Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Surname : Mbau
Student number : 749389
Title : Wind tunnel lab
Course name : Mechanical engineering labs 2
Due Date : 27 April 2015
DECLARATION
I, Lufuno, Mbau, (749389) am registered for Course No. MECN 3007, (Mechanical
Engineering Laboratory 2) in the year 2015.
I herewith submit the following task, Wind Tunnel Testing, Formal Report in partial
fulfillment of the requirements of the above course.
I am aware that plagiarism (the use of someone elses work without their
permission
and/or without acknowledging the original source) is wrong;
I confirm that the work submitted herewith for assessment in the above course is my
own unaided work except where I have explicitly indicated otherwise;
This task has not been submitted before, either individually or jointly, for any course
requirement, examination or degree at this or any other tertiary educational institution;
I understand that the University of the Witwatersrand may take disciplinary action
against me if it can be shown that this task is not my own unaided work or that I have
failed to acknowledge the source of the ideas or words in my writing in this task.
i
ABSTRACT
The objectives for this experiment were to measure the coefficient of lift for two different angles of attack
for a symmetrical aerofoil (NACA0012). Observe flow streamlines around an aerofoil with zero lift.
Compare experimental dimensionless coefficients to the theoretical drag, lift and pitching moment
coefficients. Coefficient of pressure was calculated to deduce the coefficients of pitching moment and lift.
A low speed draw down wind tunnel was used and the pressure measurements were obtained using a
multi-tube manometer. Pressure readings were collected from six tapings along the upper and lower
surfaces chordwise respectively. It was found that the relationship between the coefficient of lift and
angle of attack is linear for certain angles of attack from experimental data that corresponds to theoretical
data. At an angle of attack of zero: the aerofoil generates a small lift coefficient. It was observed using
strings attached to a rod that circular motion of the string formed at the trailing edge which validates in
theory that a vortex exists at the trailing edge of an object generating lift.
ii
CONTENTS
DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................................... i
ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................................. ii
LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................................... v
LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................................... vi
1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background......................................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Motivation .......................................................................................................................................... 1
1.3 Literature survey ................................................................................................................................. 1
1.3.1 Applications of the wind tunnel ................................................................................................... 1
1.3.2 Flow similarities........................................................................................................................... 1
1.3.3 Theoretical background................................................................................................................ 1
1.3.4 NACA 0012 symmetrical airfoil .................................................................................................. 2
1.3.5 Dimensionless coefficients [7] ..................................................................................................... 2
1.4 Objectives ........................................................................................................................................... 3
2 INVESTIGATIONAL METHOD ............................................................................................................. 3
2.1 Apparatus ............................................................................................................................................ 3
2.1.1 Wind tunnel .................................................................................................................................. 3
2.1.2 Instrumentation ............................................................................................................................ 3
2.2 Precautions.......................................................................................................................................... 3
2.3 Procedure ............................................................................................................................................ 4
2.3.1 Experimental procedure ............................................................................................................... 4
2.3.2 Flow visualization ........................................................................................................................ 4
3 OBSERVATIONS AND RESULTS ......................................................................................................... 4
3.1 Observations ....................................................................................................................................... 4
3.1.1 Flow field observations ................................................................................................................ 4
3.2 Data processing................................................................................................................................... 4
3.2.1 Calculations.................................................................................................................................. 4
3.3 Error Analysis ..................................................................................................................................... 5
3.4 RESULTS ........................................................................................................................................... 5
3.4.1 Graphical representation of experimental results ......................................................................... 5
4 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................................ 5
4.1 Experimental and theoretical data ...................................................................................................... 5
4.2 Flow visualization............................................................................................................................... 6
5 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................................... 6
iii
6 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 6
7 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................................... 7
8 RISK ASSESSMENT ................................................................................................................................ 9
iv
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 [6]: Cl vs angle of attack graph for a symmetrical aerofoil ............................................................ 2
Figure 2: graph of coefficient of lift vs angle of attack................................................................................. 5
Figure 3: pressure distributions around a symmetrical aerofoil [7] .............................................................. 7
v
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: raw data for the two angles of attack .............................................................................................. 7
Table 2: processed data table with Cl for each data point............................................................................. 8
vi
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
It is of importance for aeronautical engineers to study external flows which leads to visualization of the
airflow around various models of an aircraft. The development of wind tunnels have addressed the
difficulty in determining the external flow field and pressure distribution over a surface of a body [1].
Wind tunnel is a research tool used in predicting the behavior of airflow around a model in real world.
