ME 241-S 11 Final Report(04/27/2011)

Preprint typeset using LATEX style emulateapj v. 11/10/09

Studying Near-Surface Effects of the Dyson Air-Multiplier Airfoil

Team 12:Michael Hua 1 , Dev Ashish Khaitan 2 , Paul Kintner 1
ME 241-S 11 Final Report(04/27/2011)

ABSTRACT

We have studied the phenomena on which the Dyson Air-Multiplier (hereafter fan) is based. In
this study, we have identified that the primary component that allows the fan to work is the unique
design of its airfoil. We discuss our experimental design and results of a near-surface analysis of a
two-dimensional cross section of the airfoil. Fiberglass was used to mold the airfoil within a foam ex-
oskeleton. A null displacement manometer was used to measure the airflow velocities at the boundary
layer and a high-speed camera was used to observe the flow.
Subject headings: Dyson Air Multiplier, Wind Tunnel, Venturi Effect, Coanda Effect, Fiberglass Mold-
ing, Null Displacement Manometer, Anemometry

1. INTRODUCTION

A wind tunnel is a research tool used in aerodynamic

research. It is used to study the effects of air moving
past solid objects. Air is blown through a duct equipped
with a viewing port and instrumentation where models or
geometrical shapes are mounted for study. Typically the
air is moved through the tunnel using a series of fans. For
larger wind tunnels several meters in diameter, a single
large fan is not practical, and so instead multiple fans are
used in parallel to provide sufficient airflow, such as in
the 30-by 60-Foot Tunnel at NASAs Langley Research
Center. The airflow created by the fans entering the Fig. 1. Dyson Air-Multiplier AM01(6)
tunnel is itself highly turbulent due to the fan blades
Dyson Ltd claims that their product, the Dyson Air
motion. The air moving through the tunnel needs to
Multiplier (Figure 1), efficiently creates laminar airflow
be relatively turbulence-free and laminar (1). To correct
with no buffeting or uneven airflow, a characteristic that
this problem, closely spaced vertical and horizontal air
a wind tunnels settling chamber seeks to reduce. This
vanes are used to smooth out the turbulent airflow before
elimination of buffeting and the creation of steady lami-
reaching the subject of the testing thus increasing the
nar flow is of great interest to designers of the wind tun-
overall length of the tunnel. This design is less than ideal
nel, particularly, the possibility of placing the test target
for a wind tunnel but it is still the prevalent design.
closer to the source of flow (Figure 2). Dyson Ltds re-

