EXPERIMENT - 2

MEASUREMENT OF LIFT AND DRAG OF AN AEROFOIL AT

DIFFERENT ANGLES OF ATTACK
OBJECTIVE

to investigate the effect of lift and drag on an airfoil.

to investigate how the angle of attack changes the amount of lift the airfoil experiences.

To determine the lift and drag coefficient.

Method
By measuring lift and drag force

Equipment Required
C15-10 Wind Tunnel with IFD7, PC running C15-304 software, C15-20 Lift and Drag Aerofoil, C15-11
Inclined Manometer Bank or C15-12 Electronic Manometer Bank

Theory
velocity in the working section is calculated from

Lift is the component of force on an aerofoil that acts ‘upwards’. In a three-dimensional situation, lift
must be defined carefully. It is usually defined as acting perpendicularly to the span and chord of the
aerofoil if the chord is taken as a straight line from the nose to the trailing edge, with a positive value
when the force acts in the direction of the upper surface. Lift may have components in any direction
relative to a fixed ground, depending on the orientation of the aerofoil and the direction of the airflow.
Negative values of lift may be possible depending on the angle of attack.

When using the C15-20 the span of the wing is fixed parallel to the floor of the working section, and the
lift is assumed to act perpendicularly to the span with no lateral component towards the tunnel side
walls. The lift therefore acts directly upwards when the aerofoil is at a zero angle of attack, and acts at
an angle to the vertical equal to the angle of attack of the aerofoil.

Drag is the component of the force on an aerofoil that acts along the direction of the airflow, and in the
same direction (For an aircraft in level flight, drag acts in the opposite direction to the direction of flight).
Drag resists the movement of the aerofoil through the airstream. Drag is always a positive value or zero
(in non-theoretical situations, drag will only be zero if the air velocity is also zero).

Drag is a combination of the effects of friction on the surface of the aerofoil (form drag) and the
component of lift acting in the drag direction (induced drag). For any given aerofoil and Reynolds
number, a drag coefficient may be found which may then be used to predict the drag for that aerofoil at
any other Reynolds number.

CD = CDO + CDL
where CDO is the form drag coefficient, and CDL is the induced drag coefficient. CDL may be considered as a

function of the coefficient of lift, CL (see Lift, later in this section): L

The drag may be defined as

where D = total drag,

ρ = density of air, V = velocity of air flow over aerofoil, and S = a characteristic dimension, usually the
wing area = plan area of one surface of the wing= chord x span for the C15-10

When the contribution of lift to drag is zero (k = 0), the value of C DO may be calculated directly from the
measured value of D using the lift and drag balance.
The combined effect of form drag and induced drag give a characteristic shape to a graph of total drag
against velocity:

Variation of total drag with air velocity

This curve shows that as velocity increases, drag initially falls, then reaches a minimum, then rises again.
This minimum drag velocity is an important characteristic in aerodynamics as it indicates the most
efficient velocity for the body (e.g. the aerofoil, wing or aircraft). This is independent of any factors due
to propulsion.

Lift and drag characteristics of an aerofoil

The lift and drag produced or experienced by an aerofoil varies with the air velocity and with the angle
of attack.
 Lift against α for symmetrical aerofoil

For a given angle of attack, an increase in air speed will tend to increase the magnitude of both lift and
drag until the air speed is sufficiently high that compression effects become noticeable (i.e. close to
supersonic speeds- the C15-10 is designed so that air speed can never reach this point). For a given air
speed, the relationship between lift, and angle of attack is more complex, as illustrated above :

The lift generated increases until a critical angle or stall angle is reached. The lift then falls sharply until it
begins to stabilize again at an even greater angle of attack; at this point the drag will be very significant.

Lift: For a given aerofoil and Reynolds number, a lift coefficient may be found which may then be used
to predict the lift for that aerofoil at any other Reynolds number.

where L=lift, ρ = density of fluid,

V = velocity of air flow over aerofoil, and S = a characteristic dimension The characteristic
dimension is taken as the chord, where the model under test is an aerofoil occupying the full width
of the working section.

The lift and drag balance measure the vertical lift component (the lift acting perpendicular to the tunnel
floor). This may not be the total lift, as illustrated below:

Using geometry, the total lift, L, may be calculated as

Where l is the vertical lift component measured by the lift and drag balance, and α is the angle
of attack The lift coefficient, CL, is then calculated as
It may be seen that when α= 0, l = L, and thus the total lift on a symmetrical aerofoil at zero angle of
attack will be the lift measured using the lift and drag balance. (N.B. this differs for an asymmetric
aerofoil, which may generate a positive value of lift at zero angle of attack). The component of drag due
to lift may be calculated as ltanα. Now

ltanα = ½ρV²S(kCL²)
It is therefore possible to find kCL² for any given velocity and angle of attack, and thus to find the value of
k.

Equipment Set Up
The lift and drag aerofoil should be fitted to the lift and drag balance, and the balance should then be
fitted into the large circular hatch. The small hatch should be fitted with the plain hatch cover. The cable
from the lift and drag balance should be connected to the socket on the front of the IFD7.

Ensure that the floor is fitted. Check the surroundings to see that there is no obstruction at the inlet or
outlet of the tunnel and that there are no loose objects nearby which could cause a hazard.

The single tube from the pressure tapping on working section side wall (near the inlet) should be
connected to the 1way quick-release fitting on the black box fitted to the tunnel frame. Connect the
cable from the lift and drag balance to the front of the IFD7.