Wind tunnels function in the principle that a stationery prototype with air moving around it behaves as
a full scale model moving through air [2]. With the suitable instrumentation, forces around a model
such as drag and lift can be determined under controlled conditions and scaled up by a factor of a known
model under investigation to obtain the measured parameters of a full scale model.
1.2 Motivation
Wind tunnel is the low cost alternative tool used for predicting flow fields and their behavior around
various structures and aircraft components. This is achieved using small scale model with the same flow
similarities with the prototype and scaling the up using a known factor to reflect the real flow around
the full size model.
Thus optimization in the design of aircrafts is possible since these cuts the expenditure in the actual
flight testing. A qualitative flow field model can be describe the flow field around the prototype.
1.3 Literature survey
1.3.1 Applications of the wind tunnel
Wind tunnel is used as a tool in solving various engineering problems involving the flow around a
certain model through determining the pressure distribution around it. The diverse applications of the
wind tunnel range from investigation of the drag and lift forces around aircraft and automobiles [3].
Other disciplines which substantially employ the wind tunnel include civil engineering in researching
towards wind effects on buildings and bridges [3].
1.3.2 Flow similarities
Geometrical similarities exist if the prototype and the model have similar streamline patterns of the flow
field [4]. According to [4], flow around a body of geometrical similarity at the same Reynolds and Mach
number are dynamically similar. This implying that dimensionless coefficients such as lift, drag and
pitching moment coefficients are similar for the two bodies [4]. Through these principles, a small sized
model can be used to visualize flow around a full sized model through scaling it by a known factor of
similarities.
1.3.3 Theoretical background
Aerodynamic forces, moments and dimensionless testing parameters are described as follows
Drag [5]: This force is exerted by the flow on the body in the direction of the flow and largely
depends on the geometry of the body exposed to the flow and the velocity of the body.
1
Lift [5]: Lift force acts normal to the direction of the flow and depends on the surface area
exposed and the velocity of a body
Weight [5]: the force pulling towards the center of the earth that induced by the position of a
mass relative to the center of the earth.
Pitching Moment [5]: The moment generated by the imbalance in pressure distribution over the
chord of a wing.
1.3.4 NACA 0012 symmetrical airfoil
The standard curves of dimensionless coeffients for aerofoils vary with the geometry of the prototype.
The figure below shows an example of a dimensionless coefficient graph for NACA 0012 aerofoil(refer
to figure 3 in appendix 1 for NACA0012 aerofoil). It is evident from the graph that a symmetrical
aerofoil does not generate lift at an angle of attack of zero.
Drag coefficient:
= 1 (2)
2 2
Pressure coefficient:
= 1 2 (4)
2
2
If a pressure distribution over a surface is known, the lift coefficient can be deduced using the following
equation:
= [ ]
(5)
Coefficient of pitching moment along the chord of a wing can be found using the following equation:
= [ ] () (6)
Where L is the lift force in (N), D is the drag force in (N), P is the local pressure in (pa), is the far
field pressure in (pa), U is the uniform stream velocity, c is the chord length in (m), TE is the trailing
edge and LE is the leading edge of the wing. Refer to measured data and other calculated properties
such as the air density to appendix 3.
1.4 Objectives
1. Measure the pressure distribution from pressure tappings along an aerofoil.
2. Deduce the pressure and lift coefficients for a finite width aerofoil section from the measured
pressure distribution at a certain angle of attack
3. Compare the dimensionless coefficient obtained from the experiment to the theoretical
coefficients
4. Observation of flow around an aerofoil generating aerodynamic lift in 2d neglecting the effects
in the third dimension i.e. that is the spanwise dimension
2 INVESTIGATIONAL METHOD
2.1 Apparatus
2.1.1 Wind tunnel
The type of wind tunnel that is employed is a low speed draw down wind tunnel operating within
subsonic speed regime. Air is the working fluid circulated by a fan and fed into the test section.
1. Test model: a symmetrical NACA0012 aerofoil with a wing span of and a chord length of
300m. The aerofoil has six pressure tappings at 20, 45, 75,120,180 and 240 mm from the
leading edge on the top and bottom surfaces of the aerofoil respectively.
