Kutta condition

The Kutta condition is a principle in steady-

flow fluid dynamics, especially
aerodynamics, that is applicable to solid
bodies with sharp corners, such as the
trailing edges of airfoils. It is named for
German mathematician and aerodynam‐
icist Martin Kutta.
Kuethe and Schetzer state the Kutta condi‐
tion as follows:[1]:§ 4.11

A body with a sharp trailing edge which

is moving through a fluid will create
about itself a circulation of sufficient
strength to hold the rear stagnation
point at the trailing edge.

In fluid flow around a body with a sharp

corner, the Kutta condition refers to the
flow pattern in which fluid approaches the
corner from both directions, meets at the
corner, and then flows away from the body.
None of the fluid flows around the sharp
corner.

The Kutta condition is significant when us‐

ing the Kutta–Joukowski theorem to calcu‐
late the lift created by an airfoil with a
sharp trailing edge. The value of circulation
of the flow around the airfoil must be that
value which would cause the Kutta condi‐
tion to exist.

The Kutta condition applied

to airfoils
Applying 2-D potential flow, if an airfoil with
a sharp trailing edge begins to move with
an angle of attack through air, the two
stagnation points are initially located on
the underside near the leading edge and
on the topside near the trailing edge, just
as with the cylinder. As the air passing the
underside of the airfoil reaches the trailing
edge it must flow around the trailing edge
and along the topside of the airfoil toward
the stagnation point on the topside of the
airfoil. Vortex flow occurs at the trailing
edge and, because the radius of the sharp
trailing edge is zero, the speed of the air
around the trailing edge should be infinitely
fast. Though real fluids cannot move at in‐
finite speed, they can move very fast. The
high airspeed around the trailing edge
causes strong viscous forces to act on the
air adjacent to the trailing edge of the air‐
foil and the result is that a strong vortex
accumulates on the topside of the airfoil,
near the trailing edge. As the airfoil begins
to move it carries this vortex, known as the
starting vortex, along with it. Pioneering
aerodynamicists were able to photograph
starting vortices in liquids to confirm their
existence.[2][3][4]
The vorticity in the starting vortex is
matched by the vorticity in the bound vor‐
tex in the airfoil, in accordance with
Kelvin's circulation theorem.[1]:§ 2.14 As the
vorticity in the starting vortex progressively
increases the vorticity in the bound vortex
also progressively increases and causes
the flow over the topside of the airfoil to
increase in speed. The starting vortex is
soon cast off the airfoil and is left behind,
spinning in the air where the airfoil left it.
The stagnation point on the topside of the
airfoil then moves until it reaches the trail‐
ing edge.[1]:§§ 6.2, 6.3 The starting vortex
eventually dissipates due to viscous
forces.

As the airfoil continues on its way, there is

a stagnation point at the trailing edge. The
flow over the topside conforms to the up‐
per surface of the airfoil. The flow over
both the topside and the underside join up
at the trailing edge and leave the airfoil
travelling parallel to one another. This is
known as the Kutta condition.[5]:§ 4.8

When an airfoil is moving with an angle of

attack, the starting vortex has been cast
off and the Kutta condition has become
established, there is a finite circulation of
the air around the airfoil. The airfoil is gen‐
erating lift, and the magnitude of the lift is
given by the Kutta–Joukowski
theorem.[5]:§ 4.5

One of the consequences of the Kutta con‐

dition is that the airflow over the topside of
the airfoil travels much faster than the air‐
flow under the underside. A parcel of air
which approaches the airfoil along the
stagnation streamline is cleaved in two at
the stagnation point, one half traveling
over the topside and the other half travel‐
ing along the underside. The flow over the
topside is so much faster than the flow
along the underside that these two halves
never meet again. They do not even re-join
in the wake long after the airfoil has
passed. This is sometimes known as
"cleavage". There is a popular fallacy
called the equal transit-time fallacy that
claims the two halves rejoin at the trailing
edge of the airfoil. This fallacy is in conflict
with the phenomenon of cleavage that has
been understood since Martin Kutta's
discovery.
Whenever the speed or angle of attack of
an airfoil changes there is a weak starting
vortex which begins to form, either above
or below the trailing edge. This weak start‐
ing vortex causes the Kutta condition to be
re-established for the new speed or angle
of attack. As a result, the circulation
around the airfoil changes and so too
does the lift in response to the changed
speed or angle of attack.[6][5]:§ 4.7-4.9

The Kutta condition gives some insight into

why airfoils usually have sharp trailing
edges, even though this is undesirable
from structural and manufacturing
viewpoints.

In irrotational, inviscid, incompressible flow

(potential flow) over an airfoil, the Kutta
condition can be implemented by calculat‐
ing the stream function over the airfoil
surface.[7] [8]. The same Kutta condition
implementation method is also used for
solving two dimensional subsonic
(subcritical) inviscid steady compressible
flows over isolated airfoils.[9] [10]. The vis‐
cous correction for the Kutta condition can
be found in some of the recent studies.[11]
The Kutta condition in
aerodynamics
The Kutta condition allows an aerodynam‐
icist to incorporate a significant effect of
viscosity while neglecting viscous effects
in the underlying conservation of
momentum equation. It is important in the
practical calculation of lift on a wing.

