CALCULATION OF NON-LIFTING POTENTIAL FLOW ABOUT ARBITRARY THREE-DIMENSIONAL BODIES

Abstract : A method is described for calculating, with the aid of an electronic computer, the incompressible potential flow about arbitrary, non-lifting, three- dimensional bodies. The method utilizes a source density distribution on the surface of the body and solves for the distribution necessary to make the normal velocity zero on the boundary. Plane quadrilateral surface elements are used to approximate the body surface, and the integral equation for the surface source density is replaced by a set of linear algebraic equations for the values of the source density on each of the quadrilateral elements. After this set of equations has been solved, which is accomplished by a Seidel iterative procedure, the flow velocities at points both on and off the body surface are calculated. This approach is completely general. Bodies are not required to be slender, analytically defined, or simply connected.