XFOIL

{{Short description|Interactive program for design and analysis of airfoils}} {{Infobox software | name = | title = | logo =  | logo caption = | logo_size = | logo_alt = | screenshot =  | caption = | screenshot_size = | screenshot_alt = | collapsible = | author = | developer = | released =  | discontinued = | latest release version = | latest release date =  | latest preview version = | latest preview date =  | status = | programming language = Fortran | operating system = | platform = | size = | language = | language count =  | language footnote = | genre = | license = GPL | website = {{URL|http://web.mit.edu/drela/Public/web/xfoil}} }}

'''XFOIL''' is an interactive program for the design and analysis of subsonic isolated airfoils. Given the coordinates specifying the shape of a 2D airfoil, Reynolds and Mach numbers, XFOIL can calculate the pressure distribution on the airfoil and hence lift and drag characteristics. The program also allows ''inverse design'' - it will vary an airfoil shape to achieve the desired parameters. It is released under the GNU GPL.

==History==

XFOIL was first developed by Mark Drela at MIT as a design tool for the MIT Daedalus project in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/news/magazine/aeroastro-no3/2006drela.html |title = MIT Aero-Astro Magazine - Mark Drela Profile}}</ref> It was further developed in collaboration with Harold Youngren. The current version is 6.99, released in December 2013. Despite its age, it is still widely used.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aoe.vt.edu/~mason/Mason_f/MRsoft.html |title=Aerodynamics and Aircraft Design Software |access-date=August 3, 2010 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608184358/http://www.aoe.vt.edu/~mason/Mason_f/MRsoft.html |archive-date=June 8, 2010 }}</ref>

XFOIL is written in FORTRAN.

== Similar software == * ''Xfoil for matlab'' is a port of the original XFOIL code to MATLAB.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-06 |title=Xfoil for matlab |url=https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/50070-xfoil-for-matlab |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=www.mathworks.com |language=en}}</ref> * ''mfoil'' is a MATLAB script that uses almost the same physical models as XFOIL, but it is not based on XFOIL. It is also available as a Python script.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fidkowski |first=Krzysztof |title=mfoil: Matlab (and Python) airfoil analysis code similar to XFOIL |url=http://www-personal.umich.edu/~kfid/codes.html#mfoil |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=www-personal.umich.edu}}</ref> * ''Vibefoil'' is a numerically faithful port of XFOIL to Javascript, which runs in the web browser. <ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-01-05 |title=Vibefoil |url=https://www.vibefoil.com |access-date=2026-01-05 |website=www.vibefoil.com |language=en}}</ref> * ''JavaFoil'' is an independent airfoil analysis software written in Java.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.mh-aerotools.de/airfoils/javafoil.htm | title=JavaFoil }}</ref> * ''XFLR5'' is an analysis tool for airfoils, wings and planes operating at low Reynolds Numbers, that has implemented XFOIL's Direct and Inverse analysis capabilities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=XFLR5 |url=http://www.xflr5.tech/xflr5.htm |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=www.xflr5.tech}}</ref> * QBlade implements XFOIL via XFLR5 for use in wind turbine design. * OpenVSP is a parametric aircraft geometry and aerodynamic analysis tool supported by NASA.

==References== <references/>

==External links== * [http://web.mit.edu/drela/Public/web/xfoil/ The XFOIL home page] * [http://www.xflr5.tech/xflr5.htm XFLR5] * [https://github.com/nikhil-sethi/xflrpy xflrpy] (XFLR5 fork with a Python binding)

Category:Free computer-aided design software Category:Free software programmed in Fortran Category:Computer-aided engineering software for Linux Category:Software using the GNU General Public License