Airfoil flow

Streamlines, pressure and lift use inviscid 2D potential flow. Drag is a separate, unvalidated engineering estimate; it does not change the flow field.

The drag polar fits three NASA NACA 0012 SSTm reference points at Re = 6 million. Smooth-wall turbulent friction scales it with speed; thickness and surface length provide approximate shape corrections. Camber enters through lift and surface length. The reference is a different airfoil, so this is a trend demonstration, not shape-specific validation.

Assumptions: 1 m chord, air density 1.225 kg/m³, viscosity 1.81 × 10⁻⁵ Pa·s, fully turbulent smooth surfaces. Automatic color limits follow the current near-airfoil field, with outliers saturated; pressure zero stays neutral. Compare legend values across cases. No transition, separation, stall, induced or wave drag model. Low Reynolds numbers and high loading are extrapolations. Arrow lengths use separate capped display scales.

Correlations: flat-plate friction, Fig. 5 · section form factor, Eq. 4-51.