Airfoil thrust augmentation by symmetric heaving motion
4,822 views · Published 7 March 2011 · 0:13 · Indexed 11 October 2026
Channel: Paul Nathan · 2011 · Education
A simple periodic heaving motion (i.e. oscillations perpendicular to the line of motion) of a wing in forward flight produces a thrust force. Looking at the forces over the body one may see that this is caused by augmentation of the leading edge suction force. On average though there is no extra lift. Observe also how the wake dipoles (nice huh) have their axes tilted backward a little in reaction to the thrust produced. The axes of the wake dipoles tells you something about direction of the reaction force on the aerofoil.
