MODELLING AND INVESTIGATION

OF THE BACK STALL CRITICAL

ANGLE FOR KITESURF

In what way does the angle of attack of wind (-30º, -20º, 0º, 10º,

20º, 30º, 40º, 50º, 60º, 70º, 80º) on a kite in kitesurfing affect the

the coefficient of lift (CoL)?

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE
EXTENDED ESSAY
PHYSICS
WOR D C OU NT : 4 1 2 4

1
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Research question......................................................................................................................... 3
Background Information ................................................................................................................ 5
Lift Formula and relationship beteen AoA and CoL .................................................................... 5
Deriving The Relationship Between AoA and CoL ..................................................................... 7
Bernoulli’s Principle .......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Correct Explanation on Lift Generation....................................................................................... 7
Explanation upon the Backstall Point......................................................................................... 10
Experimentation ........................................................................................................................... 11
Variables ...................................................................................................................................... 11
Experiment setup ........................................................................................................................ 13
Hypothesis ................................................................................................................................... 16
Determining lift ........................................................................................................................... 17
Determining lift coefficient ......................................................................................................... 18
Evaluation and Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 22
Works Cited............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

2
 INTRODUCTION

In this exploration there will be an investigation and experimentation upon how the angle of

attack affects the performance of a kite in kitesurfing. I have always enjoyed this extreme sport

and practice it a lot, since it engages with the power of nature. Kitesurf is based on many

principles of physics in the natural world, which is why I have considered the sport of kitesurf a

perfect example to investigate the physics behind its functioning.

RESEARCH QUESTION

In this case, I will explore the involvement of fluid dynamics in the sport, a study of physics

on liquids and gases. Fluid mechanics is quite complex study, as it is an active field of research

with several inaccurately explained phenomenon. However, it is also the main principle for the

sport of kitesurf, which is why I have had a particular motivation to explore this topic.

In kitesurf there is a list of material you need, including a board, a kite, a line system and a

harness which holds tight the connection between you and the kite with the line system. For a

kite surfer to take control of the kite there is a bar designed to hold in. In this bar the user can

tab the bar up or down, (as seen in figure 1) modifying the kite’s performance.

FIGURE 1: KITESURF BAR AND ITS MOTION

(ODOKITEBOARDING, N.D.)
3
 If the user pulls the bar, the kite surfer feels a force from the kite upwards, while if the bar is

not pulled, there is less force acting on the kite (Landell-Mills, 2023). It turns out that this

tension, called lift force, happens due to the cord-system in the connection between the kite and

the bar. When the bar is pulled, the rear lines are pulled downwards, as seen in figure 2.

According to SkyBrary, “The Angle of Attack (AoA) is the angle at which relative wind

meets an airfoil. It is the angle formed by the chord of the aerofoil and the direction of the

relative wind” (SkyBrary), figure 3.

Therefore, I assume that the more the user pulls the bar, the more it pulls the rear lines

downward. Hence, the more a user pulls the bar, the more angle of attack it forms relative to the

wind. I have since wanted to know:

In what way does the angle of attack of wind on a kite in kitesurfing affect the lift
force, hence the coefficient of lift (CoL)?

FIGURE 2: MOTION OF KITE WHEN BAR IS PULLED FIGURE 3: ANGLE OF ATTACK AND AIRFOIL
DOWN OR UP (BRASSARD, 2021) (SKYBRARY N.D.)

4
 BACKGROUND INFORMATION

LIFT FORMULA AND RELATIONSHIP BETEEN AOA AND COL

The relationship between lift force and coefficient of lift arises from the Lift equation (1):

"
(1) 𝐿 = 𝐶! × 𝐴 × 𝜌 × 𝑉 )2

Where:

𝐿 = Lift Force

𝐶! = Coefficient of Lift

𝐴 = Surface Area of the airfoil

𝜌 = Air density

𝑉 " = Velocity of air, squared

To understand the relationship between angle of attack and the impact on lift force, we

must have some scientific context behind this, which will be used as reference point.