1
sults from laser Doppler anemometry show that there are
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, University of Rochester,
Rochester, NY 14627 two regions close to the source of flow that offer steady
2 Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, laminar flow (2). One region of opportunity to test a
Rochester, NY 14627
target is right in the middle of the source and the other
2
Fig. 2. The smoothness of the resulting airflow was tested and
proved using an optical technique called Laser Doppler Anemome-
try. Millions of tiny particles projected by the fan reflect thousands
of readings a second, plotting air speed and direction. (2)
Fig. 3. A cross sectional view of the Dyson Air-Multipliers air-
foil with the theoretical streamlines superposed outside the airfoil.
(7)
region lies 20 inches downstream. There is no publicly
available record of this study. Due to time restrictions
with the project we were only be able to look at the near
surface effects of the airfoil.
We have outlined a method to test the feasibility of
this design for a wind tunnel by analyzing the laminar
region around the source. The process of building and
constructing a full-scale version of a Dyson Air Multiplier
inspired wind tunnel without understanding the under-
lying processes is not cost effective. We believe that the
unique airfoil design is the secret to the Dyson Air Mul-
tiplier. Further experiments may be performed to eval-
uate other characteristics of the Dyson Air Multiplier to
produce an ideal wind tunnel. Here a method for the
construction and testing of our airfoil is outlined.
A two-dimensional cross section of their circular de-
sign is used for our implementation. The cross section
was be extruded to construct an airfoil with a constant
Fig. 4. A side view of the Dyson airfoil to be constructed. The
dimensions are 4.0 x 0.5 for the cross section. There is a small
groove visible between the top and bottom of the air foil along with
the notch present on the lower airfoil
Fig. 5. An angular view of the Dyson airfoil to be constructed.
The dimensions are 7.0 x 4.0x 0.5 for the cross section. The
groove for air flow is faintly visible.
chord length made out of fiberglass. The air was supplied
from a compressed air source. Testing for steady state
flow was performed with a null displacement manometer.
Once a steady state flow was detected the manometer was
used to measure airflow properties around the bound-
ary layer. The manometer probe has a small diameter
so while it may be able to measure velocities along the
boundary layer, but it does not have resolution to detect
the boundary layer close to the slit.
2. THEORY
Dysons patent states that the Air Multiplier makes
use of a Coanda surface in order to exploit the Coanda
effect (3). This effect is well documented and used in
several industrial and commercial applications, including
the increase in lift for low-speed flying in aircraft (4).
According to Henri Coanda, this effect is achieved by
a combination of sufficient fluid velocity flowing out of
a suitable orifice, resulting in entrainment of the sur-
rounding fluid. To elaborate, Coanda observed that high
 Dyson Airfoil
Fig. 6. A lengthwise view of the foam mold used to construct
the two halfs of the airfoil.
velocity flowing out of a small area draws in additional
flow from surrounding fluid when the jet of fluid enters
another large volume of fluid. Also, if a Coanda sur-
face, one that curves away from said orifice, is present,
the fluid flow will tend towards the surface, hugging it
and bending away from the outlet (5). This effect of en-
trainment and bending of flow varies in degree by several
factors, including the orifice size, fluid velocity and fluid
properties like viscosity and density. An exact quan-
titative measure of entrainment and bending have not
been documented outside of Dysons claims of 15-times
volumetric-flow-multiplication. Though Dyson uses this
explanation in their patent, there is more to the air mul-
tiplication.
Dysons fan multiplies airflow in several steps which
can all be explained by the Coanda Effect, the Venturi
Effect, and Bernoullis principle. First, air supplied at
the base of the fan is drawn in by an impeller (6),(3).
This creates high pressure in the hollow ring of the fan,
which is the cross section of an airfoil (Figure 3). By
propelling air out of a 1.3 mm slit located on the inside of
its ring, air flows across one side of the airfoil, the Coanda
surface. This results in entrainment of surrounding air,
just downstream of the airfoil. The Venturi Effect is a
factor in creating the optimal air velocity, resulting in
the Coanda Effect. As seen in the cross section of Figure
3
4, as the air exits the airfoil, it is funneled through a
small slit (7). The fluid velocity greatly increases with
this reduction in area, resulting in optimal entrainment
of air.
Dyson also claims that air is drawn in from behind, or
induced, and this can be explained by Bernoullis prin-
ciple. As the air leaves the fan at a higher velocity than
the air behind the fan, it creates an area of low pres-
sure. This pressure differential between the high velocity
air and still air behind is what draws in the induced air.
This combination of entrainment from the Coanda effect
and inducement by Bernoullis principle is what makes
the Air Multipliers airflow 15 times its air intake (3).
Coanda states that the exact degree of bending can
be adjusted for optimized entrainment according to the
fluids characteristics, as mentioned earlier. According to
Dysons patent, their inventors have found the optimal
Coanda surface profile for entrainment of air, one with
an airfoil cross section with a 16 angle between the top
and bottom surfaces and whose cord length is a constant
at approximately 1.5.
3. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
We constructed an airfoil that achieved airflow similar
to that of the Dyson Air Multiplier. An air compres-
sor was used to produce an airflow through the foil in
a manner similar to the Dyson fan. The air flowed into
our airfoil on both sides A null displacement manometer
was used to measure flow velocity near the surface of our
airfoil.
The airfoil has dimensions of 7.0 x 4.0x 0.5 as seen
in Figure 5. The 16 angle along the horizontal surface
and the Coanda surface and the top section of the airfoil
which was used by Dyson was recreated in our airfoil.
The slit in the airfoil is 1.3 mm (0.0512); according to
Dyson this can range from 1 mm to 5 mm (0.0394 to
0.197) (3). The construction of the airfoil was done
by using fiberglass and a foam exoskeleton as can be
seen in Figure 6. The foam mold was acquired from
4
Fig. 7. An angled view of the airfoil in setup during experi-
mental tests in which it was used upside down. The manometers
capillary tube can be seen above the airfoil.
Fig. 8. Schematic diagram of the null displacment manometer.
A telescope is used to magnify the waterline in the tube. A mi-
crometer is used to finely adjust the height of the funnel and thus
the corresponding height of the water in the tube.
another team using foam cores. A layer of 0.0089 thick
6 oz fiberglass was laid on the foam mold covered with
wax paper and cling wrap. The use of wax paper and
cling wrap allowed for the foam exoskeleton to be easily
separated from the fiberglass. A thin slow hardening
epoxy was used to reduce the amount of residue left on
the surface of our fiberglass airfoil(8). Another layer of
epoxy was used to smooth out the surface of the parts,
and then sanded to further smooth the bumps on the
surface of the airfoil.
The bottom section, seen in Figure 4 is the Coanda
surface. The top section connects with the bottom sec-
tion on the left side of Figure 4. The two parts were built
with the same foam exoskeleton, and both parts were cut
using a jewelers saw whose small teeth make it ideal for
this situation. The pieces were cut to meet the require-
ments for the top and bottom pieces as seen in Figure
4 and then attached to wood cross sections that kept
the airfoils shape. Attaching parts together was done
with Plastic Fusion Epoxy Adhesive made by the Super
Glue Corporation. A piece of wood 1.3 mm in thickness
was used to space the gap between the airfoils during
setting. The airfoil was then capped with two wooden
boards and attached with epoxy to seal its sides. Holes
were then drilled in both sides of the airfoil to allow for
the air to enter through nozzles. The finished product
can be seen in the experimental setup in Figure 7.
A Craftsman 919.165030 air compressor was used as
the air source. It was capable of delivering 0.0118 cubic
meters per second at steady state when we tested it with
a flow meter. The Dyson Air Multiplier patent states
it delivers 0.0297 cubic meters per second. Since our
airfoil has an opening which is less than half of the open-
ing surface of the Dyson fan, this volumetric flow rate
was sufficient. The air source was supplied through both
sides of the airfoil along the horizontal axis using nozzles
connected to the air compressor with surgical tubing.
To test steady state airflow we used the null displace-
ment manometer. The manometer has a near instant re-
action rate, which allowed us to determine if we achieved
a steady state flow. The capillary tube being used with
the manometer has an outside diameter of 1.3 mm and
an inside diameter of 0.97 mm. This is not small enough
to measure the boundary layer at the slit, but it could
do so farther downstream.
Greater resolutions for measuring air flow velocities
have been realized for low-pressure measurements by us-
ing a micrometer to read the vertical well displacement
necessary to return the meniscus to its null position as
marked by a hair line(10). This type of manometer is
known as a null displacement manometer. This manome-
ter is connected to the stainless steel capillary tube, that
acts as a small probe with outer diameter 1.3 mm. Water
was recommended and was used in this manometer. Our
 Dyson Airfoil 5

