using a novel panel method. It is part of a larger project called "RevealFlight". The panel method modelling porosity uses linear vortex panels and uniform source panels. The non-porous panel method results serve as an input to the porous panel method. A technical airfoil and a bird-like airfoil are studied. The results are compared to the same non-porous airfoils and to a theoretical result. The obtained plots show that the porous airfoils have a lower performance than non-porous airfoils. The lift is lower when the airfoil is porous. The pressure difference between upper and lower contours globally drops with an increasing angle of attack and with an increasing level of porosity. In addition, two particular locations of interest are identified when treating the bird-like airfoil. A location on the lower contour where the pressure is independent of the angle of attack and a location on the upper contour where the pressure is independent of the porosity level. Further investigation is needed to determine if these points are specific to the bird-like airfoil considered in this study or if they are present in all bird-like airfoils.