FIGURE 4: GRAPH OF LIFT COEFFICIENT (𝐶! ) OVER ANGLE OF ATTACK (𝛼), (WOOD A. , 2022)
 According to the graph (figure 4), the more angle of attack the more lift coefficient, as

mentioned earlier. Lift coefficient is defined as the ‘measure of lifting efficiency', and, due to the

proportionality, the more coefficient of lift the more lift force. In other words, the more the bar

is pulled downwards, the more lift coefficient (Landell-Mills, 2023). It must be pointed out that

the rest of variables (velocity, air density, surface area, airfoil shape…) must be constant, and that

there is no direct formula linking angle of attack and coefficient of lift. Coefficient of lift is

affected by the angle of attack, camber of the airfoil and its shape.

Moreover, it can be also observed that there is a point where this direct proportionality

is not true, where there is a drop in lift coefficient the more uniform angle of attack. This point

is called ‘stall’. There are two kinds of stall: front stall and back stall (figure 5) which both are

caused by an overwhelmed angle of attack, concretely at about 15º of AoA (figure 6) (CAA, n.d.)

FIGURE 5: STALL IN KITESURF, CAUSED BY TOO MUCH ANGLE OF ATTACK (ATLANTIC KITE,
2021)

Backstall ≈ 15º

Frontstall

FIGURE 6: GRAPH ON LIFT COEFFICIENT (𝐶! ) OVER ANGLE OF ATTACK (𝛼), SHOWING BOTH
STALL POINTS, (BOLONKIN, 1999)

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 DERIVING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AOA AND COL

The topic surrounding how an airfoil can produce a lift force has not been easy for

aerodynamicists. Many theories have arisen to approach an explanation on how this lift is

produced. Some have been supported and accepted for a long time but are now majorly rejected

by aerodynamicists. To devise an understanding of the physics behind kitesurf I will explain the

theory that is currently accepted, which involves the Coandă Effect and principles of Newtonian

physics like circular motion and Newton’s laws of motion. However, it is important to note the

theory upon the Bernoulli’s Principle, which is no longer accepted to be correct and is opposed

by organizations like NASA (Benson, n.d.), and individuals like Prof. Holger Babinski (Babinski,

2003), of the Department of engineering of the University of Cambridge. It is commonly known

as the ‘equal transit’ or ‘longer path’ theory. This theory is found in many textbooks and is

omnipresent in the world of aerodynamics (Babinski, 2003).

FIGURE 8 - STREAMLINES APPROACHING THE AIRFOIL (BABINSKI, 2003)

CORRECT EXPLANATION ON LIFT GENERATION

Suppose an airfoil under the condition of constant wind (figure 8 and 9). The reason why

a streamline is attached to the airfoil is due to the Coandă Effect, a phenomenon that creates a

tendency of fluids to stay attached to a solid surface. The phenomenon occurs due to the

generation by the air flow of relative vacuums, where the pressure is lower than the atmospheric.

Where the flow would encounter these vacuums, the flow would tend to flow in that direction.

(Reba, 1966). The effect derives its name from the Romanian engineer Henri Coandă (S & C

Thermofluids Ltd, n.d.). Consider an airfoil under wind conditions. In the upper surface of the

7
airfoil, to make the streamline able to curve around the concave part of the airfoil, circular

motion must take place. Hence, there must be a centripetal force as it is necessary “to maintain a

circular motion because if there is no resultant force acting on an object (that is all forces acting

on the object add to zero), then the object travels with uniform motion in a straight line or stays

at rest.” (Institute of Physics, n.d.). In this case, the centripetal force is created due to the

pressure difference created by the Coandă Effect, present above and below the streamline’s

particle, having a high pressure above and low pressure (relative vacuum) below this particle.

Differences in pressure between two ‘areas’ can result in a force acting on the streamline, due to

the higher kinetic energy the molecules ‘hit’ or ‘collide’ more frequently above the streamline,

causing it to move from a high-pressure region to a low-pressure region (Nave, n.d.). This

pressure differential explains the Coandă Effect, following the shape of the airfoil. More

centripetal force will result in a bigger pressure difference.

FIGURE 9 - PRESSURE DIFFERENCE CREATED BY THE AIRFOIL (LESICS, 2016)

According to figure 9, let 𝑃#$% be Atmospheric pressure, 𝑃&'$ and 𝑃() the respective

pressures above and below a streamline, and 𝑃*(+* and 𝑃,&- high and low pressures respectively.

