Objectives

This experiment is to determine the drag force and drag coefficient of the aerofoil at various angle of
attack. The second objective is to obtain the pressure distribution on the surface of aerofoil and
pressure coefficient for each angle of attack.

Theory (Refer to Lab Manual)

Apparatus (Refer to Lab Manual)

Procedure (Refer to Lab Manual)

Results

a) Drag Force and Drag Coefficient

Table 1: Balance Reading and Change of Pressure

Angle of Attack, Balance Reading (g)

Change of Pressure (Pa)
() Initial Final
-5 0.0 4.5 213.7
0 1.1 4.6 213.5
5 -0.7 4.8 211.2
10 9.2 21.2 207.2
15 5.2 29.0 205.5
20 5.4 43.5 203.0
25 -4.0 50.0 201.0

b) Pressure Distribution and Pressure Coefficient

Table 2: Initial Pressure at Different Point of Aerofoil

Points 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Initial
156 156 156 156 156 156 156 156 156 156 156 156 156 156
Pressure (Pa)

1
Table 3: Pressure Distribution at Various Angle of Attack

Angle, Pressure (mm)

() 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
-5 172 176 177 177 177 178 179 203 195 188 184 184 183 180
0 180 181 180 180 180 180 179 194 190 186 182 182 182 179
5 194 189 186 183 181 182 178 179 180 179 179 180 180 182
10 203 196 190 187 183 184 178 169 174 174 175 177 177 182
15 210 201 193 189 186 186 179 165 171 172 173 175 176 183
20 209 202 197 194 192 192 181 165 171 172 173 175 177 190
25 205 200 197 196 196 196 185 163 169 171 172 175 176 195

Calculations

a) Drag Force and Drag Coefficient

In order to obtain the drag force on the aerofoil, the difference between the initial and final balance
readings is first calculated:

When Angle of Attack

This value is then substituted into the equation below (refer to lab manual):

From lab manual, drag coefficient is given as

( )

where the density of the air, is the free stream velocity, c is the chord of the aerofoil and l is the
span of the aerofoil.

With the chord and span of the aerofoil given as 65mm and 65mm respectively, the two remaining
variables required to the calculate the drag coefficient will be the density of air, and the free stream
velocity,

2
The density of air can be obtained simply by assuming the air temperature and pressure during the
experiment as and 1atm respectively. Referring to the figure below from Applied Fluid
Mechanics by Robert L. Mott (2006), when the temperature is or , the density of air is in
the range of to .

Figure 1: Propertise of Air versus Temperature in U.S. Customary System Units at Standard
Atmospheric Pressure

By using linear interpolation method

For the free stream velocity, it is calculated using the change of pressure obtained from the
experiment. This change of pressure is actually the dynamic pressure, or the pressure due to the
velocity of the flow. An equation can be derived from Bernoulli’s Principle to convert the pressure
into velocity.

It starts with the application of Bernoulli’s Principle on the situation shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Flow with Open Surface

3
Bernoulli’s Principle:

From Point 1 to Point 2, there is no change in height

and Point 2 is the stagnation point where

( )
√

is the change of pressure from the experiment and is the density of air. Since the change of
pressure is different for each angle of attack, the average value must first be obtained in order to
calculate the free stream velocity.

( )

Therefore

( )
√

( )
√

By substituting all the values into Equation 1, the drag coefficient for angle of attack of will be:

( )( ) ( )( )

The drag force and drag coefficient for other angles of attack are calculated using the same method.

4
Table 4: Balance Reading, Drag Force and Drag Coefficient at Certain Angle of Attack

Drag Coefficient, CD
Angle, () (g) ( )
( )
-5 4.500 0.022 2.513
0 3.500 0.017 1.955
5 5.500 0.027 3.072
10 12.000 0.059 6.702
15 23.800 0.117 13.292
20 38.100 0.187 21.279
25 54.000 0.265 30.159

Graph 1: Drag Coefficient versus Angle of Attack

Drag Coefficient versus Angle of Attack

35
Drag Coefficient, CD (×10-2)

30

25

20

15

10
Drag Coefficient
5

0
-5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Angle of Attack, (°)

b) Pressure Distribution and Pressure Coefficient

The change of pressure in term of height from initial value to final value is calculated as shown below:

When angle of attack, , at Point 1

5
The same calculation is done to the pressure at other points on the aerofoil at each angle of attack.

Table 5: Change of Pressure at Various Points on Aerofoil

Angle, Change of Pressure, (mm)