2. Support structure: a support for the test model with adjustable angle of attack which were
controlled manually by the operator
2.1.2 Instrumentation
The following instruments were used to measure the experimental data:
1. Pitot tube to measure the dynamic pressure and the operating velocity of the experiment
2. Multi-tube manometer connected pressure tapings on both the top and bottom surfaces of the
aerofoil
3. Thermometer to measure the temperature of the air in the wind tunnel.
2.2 Precautions
1. Wait for a few minutes after switching on the wind tunnel before taking total and static
pressures to ensure a precise measurement.
3
2. The pitot tube must be positioned parallel to the incoming flow. This is to ensure a precise
measuring by the pitot tube.
3. Once the uniform flow is achieved, ensure that the front of the air drawing section of the wind
tunnel is obstacle free. This to avoid fluctuating velocities of the wind tunnel.
4. Allow to manometer to stabilize once the angle of attack has been altered to ensure accurate
manometer readings
2.3 Procedure
2.3.1 Experimental procedure
1. Measure and record the relative humidity of the air
2. Measure and record the ambient temperature using a thermometer
3. Place the test model into the wind tunnel
4. Secure the test model on the support structure to an angle of attack of 0 from the leading edge
to the parallel flow
5. Switch on the motor and set the air flow speed
6. Once speed set allow the wind tunnel to idle for a few minutes to establish uniform flow
7. Place the pitot into the test section parallel to the incoming flow and measure the static and total
pressure from the manometer to determine the dynamic pressure
8. Remove the pitot tube from the test section and wait for a few seconds for uniform flow to be
reestablished
9. For the first angle of attack:
9.1 Measure and record the pressure readings from the corresponding manometer for each pressure
tapping on the lower and upper surface of the aerofoil respectively
10. Change the angle of attack and repeat step 9.1
2.3.2 Flow visualization
Pieces of strings are attached to the test model to visualize the flow around it. These reflect the
streamlines in external flows.
3 OBSERVATIONS AND RESULTS
3.1 Observations
3.1.1 Flow field observations
Streamlines tend to behave differently in different angles of attack, the following was observed:
The streamlines (strings) tend to move in towards the viewer in the spanwise direction when the angle
of attack is changed. The streamlines are closely spaced in the direction of the angle of attack.
3.2 Data processing
3.2.1 Calculations
The following calculations were carried out for a single data point i.e. for the first angle of attack which
is zero using raw data in appendix 3 and the rest was completed using the same calculations.
4
Pressure coefficient calculation
From (4) the pressure coefficient is calculated:
1 1 7 7
1 =
(
)+ .+
(
)=1.3
The pressure at point 7 was assumed to be the pressure acting at pressure tapping 6
Coefficient of lift calculation
From (5) the lift coefficient is calculated:
1 1 1 7 7 6 8.26.7 20 8.68.7 300240
1 =
()+ +
( ) = 2.6
(300) + + 2.6
( 300 ) =0.117
CL VS ANGL E O F AT TACK
cl_experimental cl_Theoretical
1.4
1.2
COEFFICIENT OF LIFT
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
-0.2
ANGLE OF ATTACK
5
horizontal axis at a value much closer to zero. From figure 2 at an angle of attack of zero, the
experimental line will intersect the vertical axis at a slightly negative coefficient of lift.
4.2 Flow visualization
The strings attached to the aerofoil which reflect streamlines were closely spaced around the aerofoil at
an angle of attack of zero implying that there was a small coefficient of lift. An increase in the angle of
attack resulted in a circular motion at the trailing egde, this implying the existence of a vortex due to
separation from theory. Change in the angle of attack also displaced strings in the spanwise direction
due to the walls that are close to the aerofoil.
5 CONCLUSION
The relationship between coefficient of lift and angle of attack is linear at certain angles of
attack
The lift coefficient increases as a result of increase in the angle of attack
Theoretical data does not fully correspond to experimental data, the reason being that
experimental data neglects turbulence and the effects of boundary layer
Streamlines display the expected pattern around the aerofoil and vortices were also induced as
a result of a change in angle of attack
6 REFERENCES
6
7 APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1: Symmetrical aerofoil characteristics
2 1 2
= ( 2 ) 2 + ( ) 2
2 1 2
= ( 2 ) 52 + ( ) 52
5 1
= 2
2
Lift coefficient
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
= ( ) + ( ) + ( ) + ( )
2 2 2 2 ( ) 2 2
2 2
= ( ) + ( ) + ( ) + ( )
2
APPENDIX 3: experimental
RAW DATA
Table 1: raw data for the two angles of attack
1st data point
point Lower surface(mbar) Upper surface(mbar)
1 8.2 6.7
2 7.4 6.7
3 7.8 6.9
4 7.6 7.5
5 8.6 8.2
6 8.6 8.7
7
7 8.6 8.7
2nd data point
1 11.8 1.4
2 10.2 3.1
3 9.8 4.6
4 9.2 5.7
5 9.6 7.2
6 8.8 8
7 8.8 8
PROCESSED DATA
8
8 RISK ASSESSMENT
The table below will assist you in identifying hazards when completing the section entitled These Hazard Exist
A Could people be injured or made sick by things such B What could go wrong?
as:
E Imagine that a child was to enter your work area F What are the special hazards?