The term ‘smaller/bigger radius of circular motion’ will be given as ‘less/more curvature’ by

means of simplicity. Once again, according to the Coandă Effect, for a streamline to attach to a

curved solid surface there must be a pressure difference. As seen in figure 9, above the airfoil,

pressure must be lower the closer a streamline is to the airfoil, as the airfoil has a concave shape

above. As there is ‘less curvature’ in the lower surface of the airfoil, streamlines do not curve as

8
much, which means that it does not require a significant centripetal force or, in other words, the

pressure difference is not significant and remains fairly atmospheric. Conversely, in the upper

surface the centripetal force must be bigger, explaining figure 9’s diagram of the pressure

difference above the airfoil, which becomes lower the closer to the surface.

Again, according to the ideal gas law, differences in pressure between two chambers can

result in a force acting on an object, due to the higher kinetic energy of the molecules, moving

from a high-pressure region to a low-pressure region. This pressure difference pushes from

below the airfoil upwards, hence creating a lift force (Nave, n.d.). Suppose the lower surface had

a concave shape too, in other words, had a greater camber. There would be a higher lift force as

the streamlines must curve too, to attach to the airfoil: high pressure is present above the

streamline and lower pressure below.

Now, assume the AoA is changed to a greater angle. Streamlines on the upper surface

must now create a greater centripetal force to constantly attach to the airfoil. The same condition

occurs below the airfoil, which explains the initial statement upon how there is more lift force

the more angle of attack. It is important to understand how there is more lift generated if the

streamlines suffered a higher centripetal force, or, in other words, the Coandă Effect takes a

‘sharper curve’. (Lesics, 2016)

There is another way to explain the creation of this force, which is much simpler but

more abstract, meaning it loses a lot of necessary key points in explaining the whole depth of the

topic. Looking at figure 8, streamlines are directed downwards due to the Coandă Effect.

According to Newton’s Third Law of motion, ‘for every action there is an equal and opposite

reaction’. Hence, if the airfoil exerts a force downward to the streamlines, there must be an

upwards force, lift force. This explanation is also consistent with the fact that there would be

more lift if there is a higher AoA, as the airfoil would redirect the streamlines downwards in a

greater manner, hence a higher lift force. (Lesics, 2016)

9
 EXPLANATION UPON THE BACKSTALL POINT

Although the proportionality between AoA and lift force has been explained, a

significant explanation that requires must be added, as it has been previously discussed that this

proportionality does not always follow: there is a point where there is a sudden drop in lift

coefficient, as seen in figure 4.

The reason behind this has to do with the Coandă Effect too. As seen in figure 10 in the

upper surface of the airfoil, streamlines represented as wind approach the airfoil and are attached

to the airfoil due to this effect. However, there is a point in which the curvature is too high, it

requires a centripetal force that the streamline is not able to create (figure 11). In other words,

the Coandă Effect cannot take place it the curvature of the surface is too pronounced. This

means that the stall point occurs once the Coandă Effect cannot take place and the streamline

cannot attach to the airfoil, hence the airfoil does not follow the principles explained previously.

FIGURE 10 AND 11 - STALL POINT VISUALISED WITH SMOKE STREAMLINES IN AIRFOIL (BABINSKI, 2003)

10
 EXPERIMENTATION

For my extended essay, I must simulate a kitesurf and be able to change the angle of

attack, maintaining constant the rest of variables. I will investigate at what angle the back stall

occurs in my experimentation (The front stall will not be investigated as to the fact that it is not

as common as the back stall in kitesurf). For obvious reasons, it is impossible to use a real-sized

kitesurf and real wind, as wind in nature is much less uniform and a real sized kitesurf is very

complicated to maneuver.

VARIABLES

To obtain the most precise data for my experiment, some variables must be controlled

and the IV must be easy to manage.

The independent variable of my experiment is the Angle of Attack (AoA), measured in

decimal degrees, of angles -30º, -20º, 0º, 10º, 20º, 30º, 40º, 50º, 60º, 70º and 80º. The choice of

angles are to ensure the experimentation finds where the back stall point/angle is among the

chosen angles. However, typically the back stall is at about 15º of AoA (CAA, n.d.), so it should

be found within this range.

