Technical Paper
Aerodynamic Characteristics of Truncated Airfoils at High Angle of Attack
1993-05-01
931227
Thick airfoils are commonly used for wind turbine and propeller blade inboard sections, and for struts on aircraft. These airfoils are sometimes truncated for manufacturing convenience, or to save weight. The purpose of this investigation was to study the effects of systematic truncation on airfoil performance. In order to investigate these effects two basic airfoil shapes representative of wind turbine designs were tested: the NACA 23024 and the NACA 643-621. The trailing edges of the models were truncated in steps up to the maximum thickness point. Aerodynamic forces and pitching moments were measured for angles of attack from -10° to 90° for each truncated model. Wind tunnel tests were conducted in the Wichita State University 2.13m × 3.05m (7′ × 10′) Walter Beech Memorial Wind Tunnel, using constant chord reflection plane models.
