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Wikipedia / Joukowsky transform

In applied mathematics, the Joukowsky transform (sometimes transliterated Joukovsky, Joukowski or Zhukovsky) is a conformal map historically used to understand some principles of airfoil design. It is named after Nikolai Zhukovsky, who published it in 1910.

The transform and its right-inverse are

is a complex variable is 2-to-1; but a local left-inverse is always one of the right-inverse branches.

In aerodynamics, the transform is used to solve for the two-dimensional potential flow around a class of airfoils known as Joukowsky airfoils. A Joukowsky airfoil is generated in the complex plane by varying the radius of the circle.

Joukowsky airfoils have a cusp at their trailing edge. A closely related conformal mapping, the Kármán–Trefftz transform, generates the broader class of Kármán–Trefftz airfoils by controlling the trailing edge angle. When a trailing edge angle of zero is specified, the Kármán–Trefftz transform reduces to the Joukowsky transform.

General Joukowsky transform

is as follows:

) components are:

Sample Joukowsky airfoil

The transformation of all complex numbers on the unit circle is a special case.

which gives

.

Thus the complex unit circle maps to a flat plate on the real-number line from −2 to +2.

Transformations from other circles make a wide range of airfoil shapes.

Velocity field and circulation for the Joukowsky airfoil

The solution to potential flow around a circular cylinder is analytic and well known. It is the superposition of uniform flow, a doublet, and a vortex.

The complex conjugate

where

  • is the complex coordinate of the centre of the circle,

  • is the freestream velocity of the fluid,

is the angle of attack of the airfoil with respect to the freestream flow,

real-valued). From this velocity, other properties of interest of the flow, such as the coefficient of pressure and lift per unit of span can be calculated. == Kármán–Trefftz transform == The Kármán–Trefftz transform is a conformal map closely related to the Joukowsky transform. While a Joukowsky airfoil has a cusped trailing edge, a Kármán–Trefftz airfoil This transform is

between the tangents as

, required to compute the velocity field, is

Background

First, add and subtract 2 from the Joukowsky transform, as given above:

Dividing the left and right hand sides gives

The right hand side contains (as a factor) the simple second-power law from potential flow in the previous equation gives

gives it in the form of equation .

Symmetrical Joukowsky airfoils

In 1943 Hsue-shen Tsien:

.

Notes

References