Hence, my dependent variable will be the lift coefficient, proportional to the lift force,

obtained with the Lift formula. (1) Once more, there is no exact way I can obtain lift coefficient

simply with a formula with the angle of attack, which is why I will be measuring other

components to make sure my hypothesis is true. A significant variable that must be considered is

the lift force, 𝐿.

Significantly, there are many other variables that could alter my result and hypothesis,

which are part of my control variables:

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Control Variable Why does it need to
be controlled?
Air density (𝜌) Air density refers to the amount
of mass per unit volume of air.
It is a measure of how much air
molecules are packed within a
given space. Air density can be
influenced by factors such as
altitude, temperature, and
humidity. Air density can affect
the lift proportionally, affecting
the coefficient of lift. The more
molecules the airfoil can push
downwards, the more lift.
Wind velocity Air velocity refers to the speed
or rate at which air molecules
are moving in a particular
direction. It is a measure of the
magnitude and direction of the
airflow. Air velocity greatly
affects the lift, as the airfoil
would push in a much greater
speed the air molecules
downward, thus more lift.
Airfoil surface area Surface area refers to the total
area of the external or outer
surface of the airfoil. It is a
measure of the extent of the
airfoil’s surface that is exposed
or in contact with the wind. It is
directly and proportionally
linked to the lift of the airfoil,
according to the formula, which
is why it must be constant.
Airfoil shape The airfoil shape refers to the
thickness, curvature, or any
other geometric profile of the
airfoil. An airfoil can be
symmetrical or asymmetrical,
meaning that from the chord
there is a symmetry or not.
Another shape factor of an
airfoil to consider is the camber,
which refers to the curvature or
shape of its upper and lower
surfaces. It describes the
deviation from a straight line
between the leading edge (front)
and trailing edge (rear) of the
airfoil.
How will it be
controlled?
Performing the experiment
under same humidity
conditions and same
temperature (looking at the
weather conditions). The best
way to maintain these
conditions is by recording the
trials in the same day at the
same time. A formula will be
used to calculate it.
A wind source can take care
of maintaining the wind
velocity constant. Specifically,
I will use a hairdryer as a
wind source. A fan or
another wind source could
impact on the scales readings
as the wind was not
concentrated in one beam.
On the other hand, a
hairdryer would perform a
much better job at this.
Recording the trials with the
same airfoil, 3D printed by
the school’s 3D printer,
model provided by the
University of Michigan.
(Wood M. , 2023)
As the airfoil does not have a
planar surface, a paper will be
used to measure the surface
area.
Recording the trials with the
same airfoil, 3D printed by
the school’s 3D printer,
model provided by the
University of Michigan.
(Wood M. , 2023).
The shape of the airfoil has
been specifically chosen to
match the kitesurf’s design:
asymmetrical with no camber.
12
 EXPERIMENT SETUP

As mentioned earlier, I must model the kite of kitesurfing. To conduct the experiment, a

source of wind is required, to simulate the natural wind kites are subject to. For this, a hairdryer

was chosen, as hairdryers generate wind that is stable in speed and pressure over time, meaning it

produces laminar flow. Laminar flow is a term in aerodynamics described as fluid particles

gliding smooth manner, exhibiting minimal to no interference between the particles, with a

constant speed and pressure. However, the hairdryer presents a major drawback: The wind

generated takes on the form of a cone, expanding gradually as it moves away from the hairdryer.

With increased distance from the hairdryer, the cross-sectional area of the cone grows larger,

resulting in a reduction in the velocity of the airflow, due to the principle of mass flow

conservation. This doesn’t simulate natural wind as well, as it is constant in a large area. Hence,

the hairdryer should be held in place, unchanging the distance from the kite. (What is the

relationship between the critical air speed required to blow a bubble and the radius of the wand

forming it?, 2022)

Furthermore, an airfoil shape as a model must simulate a kite. After researching online,

thankfully, the University of Michigan Physics Lecture Demonstration Laboratory had provided

a model they had designed, and published a demonstration similar to the one of this exhibiton in

the online platform YouTube, in their channel called UMDemoLab. (UMDemoLab, 2021) I

contacted them personally via electronic mail and they had sent the 3D model, figure 12. (Wood