Check that the IFD7 is connected to a suitable mains electrical supply and to the USB socket of a suitable
PC. The PC should be switched on and the appropriate software version run (C15-11 version or C15-12
version depending on the manometer used). Select ‘Exercise G’ and ensure that ‘IFD: OK’ is displayed in
the bottom right-hand corner. Switch on the IFD7 using the mains switch on the front.

Procedure

1. Check that the fan is set to 0%, then switch it out of standby mode by selecting the ‘Fan On’ button
on the mimic diagram. Check that the manometer readings are all the same at zero velocity.
2. Measure the ambient temperature in Celsius and pressure of the laboratory in Pascals and enter the
results in the appropriate boxes on the mimic diagram.
3. In the software, select the ‘Zero’ button beside the ‘Lift’ data display box. This sets the datum point
for zero lift (no air velocity).
4. Gradually set the fan to 20% in 1% increments by using the up arrows. This allows the fan to start up
gradually.
5. Check that all fittings on the tunnel remain secure and that there is no safety hazard due to the inlet
and outlet air streams. Be aware of the surroundings when operating the wind tunnel, keeping
safety in mind at all times. Allow time for the fan to stabilize at 20%.
6. Check the wing to see that it is in proper alignment: Adjust the angle of attack of the wing while
observing the head reading for the first tapping (head reading 1, at the nose). The greatest head
should be obtained when the zero reading on the scale is aligned with the central marker on the
tunnel wall. If this is not in exact alignment then you will need to allow for the slight offset when
setting the angle of attack.

A. Conduct an initial investigation of the variation of lift and drag with velocity
at zero angle of attack:
Set the wing to 0° angle of attack and check that ‘0°’ is displayed in the ‘Angle of Attack’ box on the
mimic diagram. Log the sensor readings by selecting the "GO" icon. Increase the fan setting to 30%.
Select the “GO" icon again. Repeat at 40%, 50%, etc. up to 100%, logging the data each time with the
“GO” icon.

B. Investigate the effect of changing angle of attack:

Set the fan back to 20%. Create a new results table using the icon. Log the sensor readings by
selecting the “GO” icon. Adjust the wing to set it at an angle of +2° from the zero point (i.e. rotated with
the nose raised and the tail lowered). Check for ‘2°’ in the ‘Angle of Attack’ box. Select the “GO"icon
again.

Repeat at wing angles of +4°, +6°, and then at +7°, +8°, +9° and so on until +16°, using the “GO” icon to
save each set of data. Take further readings at +18°, +20° etc. up to +30°. Note that at high angles of
attack the wing will form a significant obstruction in the working section. This slightly increases the air
speed for a given fan setting. The effect of this on the results obtained is small, but for accuracy it is
possible to adjust the fan speed slightly to match the air velocities obtained for lower angles of attack.

Repeat the investigation of angle of attack as before for fan speeds of 50% and 100%, using a new
results sheet for each set of results. If time permits, the exercise may be repeated for negative angles
of attack (-2°, -4° etc).

Gradually shut down the fan: Type in a value of 50% for the fan setting. When the fan has slowed, type
in a value of 20%. Once the fan has slowed again, reduce the fan speed to 0% by using the arrow keys.

Set the fan to Standby by selecting the ‘Fan On button in the software.

Save the software results by selecting ‘Save As…’ from the File menu. Give the results a suitable name
for future reference, such as the equipment code, experiment letter and date. Switch off the mains
switch on the IFD7.
 Results
Ambient
Fan Rotation Lift Drag Static Density Air
Temperature
Speed Force Force Pressure of Velocity
r L D H Air v
T
[%] [°] [N] [N] [mm] [kg/m³] [m/s]
[°C]
0 0.0 0.00 0.00 -0.1 18.0 1.211 0.0
10 0.0 0.00 0.00 -0.1 18.0 1.211 0.0
20 0.0 0.00 0.00 1.6 18.0 1.211 5.1
30 0.0 0.00 0.00 3.9 18.0 1.211 8.0
40 0.0 0.01 0.00 7.4 18.0 1.211 11.0
50 0.0 0.01 0.00 11.3 18.0 1.211 13.5
60 0.0 0.07 0.00 16.1 18.0 1.211 16.2
70 0.0 0.01 0.00 20.8 18.0 1.211 18.4
80 0.0 -0.02 0.00 27.7 18.0 1.211 21.2
90 0.0 -0.03 0.00 36.8 18.0 1.211 24.4
100 0.0 -0.05 0.00 46.7 18.0 1.211 27.5

Reynolds
Number
CL CD CD0 CDL k 1/2 Rhp V² S
Re
[-]

0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.30 1.004986839
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.50116033
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.36 4.745420567
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.31 7.214106828
0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 10.28126248
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.67 13.27360947
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.45 17.68732127
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.42 23.44758921
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.31 29.80632654
 at zero angle of attack with varying velocity

Lift
Force
L
[N]
Air
Velocity
v
[m/s]
CL

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Fan Speed

CD, CDO, and CDL

against velocity
1
0.9
0.8
0.7 CD
0.6 CD0
Air Velocity

CDL
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
 with varying angle of attack at constant velocity
0.03
0.02
0.02
0.01
CL
CL

0.01
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
-0.01
-0.01
-0.02
Angle of Attack

graph of k against angle of attack at 95 fan speed

120
100
80
60
40
k
k

20
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
-20
-40
-60
Angle of Attack
graph of k against angle of attack 0 and different fan speed
0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 k
K

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8
Angle Attack