null displacement manometer was set up with a microm-

eter at the base of the funnel that could be adjusted to
raise or lower the water level in the tube. A telescope
was anchored to the same stand as the tube end of the
manometer as shown in Figure 8. The end of the ob-
jective lens of the telescope was placed 15 cm from the
marking on the null displacement manometer.
The funnel containing water was embedded in the
hemisphere of a baseball, and its height controlled by
a micrometer. A baseball was drilled so that it had a
hole through its center and was then cut in half. It
Fig. 9. The capillary tube slightly raised above the upside down
was used to minimize inadvertent tilting that might arise airfoil. Penicil marks along the wood and the airfoil mark every
1.27 cm (0.5), the mark farthest to the right indicates the lowest
from raising and lowering the funnel. The height of this point on the airfoil. The slit can be seen on the right side of the
image.
funnel controlled the level in the associated tube and the the flow we recorded video by using a high-speed cam-
height of this funnel from a zero gave us an air velocity. era and fine dust. The airfoil was set up right side up
The micrometer had a resolution of 200 turns per inch, and dust was dropped down from behind the airfoil. The
thus giving us a velocity resolution of 0.64 m/s from the camera was run for 2 seconds capturing at 500 fps. The
manometer setup. Since this was being used to probe the camera was used so that it would show the entrainment
boundary layers, where we expected to see 18 m/s, this and inducement of the surrounding air into the flow cre-
resolution would suffice though it was less than ideal. ated by the airfoil.
The manometer was first used at an angle of zero de-
4. RESULTS
grees with respect to the horizontal axis. Measurements
were taken vertically, along the z-axis, every 1mm. This Data was taken at an angle of 0 and 45 to the x-