The equations of conservation of mass

and conservation of momentum applied to
an inviscid fluid flow, such as a potential
flow, around a solid body result in an infin‐
ite number of valid solutions. One way to
choose the correct solution would be to
apply the viscous equations, in the form of
the Navier–Stokes equations. However,
these normally do not result in a closed-
form solution. The Kutta condition is an al‐
ternative method of incorporating some
aspects of viscous effects, while neglect‐
ing others, such as skin friction and some
other boundary layer effects.

The condition can be expressed in a num‐

ber of ways. One is that there cannot be an
infinite change in velocity at the trailing
edge. Although an inviscid fluid can have
abrupt changes in velocity, in reality
viscosity smooths out sharp velocity
changes. If the trailing edge has a non-zero
angle, the flow velocity there must be zero.
At a cusped trailing edge, however, the ve‐
locity can be non-zero although it must still
be identical above and below the airfoil.
Another formulation is that the pressure
must be continuous at the trailing edge.

The Kutta condition does not apply to un‐

steady flow. Experimental observations
show that the stagnation point (one of two
points on the surface of an airfoil where
the flow speed is zero) begins on the top
surface of an airfoil (assuming positive ef‐
fective angle of attack) as flow acceler‐
ates from zero, and moves backwards as
the flow accelerates. Once the initial transi‐
ent effects have died out, the stagnation
point is at the trailing edge as required by
the Kutta condition.

Mathematically, the Kutta condition en‐

forces a specific choice among the infinite
allowed values of circulation.

See also
 Kutta–Joukowski theorem
Horseshoe vortex
Starting vortex

References
L. J. Clancy (1975) Aerodynamics, Pit‐
man Publishing Limited, London. ISBN 0-
273-01120-0
"Flow around an airfoil" at the University
of Geneva
"Kutta condition for lifting flows" by
Praveen Chandrashekar of the National
Aerospace Laboratories of India
Anderson, John (1991). Fundamentals
of Aerodynamics (2nd ed.). Toronto:
McGraw-Hill. pp. 260–263. ISBN 0-07-
001679-8.
A.M. Kuethe and J.D. Schetzer, Founda‐
tions of Aerodynamics, John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. New York (1959) ISBN 0-471-
50952-3
Massey, B.S. Mechanics of Fluids. Sec‐
tion 9.10, 2nd Edition. Van Nostrand Re‐
inhold Co. London (1970) Library of Con‐
gress Catalog Card No. 67-25005
C. Xu, "Kutta condition for sharp edge
flows", Mechanics Research Communic‐
 ations 25(4):415-420 (1998).
E.L. Houghton and P.W. Carpenter, Aero‐
dynamics for Engineering Students, 5th
edition, pp. 160-162, Butterworth-
Heinemann, An imprint of Elsevier
Science, Jordan Hill, Oxford (2003)
ISBN 0-7506-5111-3

Notes E…

1. A.M. Kuethe and J.D. Schetzer (1959)

Foundations of Aerodynamics, 2nd
edition, John Wiley & Sons ISBN 0-
471-50952-3
2. Millikan, Clark B. (1941) Aerodynam‐
ics of the Airplane, Figure 1.55, John
Wiley & Sons
3. Prandtl, L., and Tietjens, O.G. (1934)
Applied Hydro- and Aero-mechanics,
Figures 42-55, McGraw-Hill
4. Massey, B.S. Mechanics of Fluids. Fig
9.33, 2nd Edition
5. Clancy, L.J. Aerodynamics, Sections
4.5 and 4.8
6. "This starting vortex formation oc‐
curs not only when a wing is first set
into motion, but also when the circu‐
lation around the wing is sub‐
sequently changed for any reason
whatever." Millikan, Clark B. (1941),
Aerodynamics of the Airplane, p.65,
John Wiley & Sons, New York
7. Farzad Mohebbi and Mathieu Sellier
(2014) "On the Kutta Condition in Po‐
tential Flow over Airfoil", Journal of
Aerodynamics
doi:10.1155/2014/676912
8. Farzad Mohebbi (2018) "FOILincom:
A fast and robust program for solving
two dimensional inviscid steady in‐
compressible flows (potential flows)
over isolated airfoils",
doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.21727.15524
9. Farzad Mohebbi (2018) "FOILcom: A
fast and robust program for solving
two dimensional subsonic
(subcritical) inviscid steady com‐
pressible flows over isolated airfoils",
doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.36459.64801/1
 10. Farzad Mohebbi (2019) "On the Kutta
Condition in Compressible Flow over
Isolated Airfoils", Fluids
doi:10.3390/fluids4020102
11. C. Xu (1998) "Kutta condition for
sharp edge flows", Mechanics Re‐
search Communications
doi:10.1016/s0093-6413(98)00054-
8

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