Abstract
The effect of camber on the aerodynamic characteristics of an infinitely thin aerofoil approaching the ground is studied using a numerical model that accounts for the unsteady nature of the flow. The wake is computed as a part of the solution and the image technique is used to account for ground effects. The results indicate that relative deviations of lift and moment coefficients, from corresponding values far from ground, decrease as the camber ratio or angle of attack increases. Moving the location of maximum camber backward has a similar effect. Meanlines of NACA 4-digit series showed smaller deviations compared to NACA 6-digit series meanlines. Increasing camber ratio or moving maximum camber backward causes the wake trajectory to be lower. The steady ground-effect approach is inaccurate and may give erroneous results for plates with high camber ratios at small angles of attack, especially near the ground.