M. , 2023)

FIGURE 12 - 3D MODEL SUPPORTED BY EDRAWINGS

SOFTWARE, FULL ASSEMBLY

13
 Now, I needed to design a setup. See figure 13 and 14. I intended to have the wind

source as fixed as possible, thinking some way to fix some weight to the hairdryer, so I came up

with an idea that would minimize and simplify this, by using a typical parasol stand, which are

generally designed to be heavy, which was perfect for my hairdryer. It also had screws that could

FIGURE 13 - TOP VIEW OF EXPERIMENT SETUP, PICTURE BY ME

14
 FIGURE 14 - LATERAL VIEW OF FIGURE 15 - UPPER LEVEL INDICATING THE
EXPERIMENT SETUP, PICTURE BY ME HAIRDRYER IS PARALLEL, PICTURE BY ME

fix well the hairdryer in place. It wasn’t possible to turn on and off manually the hairdryer with

this stand, so to make it function the only way possible was plugging in or out the outlet. Due to

the design of the hairdryer, the flow would point slightly downwards so I had to correct this by

setting something below the parasol stand, to conduct the wind flow parallel to the floor for

maximum preciseness, see figure 15.

As to the airfoil, I had to put something below so that

it would be leveled with the height of the wind flow, so I used

a box. The key point of the experiment is to measure the

weight of the airfoil, so I used a weigh. I measured this to

know the lift force produced by the airfoil, which could be

calculated by knowing the initial, unchanged weight value of

the airfoil in comparison to the weight displayed in the weigh

FIGURE 16 - LEVEL OF WEIGH,
under wind condition, which is hypothetically lower. If the PICTURE BY ME

15
airfoil’s mass is unchanged, the change in weight displayed is the lift force. Then the lift

coefficient can be calculated with the formula (1).

Owing to the University of Michigan Demonstration

Laboratory, the system could easily change the AoA. However,

their angle protractor could only show angles in 10º, so I

replaced it by a full decimal angle protractor for smaller

uncertainties.

I also had to measure with a multimeter the wind speed

in meters per second. However, I found out that this wasn’t as

easy as I had expected, as the value changed significantly from

FIGURE 17 - MULTIMETER
MEASURING WIND SPEED IN
M/S place to place.

The airfoil does not only produce lift but drag too, which is a force parallel in the same

direction and parallel to the wind flow. I first did the experiment without any kind of fixture of

the model to the weigh, and noticed the model would fall backwards, due to the drag. So, I had

to tape with duct tape the model to the weigh. Still, I had noticed that the duct tape would

detach with ease from the weigh.

HYPOTHESIS

Once all variables have been presented, I must formulate a hypothesis. According to

what I have understood from the stall point and critical angle of attack of attack, while the AoA

increases, the weight displayed in the weigh should decrease uniformly/linearly, hence the

coefficient of lift should increase uniformly. However, there should be a point where this

relationship is no longer true, and the lift force becomes smaller, due to the incapability of the

airfoil to ‘push’ the wind through the Coandă Effect. I speculate this point will occur when the

AoA is at about 15º and at 1.15 lift coefficient, as to research. (CAA, n.d.) (Hall, 2022)

16
 DETERMINING LIFT

Let 0.2730 𝑘𝑔 ± 7 × 10./ be the initial weight of the airfoil, being the uncertainty according to

observation, as the mass fluctuated significantly due to the turbulence caused by the wind.

Therefore:

As an example, at -20º, 0.271𝑘𝑔:

2(0.2730 ± 7 × 10./ 𝑘𝑔) ∗ 9.8𝑚𝑠 ." :– 2(0.2710 𝑘𝑔 ± 7 × 10./ ) ∗ 9.8𝑚𝑠 ." : = 0.0196 ±

1.4 × 10.0 𝑁, or 0.0196 𝑁 ± 7.14%

Hence, a table is presented showing the respective mass and lift force exerted by the airfoil at a

determined AoA:

AoA (º) Mass (kg) ±𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎!𝟒 Lift force (N) ±𝟏. 𝟒 × 𝟏𝟎!𝟑