() 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
-5 -16 -20 -21 -21 -21 -22 -23 -47 -39 -32 -28 -28 -27 -24
0 -24 -25 -24 -24 -24 -24 -23 -38 -34 -30 -26 -26 -26 -23
5 -38 -33 -30 -27 -25 -26 -22 -23 -24 -23 -23 -24 -24 -26
10 -47 -40 -34 -31 -27 -28 -22 -13 -18 -18 -19 -21 -21 -26
15 -54 -45 -37 -33 -30 -30 -23 -9 -15 -16 -17 -19 -20 -27
20 -53 -46 -41 -38 -36 -36 -25 -9 -15 -16 -17 -19 -21 -34
25 -49 -44 -41 -40 -40 -40 -29 -7 -13 -15 -16 -19 -20 -39

In order to convert the pressure into SI unit, the following equation is used:

where as water is the medium used in the manometer.

Therefore

( )( )( )

For the pressure coefficient (refer to lab manual), the equation is given as:

From the previous section given and , thus the pressure

coefficient at Point 1 when the angle of attack will be

( )( )

The same calculation is done to other points on the aerofoil at each angle of attack.

6
Table 7: Pressure Coefficients at Point 1 to Point 7

Angle, Pressure Coefficient,

() 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
-5 -0.077 -0.096 -0.101 -0.101 -0.101 -0.106 -0.111
0 -0.115 -0.120 -0.115 -0.115 -0.115 -0.115 -0.111
5 -0.183 -0.159 -0.144 -0.130 -0.120 -0.125 -0.106
10 -0.226 -0.192 -0.164 -0.149 -0.130 -0.135 -0.106
15 -0.260 -0.216 -0.178 -0.159 -0.144 -0.144 -0.111
20 -0.255 -0.221 -0.197 -0.183 -0.173 -0.173 -0.120
25 -0.236 -0.212 -0.197 -0.192 -0.192 -0.192 -0.140

Table 6: Pressure Coefficients at Point 8 to Point 14

Angle, Pressure Coefficient,

() 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
-5 -0.226 -0.188 -0.154 -0.135 -0.135 -0.130 -0.115
0 -0.183 -0.164 -0.144 -0.125 -0.125 -0.125 -0.111
5 -0.111 -0.115 -0.111 -0.111 -0.115 -0.115 -0.125
10 -0.063 -0.087 -0.087 -0.091 -0.101 -0.101 -0.125
15 -0.043 -0.072 -0.077 -0.082 -0.091 -0.096 -0.130
20 -0.043 -0.072 -0.077 -0.082 -0.091 -0.101 -0.164
25 -0.034 -0.063 -0.072 -0.077 -0.091 -0.096 -0.188

For the graph plotting, the x coordinate of the points on the aerofoil will be used. However, in order to
make it dimensionless, it is required to be divided by c, the cord of the aerofoil which is given to be
65mm as shown below:

At Point 1,

7
Table 7: x/c for Each Point on Aerofoil

Points X Coordinate (mm) x/c

1 7.660 0.118
2 14.130 0.217
3 19.800 0.305
4 25.610 0.394
5 31.460 0.484
6 38.550 0.593
7 48.180 0.741
8 7.310 0.112
9 14.100 0.217
10 19.050 0.293
11 25.080 0.386
12 30.860 0.475
13 41.920 0.645
14 53.680 0.826

Graph 2: Pressure Coefficient ( =−5°)

Pressure Coefficient ( =−5°)

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

-0.05
Pressure Coefficient, CP

-0.1

-0.15

-0.2
Upper Surface
Lower Surface
-0.25
x/c

8
Graph 3: Pressure Coefficient ( =0°)

Pressure Coefficient ( =0°)

-0.08
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

-0.1
Pressure Coefficient, CP

-0.12

-0.14

-0.16

-0.18
Upper Surface
Lower Surface
-0.2
x/c

Graph 4: Pressure Coefficient ( =5°)

Pressure Coefficient ( =5° )

-0.08
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

-0.1
Pressure Coefficient, CP

-0.12

-0.14

-0.16

-0.18
Upper Surface
Lower Surface
-0.2
x/c

9
Graph 5: Pressure Coefficient ( =10°)

Pressure Coefficient ( =10° )

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

-0.05
Pressure Coefficient, CP

-0.1

-0.15

-0.2
Upper Surface
Lower Surface
-0.25
x/c

Graph 6: Pressure Coefficient ( =15°)

Pressure Coefficient ( =15° )

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

-0.05
Pressure Coefficient, CP

-0.1

-0.15

-0.2

-0.25
Upper Surface
Lower Surface
-0.3
x/c

10
Graph 7: Pressure Coefficient ( =20°)

Pressure Coefficient ( =20° )

