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plotfoil(1l) plotfoil(1l) NNAAMMEE pplloottffooiill - generate a PostScript plot of airfoil data. eeddiittffooiill - modify camber and thickness of airfoil data. mmiixxffooiillss - interpolate between two airfoil sections. SSYYNNTTAAXX pplloottffooiill [_o_p_t_i_o_n_s] [_f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e_._._.] eeddiittffooiill [_o_p_t_i_o_n_s] [_f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e] mmiixxffooiillss [_o_p_t_i_o_n_s] _s_e_c_t_i_o_n_1 _s_e_c_t_i_o_n_2 DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN pplloottffooiill plots (in PostScript) airfoil sections (well, actually any section that is not smoothly closed). It can also allow for spars, sheeting, and prints registration marks that are aligned with the L.E. and T.E. It uses Bezier splines to interpolate between data points, with an option to use straight lines instead. The other two programs, eeddiittffooiill and mmiixxffooiillss, modify air- foil data. By default they send the data to standard out- put, so they can be used in a pipe to pplloottffooiill to plot the results. (Unix only.) OOVVEERRVVIIEEWW Plotfoil reads airfoil data and generates PostScript code that when printed on a PostScript printer will deliver a plot of the airfoil section along with spars (if any). The bounds of the section are also drawn, with crosses, and these can be used for registration of the ribs or tem- plates. If the plot is going to be larger than one page, it will automatically be spread over as many pages as are required. PostScript is a printer language for describing printed pages. Printers that accept PostScript include the Apple LaserWriters, QMS PS- series printers, DataProducts LZR-2665 and 2660 and the Linotronic 100 and 300 typeset- ters. PostScript is a trademark of Adobe Systems Incorpo- rated. The ghostscript program can convert PostScript to a variety of printer formats if a PS printer is not avail- able. (Ghostscript can also be used to preview plots on the display.) Bezier splines are used to calculate interpolating curves between the points. In some case the process may not deliver a smooth curve, and you will have to use the straight-line plot option (--ss). pplloottffooiill can also account for sheeting. If the wing you are building is to be sheeted, the ribs or templates need to be inset from the required surface by the thickness of the sheet. The airfoil outline is plotted with a dotted line, and the template line is drawn with a solid line. Feb. 1992 1 plotfoil(1l) plotfoil(1l) OOPPTTIIOONNSS Under MS-DOS, the ``/'' can be used as the option charac- ter instead of the ``-''. --cc Sets the chord of the section to plot. The argument is the chord, in units of either mm, cm or inches. The units are specified by a trailing `m', `c', or `i', with the default of mm being used if unspeci- fied. --ss This flag indicates that for _x values of greater than 2.5%, straight lines should be used to join the points. This results in a PostScript file which is probably just as good but should print in less time. The limit (2.5%) can be changed with the --ll option. --ll This option changes the limit used with the --ss option. It takes the percentage-chord as argument. --pp This invokes the interactive mode where plotfoil will prompt you for all the paramters of the plot. If plotfoil is invoked without an arguments it automatically enters prompt mode. --ii This option draws the section inset by the speci- fied amount, which is what you would use if the wing you are building is sheeted. The units default to those used for the chord. --sspp This option adds a spar to the plot. It takes two arguments, the offset (expressed as a percentage of the chord) and the thickness of the spar (default units: same as used for the chord). This option can be used multiple times to draw more than one spar. Also, 0-thickness spars can be used to draw verti- cal lines on the plot. --tthh This option sets the height of the template out- line, measured from the chord line. The default is 0. --ttll --tttt These options set the horizontal extents of the template. The value specified is the distance of the edge of the template from the {leading, trail- ing} edge. The units default to those specified while setting the chord. The default value is 0. If any of --tthh, --ttll or --tttt is used, a template will be drawn. --aa Turns the section by this many degrees. This useful Feb. 1992 2 plotfoil(1l) plotfoil(1l) for adding washout or washin. A positive number is a rotation in the counter-clockwise direction; neg- ative is clockwise. --hh Prints some help information. --oo Writes the output to the specified file. --xx This option moves the drawing on the page to the right. Some printers (or ghostscript drivers) have different ideas about what constitutes centered. This option can be used for fine-tuning. --yy Same as --xx except that it moves the drawing up. eeddiittffooiill --cc Modifies the camber to this value (expressed as percent. chord). 