-30 0.2740 -0.0098+-14.28%

-20 0.2710 0.0196+-7.14%

0 0.2650 0.0784+-1.78%

10 0.2620 0.1078+-1.29%

20 0.2580 0.147+-0.95%

30 0.2550 0.1764+-0.79%

40 0.2520 0.2058+-0.68%

50 0.2490 0.2352+-0.59%

60 0.2500 0.2254+-0.62%

70 0.2570 0.1568+-0.89%

80 0.2620 0.1078+-1.29%

TABLE 1 - RESPECTIVE MASS AND LIFT FORCE FOR DETERMINED AOA

17
 DETERMINING LIFT COEFFICIENT

With use of the lift formula:

"
𝐿 = 𝐶! × 𝐴 × 𝜌 × 𝑉 )2

And substituting:

𝐴 = 0.022𝑚" ± 1 × 10.0

𝑉 = 8 ± 0.1𝑚/𝑠

And calculating 𝜌, being a humid air density, with the formula: (Czernia, 2023)

𝑝# 𝑝$
𝜌= +
𝑅# × 𝑇 𝑅$ × 𝑇

Where:

𝜌= Density of humid air (𝑘𝑔/𝑚0 )

𝑝# = Partial pressure of dry air (𝑃𝑎)

𝑅# = Specific gas constant for dry air, 287.058 𝐽/(𝑘𝑔𝐾)

𝑇 = Temperature (°𝐾)

𝑝$ = Partial pressure of water vapour (𝑃𝑎)

𝑅$ = Specific gas constant for water vapour, 461.495 𝐽/(𝑘𝑔𝐾)

According to the SMHI (smhi.se, 2023), and Ventusky (Ventusky, 2023), the latest observation

of temperature, humidity percentage and mean air pressure in Falsterbo, Sweden, place where

18
the experiment was performed, were 18.6ºC, 85%, and 1024hPa respectively. However, the

experiment was done indoors, and values will be manually displaced, having 20ºC, 50% humidity

and 1023hPa. To calculate air density, we need the pressure of both dry air and the humidity,

hence substituting:

𝑝# = 1011.3𝑃𝑎

𝑅# = 287.058 𝐽/(𝑘𝑔𝐾)

𝑇 = 20℃; 293.15 °𝐾

𝑝$ = 9.334𝑃𝑎

𝑅$ = 461.495 𝐽/(𝑘𝑔𝐾)

With help of the Omni Calculator (Czernia, 2023), we obtain a value of

𝜌= 1.21045 ± 0.05 𝑘𝑔/𝑚%

Finally, by substituting all values and rearranging the lift formula:

𝐿
𝐶$ =
(8 ± 1.25% 𝑚/𝑠)%=
(0.022𝑚% ± 4.545%) × (1.21045𝑘𝑔/𝑚& ± 4.13069%) × 2

And now substituting values of 𝐿 from table 1, obtaining 𝐶! . The following table presents the

premise:

19
 AoA (º) Mass (kg) ±𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎!𝟒 Lift force (N) ±𝟏. 𝟒 × 𝟏𝟎!𝟑 𝑪𝑳

-30 0.2740 -0.0098+-14.28% -0.01150+-0.0016498

-20 0.2710 0.0196+-7.14% 0.02300+-0.0016574

0 0.2650 0.0784+-1.78% 0.09200+-0.0016985

10 0.2620 0.1078+-1.29% 0.12650+-0.0017156

20 0.2580 0.147+-0.95% 0.17250+-0.0017529

30 0.2550 0.1764+-0.79% 0.20700+-0.0017723

40 0.2520 0.2058+-0.68% 0.24150+-0.0018021

50 0.2490 0.2352+-0.59% 0.27600+-0.0018111

60 0.2500 0.2254+-0.62% 0.26450+-0.0018150

70 0.2570 0.1568+-0.89% 0.18400+-0.0017594

80 0.2620 0.1078+-1.29% 0.12650+-0.0017156

TABLE 2 - RESPECTIVE VALUES OF AOA AND 𝐶!

