Question

Purpose of camber in an airfoil is ____________

(a) to increase maximum drag

(b) to increase maximum lift

(c) to decrease maximum lift

(d) to decrease maximum drag

The question was posed to me by my college director while I was bunking the class.

This intriguing question comes from Airfoil Nomenclature topic in chapter Incompressible Flow over Airfoils of Aerodynamics

Answer 1

Right option is (b) to increase maximum lift

The explanation: The main purpose of camber is to increase the maximum lift in an airfoil. The maximum lift coefficient can get by increasing the camber in an airfoil. Some recent design use negative camber. That airfoil is called the supercritical airfoil. This type of airfoil is used in the supersonic flight and to produce a higher lift to drag ratio.