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

-0.05
Pressure Coefficient, CP

-0.1

-0.15

-0.2

-0.25
Upper Surface
Lower Surface
-0.3
x/c

Graph 8: Pressure Coefficient ( =25°)

Pressure Coefficient ( =25° )

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

-0.05
Pressure Coefficient, CP

-0.1

-0.15

-0.2

-0.25
Upper Surface
Lower Surface
-0.3
x/c

11
Discussion

Referring to Graph 1, it can be seen clearly that when the angle of attack increases, the drag
coefficient increases exponentially. Given the fact that drag coefficient is the ratio of drag force to the
product of dynamic pressure and the area of the aerofoil, it is said to be directly proportional to drag
force. However, before explaining why the drag force increases when the angle of attack increases,
the components that contribute to the drag must first be defined.

The first component is called the pressure drag. Pressure drag is due to the turbulent wake behind the
immersed body (Mott, 2006). When fluid is flowing over the body, a thin layer tends to stick to the
surface. However, at some point, usually with a sudden change of geometry, this boundary layer will
separate from the surface, creating a region with low pressure. This region is known as the turbulent
wake.

This region is usually where the vortices and eddies exist. However, given the fact that eddies not
only do not have the ability to convert their kinetic energy into pressure energy, they consume the
pressure energy and transform it into heat energy as energy loss, making the pressure in the region
even lower (Finnemore and Franzini, 2006). With the difference in pressure between the front and
back of the body, a net force will act on the surface that is perpendicular to the flow.

The next component is the friction drag. Friction drag is due to the shear stress of the flow on the
surface of the body (Mott, 2006). As mentioned earlier, when fluid is flowing over a body, a thin layer
of fluid particles will stick on the surface. The subsequent layers will be slowed down by the first
layer and during this change of momentum, a force is acted parallel to the body surface. The
magnitude of the friction drag is usually related to the total surface area of the body.

These two forces are usually the ones that describe the drag force on an immersed body with the
shape of circle, rectangle or triangle. However, for aerofoil, there is another component that
contributes to the drag force, which is the induced drag. In order to explain the induced drag, the
following figure is used (Mott, 2006).

Figure 2: Induced Drag on Aerofoil

At a certain angle of attack, the fluid will act a resultant force on the aerofoil which is perpendicular
to the chord line. By resolving it into the vertical and horizontal components, there exist a lift force,
and a resisting force, which is known as the induced drag,

By combining the pressure drag, friction drag and induced drag, it basically sums up the forces that
act against the motion of the aerofoil. Back to the question on why the drag force increases

12
exponentially when the angle of attack increases, it is all due to drag components which is more
dominant than the others.

When the angle of attack is small or near to zero degree, the aerofoil is aligned in such as a way that
its chord line is parallel to the flow of the fluid. In this case, the fluid is able to flow over the aerofoil
without any early separation. In other words, the separation of boundary layer will only occur at the
back of the aerofoil. For better illustration, Figure 3 is used to indicate a late separation at the end of
the immersed body. When the separation is late, the turbulent wake behind the aerofoil will be small
and so as the pressure drag.

Figure 3: Turbulent Wake for Late Separation

However, given the separation occurs so late at the end of the aerofoil, the area which the shear stress
acted by the fluid will be great, making the friction drag to be more significant compared with
pressure drag. The same goes to induced drag, referring back to Figure 2, when the angle of attack is
small, the horizontal component of the resultant force will be close to zero. In other words, it can be
said that friction drag is the more dominant when the angle of attack is small.

For the case where the angle of attack is great, the separation point tends to be shifted forward. When
that happens, the turbulent region behind the aerofoil will usually be large. Figure 4 is a proof to this
statement. It can be seen clearly that the early separation of the boundary layer causes the turbulent
wake to be much thicker compared to Figure 3. It allows the vortices and eddies to consume the
pressure energy and lower the pressure even further. With the great pressure difference between the
front and the back of the aerofoil, the pressure drag will be significant.

Figure 3: Turbulent Wake for Early Separation

In terms of friction drag, with the aerofoil now being tilted and the early separation of fluid from the
surface, it basically means that the total surface area which the shear force is acting is reduced and
definitely smaller compared to the surface when the aerofoil is at zero angle of attack.

13
For induced drag, instead of being small to zero this time, the angle of attack indicates that the
resultant force acted by the flowing fluid now has a horizontal component. Together with the pressure
drag, these two forces dominate the drag force when the angle of attack is great.

In the case where the angle of attack is increasing, the effect of these two pressure and induced drags
would become more significant with the friction drag continues to diminish. This is also the reason
why the drag force increases exponential as the one shown in Graph 1.

