An analysis of aerodynamic properties of delta wings
Abstract
We consider a sharp-edge delta wing of small aspect ratio A>0, which is an example of a 3D airfoil whose aerodynamic properties cannot be modeled using the potential lift}only. An important role is played by a pair of attached vortices, which generate the vortex lift. We review in detail the leading-edge suction analogy, developed by Edward Polhamus (NASA Technical Note D-3767, 1966), which shows that the most accurate description of the vortex lift can be obtained by avoiding any direct analysis of vorticity of the flow around the wing. We also describe a 2D slender wing theory, which was introduced by Jones (NACA report no. 835, 1946) to approximate the potential lift. We show that, neglecting certain two borderline nonintegrability issues and an elliptic regularity issue, the slender wing theory is sufficient to yield accurate prediction of the potential lift as A→ 0. We also show that this 2D approximation is necessary to justify the modelling assumptions of the leading-edge suction analogy, so that the slender wing model can also be used to approximate the vortex lift as A→ 0. For completeness, we provide additional explanations of the necessary airfoil theory.
Related
- Aerodynamic Shape Optimization of unsteady flapping wings
- Collapsed translating solitons with planar wings
- Isoperimetric problem for quasi-Finsler metrics and shapes of least aerodynamic resistance
- Same Genes, Different Wings: Wing Shape Divergence Among Castes in a Social Wasp
- Geometry Parameterisation via a Structural Modal Basis for Aerodynamic Shape Optimisation
BibTeX
@misc{ozanski2026analysis,
title = {{An analysis of aerodynamic properties of delta wings}},
author = {Wojciech Ożański},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.15957},
eprint = {2609.15957},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15957},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - An analysis of aerodynamic properties of delta wings
AU - Wojciech Ożański
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/14
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.15957
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15957
AB - We consider a sharp-edge delta wing of small aspect ratio A>0, which is an example of a 3D airfoil whose aerodynamic properties cannot be modeled using the potential lift}only. An important role is played by a pair of attached vortices, which generate the vortex lift. We review in detail the leading-edge suction analogy, developed by Edward Polhamus (NASA Technical Note D-3767, 1966), which shows that the most accurate description of the vortex lift can be obtained by avoiding any direct analysis of vorticity of the flow around the wing. We also describe a 2D slender wing theory, which was introduced by Jones (NACA report no. 835, 1946) to approximate the potential lift. We show that, neglecting certain two borderline nonintegrability issues and an elliptic regularity issue, the slender wing theory is sufficient to yield accurate prediction of the potential lift as A→ 0. We also show that this 2D approximation is necessary to justify the modelling assumptions of the leading-edge suction analogy, so that the slender wing model can also be used to approximate the vortex lift as A→ 0. For completeness, we provide additional explanations of the necessary airfoil theory.
ER -