Instability of transonic flow past flattened airfoils

Transonic flow past a Whitcomb airfoil and two modifications of it at Reynolds numbers of the order of ten millions is studied. The numerical modeling is based on the system of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. The flow simulations show that variations of the lift coefficient versus the angle of attack become more abrupt with decreasing curvature of the airfoil in the midchord region. This is caused by an instability of closely spaced local supersonic regions on the upper surface of the airfoil.