XFOIL

XFOIL: Interactive Airfoil Design and Analysis Software

XFOIL is an interactive program for the design and analysis of subsonic isolated airfoils, implementing a panel method for analysis as well as a coupled viscous/inviscid interaction method for analysis and design.

What is XFOIL?

XFOIL is an interactive program for the design and analysis of subsonic isolated airfoils. It was developed by Mark Drela at MIT in the 1980s and continues to be widely used today.

XFOIL implements a high-order panel method for inviscid analysis and an integral boundary layer formulation for viscous effects. These two methods are coupled together to enable interacting boundary layer calculations which account for displacement thickness and limited separation bubbles.

Key features and capabilities of XFOIL include:

• Airfoil geometry manipulation including scaling, rotation, and deformation.
• Viscous (boundary layer) and inviscid analysis of airfoils.
• Simulation of stall due to leading edge or trailing edge separation.
• Design and analysis of airfoils optimized for desired parameters like lift, pitching moment, etc.
• Modeling of surface roughness and boundary layer suction/blowing.

With its fast execution speeds and design optimization abilities, XFOIL continues to be a valuable tool for airfoil analysis and development. It serves both the classroom for pedagogical understanding as well as a practical aerodynamic design tool. Many airfoil designers validate their computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations against XFOIL results.

XFOIL Features

Official Links