Respectively, 3 graphs are presented:

GRAPH 1 - PLOTTED GRAPH AND TABLE OF ANGLE OF ATTACK (º) AND MASS (KG) OF THE
AIRFOIL, FIXED UNCERTAINTY ±𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎"𝟒

20
GRAPH 2 - PLOTTED GRAPH AND TABLE OF ANGLE OF ATTACK (º) AND LIFT FORCE (N) OF THE
AIRFOIL, FIXED UNCERTAINTY ±𝟏. 𝟒 × 𝟏𝟎"𝟑

GRAPH 3 – PLOTTED GRAPH AND TABLE OF ANGLE OF ATTACK (º) AND LIFT COEFFICIENT OF
THE AIRFOIL, INDIVIDUAL UNCERTAINTIES PRESENTED.

21
 EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION

Fortunately, my results and calculations were highly precise, but not as accurate as expected. This

means that my graph has a shape like what I had hypothesized, like figure 4, having a linear lift

coefficient but with a drop at a certain AoA. However, this ‘drop’ did not happen as I had

hypothesized. Instead of happening at 15º of angle, it happened tardy, at about 55º (see graph 1),

which raised me doubts. After further research, most investigations upon lift coefficient use

wind tunnels that can reach ‘hypersonic velocities’ (Team, 2022), in comparison to the much

lower 10 m/s that the hairdryer in my experiment could generate. This explains the reason why

my critical AoA was late, as the Coandă Effect can take place and follow the airfoil’s shape at a

higher critical angle with a slower fluid than a faster one. This can be explained with the previous

explanation upon the Coandă Effect: how more velocity means less pressure built to create a

centrifugal force, not following the airfoils path.

Furthermore, the lift coefficient at its maximum was not as I had hypothesized either. My

experiment showed a maximum of 0.29 𝐶$ , while research suggests the maximum can be at 1.15

𝐶$ . Once again, it could be due to the low velocity my hairdryer generated, as the lift force is

proportional to the velocity at a squared rate. If the velocity of the hairdryer doubled the lift

force would quadruple.

Moreover, an important factor that could have changed my results is the fact that I used a

hairdryer. As explained in the experiment setup, although the hairdryer created laminar flow, it

also reduced its velocity gradually from the hairdryer. I noticed this with the multimeter. I had

checked the velocity in front of and behind the airfoil and noticed there was change of about 3

m/s. This does not apply to what professional wind tunnels generate and is not what physically

occurs in natural wind when kitesurfing, where wind velocity is constant. The fact that there was

a big drop in velocity in my experimentation affects the lift generation and the coefficient of lift.

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While conducting the experiment I had noticed another important factor that could have altered

my results: as seen in figure 15, the hairdryer was not big enough to create wind so that the

whole airfoil was under wind conditions. “Wind tunnels are made in different shapes and sizes,

from just 30 cm long to large enough to contain a passenger airplane” (Some Basic Principles of

Wind Tunnel Design, 2012), compared to the smaller 7cm of diameter of my hairdryer. This

raised doubts in the value of the surface area, as it could have been smaller than the

measurements I had taken.

All of these factors lead to the uncertainties of my experiment. The percentage uncertainty of the

denominator on the lift equation (1) was of almost a 10%, plus the uncertainty given by the lift

force, which is a remarkable percentage that should be addressed. It turns out the majority is due

to the surface area and the air density, which makes sense as my tools/resources to obtain these

were not professional at all.

As a kitesurfer myself, I have rarely experimented a back stall while exercising this sport, which

struck me as accurate. Kitesurf brands design their commercial kites and bars (as in figure 1)

after conducting certain experiments and investigation upon the physics of their kites, so that the

line system does not form an angle of attack above the critical AoA, minimizing falls and a

smoother experience while kitesurfing. (Landell-Mills, 2023)

In conclusion, NASA themselves say: “Aerodynamicists rely on wind tunnel testing and very

sophisticated computer analysis to determine the lift coefficient.” (Hall, 2022). To study and

analyze aerodynamics there is equipment needed that I, as an IB student, don’t have access to.

Furthermore, “Little analysis has been done on the physics of kiteboarding to date.” (Landell-

Mills, 2023). If I were to conduct the experiment once more and had the professional resources

needed, I would use a wind tunnel that could generate wind to submerge the whole airfoil and

that the wind had a constant velocity of about 30 m/s. Luckily, the airfoil of the University of

Michigan Demonstration Laboratory was helpful and aided me in obtaining the precise results.

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