Since there is no theoretical result that can be used to compare with the result obtained in Graph 1, the
only way to verify whether this experiment result is acceptable or not is to compare it with the theory.
Given that the theory supports the relationship which the drag force increases exponential when the
angle of attack increases, what is shown in Graph 1 is then considered correct.

Before moving to the second part of the experiment which is the pressure coefficient along the surface
of the aerofoil, the readings obtained in Table 3 are worth discussing. As everyone knows that the
aerofoil will generate a lift force when it is tilted at a positive angle, in order for that to happen, the
pressure on the upper surface must be less than the lower surface. What is interesting in this
experiment is that the water levels in the manometer tubes were higher for the upper surface and
lower for the lower upper what the angle of attack was greater than zero.

In usual case, the water level in the manometer tube is usually indicating the pressure at the point
being measured. For an example, water level in the tube shows 100mm, the pressure at the point will
then be:

( )( )

If this concept is applied to this experiment, the following results will be obtained, which conflicts
with the function of an aerodynamic.

Table 8: Result of Wrong Concept in Obtaining Pressure

Angle, Change of Pressure, (mm)

() 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
5 38 33 30 27 25 26 22 23 24 23 23 24 24 26

As one can see, from static to the fluid flowing, the pressures actually increase and not reduce. The
pressures on the upper surface (1-7) increase more compared to the pressures on the lower surface (8-
14). In other words, the pressure on top of the aerofoil is greater than the pressure at the bottom,
which should have caused a downforce being generated and not the lift. It opposes what has been
observed during the experiment, which is that the aerofoil generated lift at angle of attack of 5 degree.

It is also not logical as the pressure difference should be a negative value. The reason is because when
the fluid starts to flow, its pressure will drop and smaller compared to the one when it is at static.
After having a look into the working principle of the manometer used in experiment, only the
confusion is resolved.

Instead of having the same working principle with the conventional manometer which the tube
connecting the point to be measured is connected to the other end of the manometer tube as the one

14
shown in Figure 4(a), the one used in this experiment is actually connected to the tube which the
readings was taken from.

(a) (b)

Figure 4: Conventional Manometer and Experiment Manometer

In other words, the drop in pressure at the point to be measured will actually suck out the air and
caused the water reservoir to supply more water into the tube, balancing out the pressure and
increasing the water level. This explains why when the fluid starts to flow, all the readings on the
manometer tubes increases.

Following the new concept, the pressure difference at each point is now logical as each having the
drop in pressure instead of increase. The upper surface drops more compared to the lower surface
when the angle of attack is greater than 0.

The pressure coefficient shown in Graph 2 to Graph 8 is the ratio of pressure difference to the
dynamic pressure. Given that it is directly proportional to pressure difference, for simpler explanation,
the pressure coefficient will be considered as the pressure change. The higher the negative value, the
greater the pressure change.

By comparing all seven pressure coefficient graphs, it is clear that when the angle of attack is at 0⁰
and -5⁰, the pressure at the lower surface is greater than the pressure at the upper surface. Meanwhile,
for angle greater than 0⁰, the condition is exactly the opposite which see the pressure at the lower
surface greater than the pressure at the upper surface.

One explanation to this result is due to velocity of fluid passing through the surface of the aerofoil.
Aerofoil is designed in such a way that when the fluid flow pass it, either one side of the fluid will
have greater velocity due to the longer path it requires to take. This increase in velocity will usually
indicate that the pressure is reduced. Therefore, for the aerofoil used in experiment, when the angle of
attack is greater than zero degree, the flow over the upper surface is faster compared to the lower
surface, causing the pressure to be less on the top side and higher at the bottom side. When the angle
of attack is less than or equal to zero degree, the condition is the opposite which the flow over the
bottom surface is required to travel further and at a higher speed, making the pressure below the
aerofoil to be less compared to the one above the aerofoil.

Other than that, there is one common behavior which can be observed in all the pressure coefficient
graphs, which is that the pressure difference is high at the start of the aerofoil and then it gets smaller
the further it moves behind. It can be possibly explained by dividing the aerofoil into two sections, the
upper surface and lower surface.

15
 Figure 5: Flow of Fluid on Aerofoil

For the lower surface, when the angle of the attack is greater than zero degree as the one shown in
Figure 5, the lower surface is basically exposed to the flowing fluid. When the fluid strikes the lower
surface, part of the kinetic energy would be converted into pressure energy before being redirecting
away. Given the amount of kinetic energy being converted into pressure energy depends on the angle
at which the fluid strikes the surface, let the tangent of the lower surface at the start of the aerofoil (A)
at an angle of from the direction of the flow of the fluid and the pressure energy being converted
from kinetic energy at Point A to be PA. As it moves further away, at Point B, the tangent of the
surface is now at an angle of less than . Less kinetic energy is being converted into pressure energy,
resulting in PB < PA. This continues to Point C with and PC < PB < PA..

