Recent studies on the lifting surface theory (Q1122429)

This paper deals with Multhopp's subsonic lifting surface theory [\textit{H. Multhopp}, Aero. Res. Council, Rep. and Memo. No.2884 (1950), 96 pp. (1955)]. In order to solve the integral equation of the lifting surface theory one has to calculate the second order principal value of a singular integral. The numerical integration in the vicinity of the singular points requires enormous computing time, therefore it is necessary to use an approximation for the integrand in this region and perform an analytic integration. While Multhopp and other researchers have used a first order approximation, the authors present in this paper a higher order approximation. The advantages of using the higher order approximation are illustrated by some examples.