Low-speed aerodynamics is important in the design and operation of aircraft flying at low Mach number, and ground and marine vehicles. This 2001 book offers a modern treatment of the subject, both the theory of inviscid, incompressible, and irrotational aerodynamics and the computational techniques now available to solve complex problems. A unique feature of the text is that the computational approach (from a single vortex element to a three-dimensional panel formulation) is interwoven throughout. Thus, the reader can learn about classical methods of the past, while also learning how to use numerical methods to solve real-world aerodynamic problems. This second edition has a new chapter on the laminar boundary layer (emphasis on the viscous-inviscid coupling), the latest versions of computational techniques, and additional coverage of interaction problems. It includes a systematic treatment of two-dimensional panel methods and a detailed presentation of computational techniques for three-dimensional and unsteady flows. With extensive illustrations and examples, this book will be useful for senior and beginning graduate-level courses, as well as a helpful reference tool for practising engineers.

Race car performance depends on elements such as the engine, tires, suspension, road, aerodynamics, and of course the driver. In recent years, however, vehicle aerodynamics gained increased attention, mainly due to the utilization of the negative lift (downforce) principle, yielding several important performance improvements. This review briefly explains the significance of the aerodynamic downforce and how it improves race car performance. After this short introduction various methods to generate downforce such as inverted wings, diffusers, and vortex generators are discussed. Due to the complex geometry of these vehicles, the aerodynamic interaction between the various body components is significant, resulting in vortex flows and lifting surface shapes unlike traditional airplane wings. Typical design tools such as wind tunnel testing, computational fluid dynamics, and track testing, and their relevance to race car development, are discussed as well. In spite of the tremendous progress of these design tools (due to better instrumentation, communication, and computational power), the fluid dynamic phenomenon is still highly nonlinear, and predicting the effect of a particular modification is not always trouble free. Several examples covering a wide range of vehicle shapes (e.g., from stock cars to open-wheel race cars) are presented to demonstrate this nonlinear nature of the flow field.

The hydrodynamic forces due to the motion of a flexible foil in a large amplitude curved path in an inviscid incompressible flow are analysed. A parametric study of large amplitude oscillatory propulsion, with special emphasis on the effect of chordwise flexibility of the fin, is presented. This flexibility was found to increase the propulsive efficiency by up to 2% while causing small decreases in the overall thrust, compared with similar motion with rigid foils.

A discrete vortex method was used to analyse the separated non-steady flow about a cambered airfoil. The foil flow modelling is based on the thin lifting-surface approach, where the chordwise location of the separation point is assumed to be known from experiments or flow-visualization data. Calculated results provided good agreement when compared with the post-stall aerodynamic data of two airfoils. Those airfoil sections differed in the extent of travel of the separation point with increasing angle of attack. Furthermore, the periodic wake shedding was analysed and its time-dependent influence on the airfoil was investigated.

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