Investigation of subsonic boundary layer effects on supersonic-type airfoil sections

Abstract

It was found in this investigation that the testing of supersonic airfoils at subsonic speeds to obtain pressure distributions will result in considerable error if the models are tested at very low Reynolds Numbers. The thickness of the boundary layer is critical at low Reynolds Numbers and causes a decrease in the overpressure region. This, coupled with the fact that the overpressure region increases more with Mach Number than predicted by the theory, could lead to erroneous calculations of the drag.