Forced boundary layer transition effect on the performance of FX63-137 airfoil at low reynolds numbers

Abstract

This research presents a comparison between the calculated data and the data obtained from the experiment, analyses forced boundary layer’s transition from laminar regime to the turbulent. Attention was paid to airfoil characteristics changes, advantages and disadvantages were analysed. The chosen airfoil is FX63-137. The calculated data were obtained by using the interactive program developed for the design and analysis of subsonic airfoils XFoil6.9. The calculations were compared with laboratory tests results from Notre Dame University in United States of America and from Stuttgart University in Germany. The differences between data were discussed and conclusions were made.