was done repeatedly at points every 1.27 cm (0.5) in the axis. The first data set yielded Figure 10, while the sec-

x direction along the airfoil. The first point of measure- ond data set yielded Figure 11. These figures show the

ment was taken at the lowest point of the curve along velocity profiles, along with their error bars, that were

the airfoil. To simplify taking these measurements the derived from many different manometer readings. The

airfoil was turned upside down. This set up can been error comes from the resolution of the telescope in work-

seen in Figure 9. To find all of the velocity vectors the ing with the manometer and oscillations of the water

manometer was turned to an angle of 45 and the veloci- around the zero on the manometer.

ties at that angle were then measured. Having these two Looking at the horizontal magnitudes of the flow vec-

measurements of velocities at different angles allowed us tors in Figure 11 we can see how the maximum velocities

to find the actual velocity vector. For the math on how follow the airfoil surface. In the progression of the veloc-

to derive the velocity vector from the two measured val- ity profiles the maximum velocity follows the surface of

ues, see Appendix A. With the data we were able to the airfoil or Coanda surface because of the Coanda ef-

construct a directional vector field to help analyze the fect. This effect causes the fluid, in this case air, to bend

boundary layer around the airfoil. upwards and follow the surface. The presence of this ef-

To further our understanding of the characteristics of fect helps to verify Dysons patent. As the flow progesses
downstream the velocity profile expands downwards and
6

reaches a more even flow. Potentially there could be a

laminar flow below or past the last data points.
The boundary layer is outlined here by the decrease
in velocity against the airfoil from the point of the maxi-
mum velocity. In the first two velocity profiles the bound-
ary layer was unobserved, because it was too small to be
observed with the size of our capillary tube. The ve-
locity profile that is 2.54 cm (1) from the apex, at ap-
Fig. 10. Velocity profiles along with error bars taken along the
proximately 8 cm on the x-axis in Figure 10, the first x-axis of the airfoil every 1.27 cm (0.5). The manometer was used
at an angle flat to the x-axis.
appearance of the boundary layer is evident. The no-slip
condition, where the velocity is zero at the surface, is
not apparent here because of the diameter of the cap-
illary tube. Although, the boundary layer can be seen
tending towards zero at the airfoil surface.
In Figure 12 we present the velocity vectors along the
lower surface of the airfoil. From the data collected (par-
allel to the horizontal axis and 45 below horizontal) we
were able to calculate the angle of the actual velocity
vector using the equations in Appendix A. These angles
Fig. 11. Velocity profiles along with error bars taken along the
were then used to calculate the absolute velocity in the x-axis of the airfoil every 1.27 cm (0.5). The manometer was used
at an angle of 45 to the x-axis.
horizontal and vertical directions. The sum of these vec-
tors is presented in Figure 12. The dashed vertical lines
represent the locations along which velocity data was col-
lected with the manometer probe. The solid lines ema-
nating from these vertical lines are the velocity vectors
calculated at those locations. No errors are presented for
this data since this would obscure details and dominate
features.
We observe a radical departure in our velocity vectors
Fig. 12. Velocity vectors for each profile on the airfoil that can
from the streamlines presented in Figure 3. The stream- be seen in Figure 10 and Figure 11.
lines in Figure 3 converge towards the lower surface of the
airfoil but the velocity vectors, which represent stream- measure the boundary layer. Lastly, our airfoil surface

lines, in Figure 12 diverge from the same surface. There was not completely smooth, introducing local variations

are a number of reasons for this: In ourfabrication of the from what was expected. This last point however should

airfoil we did not follow the designs laid out by Dyson not introduce large errors and departures from theory

