FireStats error : FireStats: Unknown commit strategy Airfoil Design
Software Menu
Search openAE
User Login

PABLO

PostDateIconFriday, 09 October 2009 21:39 | PostAuthorIconWritten by Aleksey Matyushev | PDF | Print | E-mail

Ironically, PABLO stands for Potential flow around Airfoils with Boundary Layer coupled One-way.  No one probably would have ever guessed that, but once the acronym is understood, the program becomes quite self explanatory.  This program is very similar to XFOIL in that it provides visual data which helps the user to derive the flow field around the airfoil.

The program was written by Christian Wauquiez in 1999 at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.  The actual program is not literally a program, but in fact a collection of MATLAB scripts.  The scripts form a basic Graphical User Interface (GUI) in MATLAB which allow the user to easily calculate the flow around an airfoil shape. 

Pablo MATLAB GUI

PABLO MATLAB GUI WITH NACA 2412 PRESSURE SOLUTION

The program does not provide concrete numerical data such as XFOIL does, but it allows the user to easily visualize the pressure distribution around the aifoil.  According to the PABLO website, this program is meant to be used in a laboratory setting for students to experiment with panel codes and experiment with different types of airfoils.  An integrated NACA four digit series database comes with the program.  The scripts also allow the user to import a custom airfoil geometry into MATLAB and calculate the pressure distribution around the given shape.

The program is relatively easy to use and set up.  All the user needs is a licensed copy of MATLAB to launch "pablo.m" and the GUI initiates.  If the user is analyzing a common NACA airfoil, learning about panel methods, or just trying to quickly visualize the pressure distribution, PABLO provides a quick and painless way to do just that. The website lists the purpose of the program as EDUCATION and that it is exactly what it should be used for, any serious airfoil design or analysis XFOIL should be used.

Currently the official contact on the PABLO web page is listed as Arthur Rizzi, and judging from the lack of updates the project has reached its final implementation.  The program is not licensed under any particular license and the webpage says that it is free to develop by anyone.  OpenAE is considering to re-implement the code to be compatible in the open source freeware Scilab, which is a computational environment very similar to MATLAB.

Please visit the PABLO official website to download the program and find out more about this EDUCATIONAL tool.

Last Updated (Friday, 13 November 2009 21:33)

 

XFOIL

PostDateIconTuesday, 06 October 2009 00:16 | PostAuthorIconWritten by Aleksey Matyushev | PDF | Print | E-mail
User Rating: / 8
PoorBest 

XFOIL is a program written in FORTRAN which helps the user analyze different types of airfoils under different flows and angles of attack.  The start of the project dates back as early as 1986 when Mark Drela decided to couple panel methods with visous/inviscid interaction.  Since the start of the original project, Harold Youngren has joined the team and together with Mark Drela they provided vast improvements to the project.

The XFOIL program allows the user to do the following:

  1. Analyse an airfoil in viscous or inviscid flow
  2. Interactively design and re-design the airfoil
  3. Blend airfoils together
  4. Read and write airfoil geometry

According to Drela and Youngren, the project has been currently frozen at version 6.9 due to very little bug reports. The code is licensed under GPL and can be modified and distributed as such.

XFOIL parameter execution

USING XFOIL UNDER UNIX

Because the program was written in FORTRAN, the Graphical User Interface (GUI) is limited to a console environment.  The authors also distribute the source code only, and while different distributions for the Macintosh, UNIX, and Windows platforms have been posted on the Internet, they still remain strictly unofficial.

Airfoil analysis in XFOIL

ANALYSIS OF NACA 2432 IN VISCOUS FLOW

Although the GUI and the compilation of the source code might deter some users from using the program, the program still remains a wonderful tool for analysis and development of airfoils.  After a little time playing around, the commands become self explanatory and the program provides a plethora of useful information.  The user is able to quickly update the design and analysis of any airfoil chosen.  Airfoils can either be either accessed through the built in NACA database (which is limited to 4 and 5 digit series airfoils) or import a custom airfoil. XFOIL also allows the user to export the final geometry of the airfoil into a data file.

Want to find out more? visit the MIT XFOIL website or our community resources page for more information.

Website: MIT XFOIL Website

Platform: Windows, Linux/Unix, Macintosh | Download

openAE Resources: XFOIL TUTORIAL

Last Updated (Monday, 21 June 2010 20:23)

 

Copyright © 2010 openAE Team.
All Rights Reserved.