Forces on Unstaggered Airfoil Cascades in Unsteady In-Phase Motion

Abstract

Incompressible flow through an unstaggered cascade in general, unsteady, in-phase motion is considered. By methods of thin-airfoil theory, using the assumptions of wakes trailing back at the through-flow velocity, and the Kutta condition, exact analytical expressions are derived for loading, lift and moment. As application, harmonic motion is considered for plunging, pitching, and sinusoidal gusts. Numerical values of lift and moment for these three cases are given graphically (tables are available from the authors). The results show strong analogies with isolated unsteady thin-airfoil theory. They should prove useful as simple examples of unsteady effects in cascades, and as check cases for other approximate or purely numerical analyses.