Corp. for their fan but rather, due to time constraints, but might explain some of the smaller irregularities.

made one of similar dimensions. Due to the compar- Images of the high-speed camera can be seen in Figure

atively large size of our Pitot tube we were unable to 13, these images were produced by dropping fine dust
from a funnel behind the airfoil so that we could examine
 Dyson Airfoil
Speed Inducement.png
Fig. 13. The figure shows a series of frames taken from the
high-speed camera to illustrate inducement. The images have an
unnatural contrast that is best for viewing the dust.
the flow patterns. In Figure 13 dust is drawn in from
behind the airfoil, or induced. Large particles and clumps
of dust fall down past but small particles get pulled into
the flow indicating that there is air drawn in from behind
the airfoil. Only the finer particle clouds were induced
by the airfoil.
Recording the entrainment did not work out well, as
the dust was too fine to show up on the high-speed cam-
era. Despite the fact that the dust dispersed greatly after
entering the region of flow, some of the dust was still pro-
pelled nearly two meters downstream from the airfoil.
5. CONCLUSION
The airfoil design we constructed showed interesting
airflow characteristics similar to those reported by Dyson
Ltds. We were able to observe the inducement of the sur-
rounding air using fine dust and the high-speed camera.
The Coanda effect and the boundary layer were both ob-
served near the surface of the airfoil.
A large problem we faced with recording data came
from our main instrument of measurement, the null dis-
placement manometer. The manometer did not have a
7
high resolution and as a result had a good deal of er-
ror as compared to our therotical resolution. In the area
behind the airfoil the manometer was unable to register
any readings, since the velocities were below the resolu-
tion of the manometer. Sometimes it would fail to keep
a consistent zero in between trials. Possible error in the
manometer was contributed to moisture in the thin tub-
ing. A better instrument for measuring velocity would
have improved our data.
The images acquired from the high-speed camera are
unquantifiable since there were no measurements taken.
The figures associated with the high-speed camera only
illustrate the flow around the airfoil for the purpose of
better understanding how the air moves through this
area. Further studies could find a way to develop nu-
merical data from this kind of observation or even other
more complex types of recording data to quantify the in-
ducement and entrainment of the airfoil design. In this
way the 15-times volumetric-flow-multiplication reported
by Dyson Ltd could be proven.
If we had more time we would have time to experiment
with multiple airfoil geometeries. Initial experimentation
included adjusting the angle and the slit spacing of the
airfoil to maximize the volumetric flow. Further devel-
opment would have been to put multiple airfoils together
to replicate the Dyson Fan design.
While we did see that our airfoil created a region of
nearly even flow on the outer edge of our airfoil, the
velocity was still not high enough to be used as a practical
wind tunnel at this scale. Furthermore we do not know
if this area is laminar or not. If further work could prove
that the flow in this region is laminar this design could
be adapted and scaled to be used as a wind tunnel.
6. EQUIPMENT EXPENSES
A summary of purchased equipment is shown in Ta-
ble 1. John Miller provided a 1.3 mm outer diameter,
.097 mm outside diamter stainless steel tube to be used
with the null displacement manometer. All other mate-
 8

TABLE 1
Equipment Purchased

Product Vendor Model No. Quantity Cost ($)

6 oz S-type Fiberglass US Composities C0627S 2 yards x 27 width 14.50

1.2 Gal 635 Epoxy

+ 16 oz Hardner US Composities 635412 1 Kit 34.50

1/16 to 1/8 Adapter McMaster-Carr 5047K12 1 1.10

rial was scavenged from available resources and previous
experiments. The cost of equipment was supported by
the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Univer-
sity of Rochester.
7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank Roger Gans for his
guidance. We would also like to thank Scott Russell,
REFERENCES
Brian MacMillan, and John Miller. Furthermore we
would like to thank group 4 consisting of Jesse Cramer,
Alex Rosenthal, and Trey Socash for their efforts in
reviewing our paper and all our past peers and col-
leauges who have reviewed and constructively criticized
our work. Thereby guiding the direction of explorations.

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