This project is concerned with thrust production by oscillating airfoils. Since the 1920's it has been known that through properly modulated pitch and plunge, thrust can be produced by airfoils. However, the concept of a tandem set of airfoils oscillating in concert to optimize overall thrust efficiency has received less attention. Based on the success of a 16.621 project, a computational study has been initiated to determine how to best place and oscillate airfoils or airfoil flaps in a tandem-wing configuration. One guiding principle is that the "best" configuration will be one which can be mechanized easily, for instance using flaps instead of plunging the entire airfoil.

This project started in June, 1997.

J. D. Paduano

Eric Durand