9
Of what, would you warn them to be extra careful? What occurs only occasionally - e.g. during maintenance and
What would do to reduce the harm to them? other irregular work?
Major Equipment:
Autoclave Y Fume hood N Vacuum Y Compressed air Y Trolleys/mechanical Y
aids
Major sports N Bio-safety Y
equipment cabinet
Minor Equipment:
Materials:
Waste Generated:
10
First Aid Y CPR training Y Safety Signs Y MSDS N Fire Extinguisher Y
training
Evacuation Y Spill kit N Australian N Personal Protective Y
procedures Standards Equipment
Emergency contact numbers could be needed for (List extension numbers below)
Security -71-74444
First aiders - 71-72222
Floor Warden -
Emergency phone numbers are posted where? Yes
Risk Score:
ASSESSMENT OF RISK
Score and Action
CONSEQUENCES: statement
How severely it hurts someone (if it happens)?
4 ACT NOW Urgent -
Insignificant Minor (first Moderate Major Catastrophic A: Acute do something about
LIKELIHOOD
(no injuries) aid treatment (medical (extensive (death; toxic the risks
How likely is it to only; spillage treatment; injuries; loss of release of
happen? immediately.
contained at spillage production) chemicals)
Requires immediate
site) contained but
with outside attention.
help) 3 Senior management
Almost certain - 3 3 4 4 4 H: High decision is required
expected in most High High Acute Acute Acute urgently.
circumstances 2 Follow management
Likely will 2 3 3 4 4 M: instructions e.g.
probably occur in Moderate High High Acute Acute policy/guidelines.
Moderate
most
circumstances 1 OK for now. Record
Possible might 1 2 3 4 4 L: Low and review if any
occur at some time Low Moderate High Acute Acute equipment/ people/
Unlikely could 1 1 2 3 4 materials/ work
occur at some time Low Low Moderate High Acute processes or
Rare - may occur, 1 1 2 3 3 procedures change.
only in exceptional Low Low Moderate High High
circumstances
1. To use the matrix, first find the CONSEQUENCES column that best describes the risk. Then follow the Note:
LIKELIHOOD row to find the description that best suits the likelihood that the consequence will occur.
The risk level is given in the box where the row and column meet. ACUTE or HIGH Risk must be reported to
2. When considering the likelihood of injury or disease, the number of people exposed, the extent of the the Schools Senior Management (HOS
exposure to the hazard and the likelihood that exposure will result in harm, all to be taken into account. and/or Dean) and require detailed treatment
3. The estimate of likelihood will also depend on the effectiveness of the control in place. It is important plans to reduce the risk, where possible, to
to indicate what assumptions are being made about the controls in place. MODERATE or LOW.
11
Risk Control
Emphasis is on controlling hazard at source. For instance, for those risks that are assessed as High, steps should
be taken immediately to minimise risk of injury. Use the hierarchy of controls as listed below to determine the
type of control measures that should be implemented:
Now that you have identified the hazards and using the information above, complete the following Risk
Assessment Form. Once the risk assessment has been completed, copies should be provided to:
Copies:
12
RISK ASSESSMENT RISK CONTROL
HAZARD
IDENTIFICATION
No. What harm can Risk List any control measures Describe what can be Whom
happen to people or Score* already implemented done reduce the harm? Responsible
(See Matrix) (see Risk Controls )
equipment?
(See page 3 for list of possible hazards)
The building can start 4 There are fire extinguishers Flammable gases should be Lab
burning There are fire emergency kept at safe places demonstrator
procedures to follow
1.
The pitot tube tip could 3 No measures People could be warned of Lab
gouge ones eye if not such possibilities before demonstrator
2. carefully handled using the pitot tube
Contact with hazardous 4 The manometer is fixed, and The manometer should be at Lab
mercury that could leak this reduces the contact that an isolated place. Readings demonstrator
3. from the manometer people could make when should be obtained digitally
taking readings