MATLAB Engineering Simulations

NACA 0012 airfoil lift study

I used MATLAB to model a NACA 0012 airfoil with a vortex panel method, discretizing the boundary into panels and control points. The analysis examined pressure coefficient distributions and the change in lift coefficient as angle of attack varied from −5° to 12°.

NACA 0012 boundary points and panel control points — Airfoil geometry and panel discretization

Upper and lower surface pressure coefficient curves at four degrees — Computed pressure coefficient distribution at α = 4°

0.483383computed C_L at 4°

6.964 / radfitted lift slope

2π / radthin-airfoil reference

The fitted numerical slope was approximately 10.8% above the thin-airfoil reference. The comparison provided a check on the implementation and its discretization. The model assumes inviscid, incompressible potential flow; the lift sweep does not predict viscous separation or stall.

Heat conduction around two water passages

I modeled the temperature field in a 1.0 × 0.6 m commercial-bronze cross section containing two 0.2 × 0.2 m square water passages. The setup applies heat flux at the top surface and uses the internal passages to remove heat.

Bronze domain with two internal square water passages, insulated sides and bottom, and top heat flux — Problem geometry and boundary conditions

The MATLAB setup uses a 101 × 61 grid, thermal conductivity of 52 W/(m·K), a convection coefficient of 500 W/(m²·K), a water temperature of 50 °C, and an applied radiation heat flux of 1,200 W/m².

MATLAB temperature contours around two square passages — Calculated temperature field and script output

57.72 °Creported maximum temperature

101 × 61numerical grid

1,200 W/m²applied heat flux

The contour plot shows the cooler regions around the passages and the rise toward the heated upper surface. This is a numerical result from the modeled boundary conditions.