For the upper surface, it is much easier to explain. After passing the front curved section of the
aerofoil, the flow experiences a great amount of change in direction. Given that it takes time for the
flow to change its direction, at Point D, the pressure will be less (indicates by the space between the
surface and flow of fluid) and as it move further the flow gets closer to the surface which result in the
pressure at F greater than E.

For the case where the angle of attack is less than or equal to zero, the concept is the same just that
now the upper and lower surfaces interchange. Given the pressure difference between the upper and
lower surfaces is the greatest at the start of the aerofoil, it also means that most of the lift is being
generated there.

By comparing each of the pressure coefficient graph with others, it can be seen that starting from zero
degree, the pressure difference between the upper and lower surfaces increases as the angle of attack
increases until it reaches . Within this range, this phenomenon can be explained using the concept
above (Figure 5).

As the angle of attack increases, for the lower surface, more kinetic energy will be converted into
pressure energy, resulting in a higher pressure. For the upper surface, as the angle of attack increases
the change of direction becomes more severe which results in a lower pressure. Combining these two
effects, the pressure difference between the upper and lower surface increases as the angle of attack
increases until .

One of the possible sources of error in this experiment is the vibration and unsteady flow caused by
the radial fan. Given that the electronic balance is very sensitive, these vibration and unsteady flow
would cause the reading to be changing all the time. It would not go stable and for this experiment

16
only the average of value was obtained. Sometime given the fluctuations were too large, by taking the
average value seems not enough to represent the characteristic of the aerofoil.

The second source of error is the friction between device holding the aerofoil and the wall of the wind
tunnel. Ideally there shouldn’t be any friction as it would affect the drag force measured on the
electronic balance. Theoretically the drag force or the drag coefficient may be even higher given the
frictional force opposes the motion of a body. In this case, it counters the drag force and causing the
drag force measured to be less.

Other than that, the structure connecting the aerofoil to the electronic balance allows the angle of
attack to be changed while the aerofoil is being lifted. Let’s say the initial angle of attack was at .
After the fan was switched on, the aerofoil was lifted. Even though there was no change in angle
while referring to the angle scale, it could be visibly observed that the aerofoil was no longer at but
somewhere higher than it. The effect of it is that the drag coefficient and pressure coefficient
measured at a certain angle may not truly represent it.

The insensitivity of the manometer is also considered as a source of error in this experiment. Some of
the tubes were in bad condition while the experiment was carried out, causing the water in the tube
not showing a U shape but rather an inclined straight line. Furthermore, the scale behind the tubes was
difficult to see. Given that the change of pressure in this experiment is very small, 1mm difference in
comparison with the theoretical value would result in a completely different pressure coefficient graph.

The solutions to overcome these errors will be discussed in Recommendation Section.

17
Conclusion

The drag coefficient increases exponentially when the angle of attack increases. At small or near to
zero angle of attack, the drag force is dominated by friction drag. In the case where the angle of attack
is great, the drag force is dominated by the pressure and induced drags. The negative pressure
coefficient for the lower surface is greater than upper surface for angle of attack equal or less than
zero. It is the opposite when the angle is greater than zero. For each angle of attack, the pressure
difference between the upper and lower surface is always the greatest at the start of the aerofoil and
reduces gradually towards the end. The maximum pressure difference between the two surfaces
increases from the angle of attack of to . The possible sources of errors in this experiment
include vibration and unsteady flow from the radial fan, change of angle of attack while aerofoil being
lifted, friction between the device holding the aerofoil and the wind tunnel, and the insensitivity of the
manometer.

Recommendation

One of the possible solutions to the vibration is to have the electronic balance being place somewhere
else from the equipment and being connected through means of string. In this case, the vibration will
be minimized. For the steady flow, it can only be solved by doing maintenance to the radial fan,
making it in good condition to reduce any unnecessary fluctuations. For the friction between the
holding device and the wind tunnel, lubricant is needed to reduce it as much as possible. In case of the
change of angle of attack, it can be solved either to redesign the structure mentioned earlier or to
measure the amount of angle change during the lift and then it can be subtracted out when the initial
angle of attack is being set. For the manometer tube reading error, the tubes require a throughout
cleaning or to be replaced with a new one.

References

1. Mott, R. (2006). Applied fluid mechanics. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

2. Finnemore, E. and Franzini, J. (2006). Fluid mechanics with engineering applications. New York:
McGraw-Hill.

18