0 is valid. --tt Modifies the thickness to this value (expressed as percent. chord). --oo Writes the output to the specified file. mmiixxffooiillss --rr The interpolation ratio. The generated section will be _r of the second section and _(_1_0_0_-_r_) of the first. If you have one section at the root and another at the tip, to find the section at 70% semi-span out you would use 70. --oo Writes the output to the specified file. IINNPPUUTT FFOORRMMAATTSS There are two formats for pplloottffooiill input data, distin- guished by how coordinates are specified. The first line of the file is taken to be the name of the section and is printed along with the plot. The smallest _x value (usually 0.0) is the L.E. and the largest (usually 1.0) is the T.E. This is the first format: SSDD--88002200 11..00 00 00..99 00..001111 00..8855 00..0022 ...... 11..00 00 Note: it starts at _x=1.0 (the trailing edge), goes around and ends again at the T.E. This is the format used by the sections in Soartech 8. Feb. 1992 3 plotfoil(1l) in at the T.E. This is the format used by the sections in Soartech 8. Feb. 1992 3 plotfoil(1l) plotfoil(1l) This is the second format: CCllaarrkk YYHH 00 00 00 00..00112255 00..00440099 --00..00118833 00..002255 ..00552299 --..00227711 ...... 11..00 00 00 This starts at the L.E. and ends at the T.E., with the columns being the upper and lower ordinate values. This is the format that most of the NACA sections were published in. eeddiittffooiill and mmiixxffooiillss both print data in the first format. EEXXAAMMPPLLEESS This command: pplloottffooiill --cc 2200cc --ii 22mm --sspp 3322 00..22 ssdd88002200 || llpprr will plot the SD-8020 section with a chord of 20cm, with a sheeting allowance of 2mm, and a spar 2mm wide at 32% chord. The name of the section and the sheeting allowance are also printed. pplloottffooiill --cc 88..55ii --ii 00..112255 --ss --ll 1100 --oo ccllaarrkkYYHH..ppss ccllaarrkkYYHH will plot the Clark YH with a chord of 8.5 inches. Only the area from the L.E. to 10% back will interpolated with splines, and from 10% to the T.E.; straight lines will be used to connect the points. A sheeting allowance of 0.125" (1/8") will also be drawn. The PostScript will be left in "clarkYH.ps". pplloottffooiill --cc 445500mm --ii 11 --sspp 55 00..55 --sspp 3300 22..55 --tthh 7700 --tttt 1100 --ttll 1100 --xx --11..55cc --oo rrgg1155..ppss RRGG--1155 This plots the RG-15 airfoil with a chord of 450mm. Since this is too large to fit on one page it will be automati- cally split across two pages. A sheeting allowance of 1mm is printed, and there are two spars: one at 30% that's 2.5mm thick, and another at 5% that's very narrow, i.e. a LE marking. A rectangular template is drawn around the plot; and all the graphics are moved to the _l_e_f_t by 1.5cm, i.e. negative numbers can be used in the positioning. The PostScript is saved in "rg15.ps". eeddiittffooiill --cc 00 --oo ssyymmmmeettrriicc..aaiirrffooiill SSDD--77003377 Construct a symmetric airfoil from the SD-7037 and save as "symmetric.airfoil". Feb. 1992 4 plotfoil(1l) plotfoil(1l) eeddiittffooiill --tt 77 --cc 11..55 RRGG--1155 || pplloottffooiill --cc 440000mm --ii 11 --sspp 3300 11..55 || llpprr Plot a thinned down (7%) de-cambered (1.5%) RG-15. mmiixxffooiillss --rr 7755 --oo mmiixxeedd--aaiirrffooiill SSDD--77003377 SSDD--77003322 Generate a section that is 25% SD-7037 and 75% SD-7032. DDIISSTTRRIIBBUUTTIIOONN pplloottffooiill, eeddiittffooiill and mmiixxffooiillss are free; anyone may redistribute copies of it to anyone under the terms stated in the Gnu General Public License version 2, a copy of which should accompany each copy of plotfoil. See the file ``COPYING'' in the source area. If you do not have this file, a copy may be obtained from the author, or from: Free Software Foundation 1000 Mass Ave. Cambridge, MA 02138 or from the author. Also, if you make any changes to these programs and re- distribute them, the same conditions apply to the modified version so that we can all benefit from it. And please send me those changes! AAUUTTHHOORR Shamim Mohamed (shamim@math.isu.edu) Dept of Mathematics Idaho State University Pocatello, ID 83209 BBUUGGSS On some printers, there may be a stack overflow if the plot is on more than one page and there are more than a certain number of coordinate values. If this happens, try a) finding another printer, or b) removing some of the airfoil data. In the latter case you may still get satisfactory results because of the smooth interpolation used. Since the program doesn't know how big the printer page size is, it can get confused. This should only err conser- vatively, like producing an extra blank page on a multi- page plot. As long as the page is higher than about 11 inches (27 cm) everything should be fine. If you have a compiler, adjust the values in pplloottffooiill..hh and recompile. I don't know of any other bugs right now, but please send all bug reports to me. Include version number and the exact details (input files, command-line options etc.), Feb. 1992 5 plotfoil(1l) plotfoil(1l) please. Feb. 1992 6 2 plotfoil(1l) plotfoil(1l) for adding washout or washin. A positive number is a rotation in the counter-clockwi