Lab 03: FORCE MEASUREMENT IN A SUBSONIC WIND TUNNEL

1. OBJECTIVES:
The primary objective of this experiment is to familiarize the student with operation of a
strain gage force and moment balance. This will be accomplished by using aerodynamic
balance of this type to make force measurements on a symmetrical wing "NACA0012 airfoil".

2. WIND TUNNEL DESCRIPTION:

The Wind Tunnel shown in Figure 1 is of the closed working section, open return suction
type. Air enters the tunnel through an aerodynamically designed effuser (cone) that
accelerates the air in a linear manner. It then passes through a honeycomb flow straightener
and enters the working section, then passing through a grille before moving through a diffuser
and then to the variable speed axial fan.

Figure 1: Subsonic Wind tunnel

The grille protects the fan from damage by loose objects. The air leaves the fan, passes
through a silencer unit and then back out to atmosphere. The speed of the axial fan (and
therefore the air velocity in the working section) is controlled by an electronic drive control in
the separate Control and Instrumentation unit. The Control and Instrumentation unit houses
facilities for many of the optional ancilaries.
The working section is of a square section with acrylic roof and floor. The sides are
removable full length acrylic panels. The whole unit is supported in an aluminium framework.
Each side panel has a special holder to support the optional wind tunnel models. On the top of
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 Lab 03: FORCE MEASUREMENT IN A SUBSONIC WIND TUNNEL

the working section are holes for the two Pitot probes and two wall tappings to measure the
static pressure upstream and downstream of the working section.

3. EXPERIMENTAL NACA0012 AEROFOIL

The Aerofoil Model used in this experiment (see Figure 2) is a symmetrical NACA0012
section aerofoil of 300 mm span and 150 mm chord. When fitted inside the working section
of a wind tunnel, the angle of incidence of the aerofoil can be adjusted and the aerodynamic
forces can be measured. The lift, drag and moment tappings are connected to a strain gages.
The airfoil extends from one side wall of the wind tunnel to the other.

Figure 2: The Main Parts of the Aerofoil Model

Figure 3: Set the Trailing Edge to the Same Height as the Centre Line
Rotate the model so that the leading edge faces into the air flow (towards the inlet of the wind
tunnel). Rotate the model so that the trailing edge is at the same height as the centre line of the
model, this is nominally 181.1 mm from the bottom of the work section (see Figures 3).
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 Lab 03: FORCE MEASUREMENT IN A SUBSONIC WIND TUNNEL

4. MEASURING DEVICES:
The force-measuring device to be used in these experiments is the aerodynamic balance
“strain gage balance” shown in Figure 4. This balance measures:

§ Drag Force (Newtons)

§ Lift Force (Newtons)
§ Pitching Moment (Newtons metres)

Figure 4: Installation of aerodynamic balance

 Lab 03: FORCE MEASUREMENT IN A SUBSONIC WIND TUNNEL

5. THEORY:

5.1 Notations:

5.2 Air Density:

We can find the density of the air in the wind tunnel from a ratio of the ambient pressure, the
gas constant and the ambient temperature:

5.3 Wing Area S:

This is simply the plan view of the aerofoil, which is the product of the chord and the span. In
our case S=0.05m2.

 Lab 03: FORCE MEASUREMENT IN A SUBSONIC WIND TUNNEL

5.4 Coefficient of Lift CL:

It is obvious that a larger wing may give more actual or basic lift than a smaller wing of the
same design, so to compare wings of different size, you must allow for the different scales.
Engineers do this by using a non-dimensional value termed the lift coefficient CL

The equation shows that you can use the coefficient of lift with the air and aerofoil properties
to calculate basic lift.

5.5 Drag and Coefficient:

The drag value (sometimes called air resistance) on a model is simply the force that acts on it
in the direction of an applied airflow.

The coefficient of drag is a dimensionless value that helps to quantify drag, but with respect
to an object's dimensions and the fluid (air) velocity that passes around it. It helps to compare
the drag of objects of different sizes, allowing engineers to scale results.

The coefficient of drag is writing as follows:

D
CD =
1
ρ .V 2 S
2
Generally, in the direction of flow, more streamline shapes and small area shapes give lower
values of drag coefficient. Less streamline shapes and large area shapes give larger values of
drag coefficient.

5.6 Angle of attack:

As shown in the opposite figure, the angle of attack is the angle measured between flow
direction (V∞) and the chordline. Note that this angle may be positive or negative.

 Lab 03: FORCE MEASUREMENT IN A SUBSONIC WIND TUNNEL

6. RESULTS NEEDED FOR REPORT:

In this lab work, a list of 6 angles of attack (0°, 5°, 10°, 15° and 20° ) will be tested for the
aerodynamic forces measurements on our instrumented NACA0012 airfoil.

For each angle of attack we will use 5 different air speeds ( 25m.s-1, 30m.s-1 and 35m.s-1)

For each measurement put to zero all pressure and aerodynamic forces sensors.

For each angle of attack create a blank table of results similar to Table 1.

1. Complete table 1 for each angle of attack.

2. Start the Wind Tunnel and adjust the speed to 25m.s-1, 30m.s-1 and 35m.s-1
3. Plot, in one graph, the drag coefficient of different angle of attacks versus air
speeds (CD vs. V). Discuss the obtained graphs.
4. For v=30m.s-1 and v=35m.s-1, plot a figure showing drag coefficient (ordinate)
versus angle of attack (CD vs. α). Comment and give the stall angle of attack.
5. What are the angles of attack that you need to eliminate. Why?
6. Plot, in the same graph, the lift coefficient of different angle of attacks versus air
velocities (CL vs. V). Discuss the obtained graphs.
7. For each velocity, plot a figure showing lift coefficient (ordinate) versus angle of
attack α (CL vs. α). Comment.
8. What are the angles of attack that you need to eliminate. Why?
9. Plot a figure with drag coefficient as abscissa and lift coefficient as ordinate (CL
vs. CD) for different angle of attacks. Discuss the obtained graphs.
10. Plot, in the same graph, the pitching moment of different angle of attacks versus
air speeds.

Table 1: results table

 Lab 03: FORCE MEASUREMENT IN A SUBSONIC WIND TUNNEL

Angle of attack:
Ambient Pressure:
Ambient Temperature:
Air Density:
Pitching Moment
Drag (N) Drag coefficient Lift (N) Lift coefficient
Air Velocity (m/s) (N.m)

25
30
35