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8.4: Number of Panels X

One of the Vortex-Lattice-Method's underlying ideas is to subdivide a wing into a sufficiently large number of panels. The higher the resolution the more precise will be the result of computation.
The amount of panels has the strongest impact above all in direction of the chord line (X-axis), especially when using highly cambered airfoils or flaps.

Click the folder button 'Panels'.
The input field 'No. Panels X' is used to define the desired resolution in direction of the chord line. The amount of panels must be >=1.
Near the input field are Up/Down-buttons located. They can be used to change the amount of panels with mouse clicks.



The following two pictures illustrate the effect of the number of panels X.

The first picture shows three wings with the symmetrical airfoil Naca0010. This airfoil has a straight mean camber line.
In each case the left segment is equipped with a flap of 25% of chord line and a deflection angle of 45°.
The program rotates all parts of the wing, which lie behind the hinge axis together with the flap.
With the left and middle wing the number of panels is not sufficient to represent the 25% flap correctly.
Only with the right wing sufficient panels are present in chord line, so that the flap is correctly represented.



The second example shows a wing with the highly cambered airfoil E377.
The higher the resolution in chord line direction, the better is the mean camber line represented.
On the other hand you should only install as many panels as necessary. With doubling the number of panels, the time for computing will increase in square.
When using a symmetric airfoil without flap deflection one panel is sufficient for a first approximate computation.



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