EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF FLOW OVER SYMMETRICAL

AEROFOIL
Mayank Pawar1, Zankhan Sonara2
1,2
Assistant Professor,Chandubhai S. Patel Institute of Technology,
CHARUSAT, Changa, Gujarat, India

Abstract particles on the upper (convex) side tries to

The present study deals with the study of move those fluid particles away from the
static pressure distribution over the surface surface. This reduces the static pressure on this
of an aerofoil. Upper surface an aerofoil act side below the free stream pressure. On account
as a suction surface and lower surface act as of this “suction effect”, the convex surface of
a pressure surface. Due to difference in blade is known as suction side. The centrifugal
pressure on the suction and pressure surface force on the lower side presses the fluid harder
of an aerofoil, lift is produced. Lift produced on the blade surface, thus increasing the
is utilized for generation of power in pressure above that of free stream. Therefore
turbines, compressors and even for this side of blade is known as pressure surface.
movement of an aeroplane. In the present
study, experiment is carried out at different
angle of attack of an aerofoil and pressure is
measured at different points over the surface
of an aerofoil. The paper signifies following
outcome as, with increase in angle of attack Fig.1 Pressure distribution over aerofoil
of an aerofoil, flow separation leads towards surface [10]
the leading edge. Further, increase in angle This pressure difference on the upper
of attack leads to the effect of stall region on and lower side results in lift of an aerofoil
an aerofoil and decrease in high pressure which is is a result of pressure differences and
region over the surface of an aerofoil which depends on angle of attack, airfoil shape, air
results in decrease of lift. density, and airspeed.
Keywords: Aerofoil, Suction Surface,
Pressure Surface, Lift, Angle of Attack, stall TERMINOLOGIES
Region.
An outline of the symmetrical and
asymmetrical aerofoil. A and B denote the
I. Introduction
leading edge and trailing edge respectively. The
The blade sections employed for airplane leading edge is usually a circular area blended
wings and propellers are of such a geometrical into the main profile and the trailing edge is
configuration as to produce high lifts and low ideally of zero radius. Chord line: A line
drag values. This state of affair is possible with joining the leading and trailing edges of the
the so called lifting vanes which include bodies aerofoil. Profile center or camber line: A line
like kite, aerofoil, hydrofoil and propeller joining the mid points of the profile. Angle of
blade. An aerofoil is an streamline body which attack: Angle between the chord line and the
has a rounded leading edge, is elongated and is line of undisturbed velocity.
given a gradual curvature in the flow direction. Stall: Beyond a certain value of angle of attack,
As the fluid passes ove rthe surface of an separation point moves forward towards the
aerofoil, the centrifugal force of the fluid leading edge and the lift produced by the

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aerofoil starts diminishing. The aerofoil is then distribution on the airfoil surface, lift and drag
said to be operating under stalled conditions. forces, mean velocity profiles over the surface.
The value of the angle of attack at which lift They carried out experiments by varying the
reaches its maximum value is known as the angle of attack and changing the ground
stalling angle. clearance of the trailing edge from the
The angle of attack is the angle between minimum possible value to free stream velocity
the chord line of an airfoil and the oncoming region. They found that high values of pressure
air. A symmetrical airfoil will generate zero lift coefficient are obtained on the lower surface
at zero angle of attack. But as the angle of when the airfoil is close to the ground. This
attack increases, the air is deflected through a region of high pressure extended almost over
larger angle and the vertical component of the the entire lower surface for higher angles of
airstream velocity increases, resulting in more attack. As a result, higher values of lift
lift. For small angles a symmetrical airfoil will coefficient are obtained when the airfoil is close
generate a lift force roughly proportional to the to the ground. The flow accelerates over the
angle of attack. As the angle of attack grows airfoil due to flow diversion from the lower
larger, the lift reaches a maximum at some side, and a higher mean velocity is observed
angle; increasing the angle of attack beyond near the suction peak location. The pressure
this critical angle of attack causes the upper- distribution on the upper surface did not change
surface flow to separate from the wing; there is significantly with ground clearance for higher
less deflection downward so the airfoil angles of attack. The upper surface suction
generates less lift. The airfoil is said to causes an adverse pressure gradient especially
be stalled. for higher angles of attack, resulting in rapid
decay of kinetic energy over the upper surface,
leading to a thicker wake and higher turbulence
level and hence a higher drag.

III. EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP

Experimental set up as shown in fig.4
consists of suction type open circuit wind
tunnel with a test section of 30cm*30cm*100
cm length of thick Plexiglas window. 5 kw AC
motor with variable frequency drive is used for
Fig.2 Aerofoil Terminologies
axial fan. Multi tube manometer is used for
measuring pressure readings at different cross
II. Literature Review
section over the symmetrical aerofoil. NACA
Aerodynamic analysis of a symmetrical 0018 aerofoil as shown in fig.3 is with axial
aerofoil by Narayan Rathod [1] carried out chord -16cm and 29cm span with 12 pressure
different performance of an aerofoil based on taps is provided to determine pressure
geometry, Reynolds number and co-efficient of distribution over the surface of aerofoil.
lift. He emphasize mainly the parameters such Material of aerofoil is aluminium. Aerofoil is
as the distribution of pressure and velocity over inclined at different flow angles and variations
a symmetrical aerofoil surface and to obtain the in pressure on the upper & lower surface of the
characteristic curves. The experimental aerofoil is measured at different angles. These
approach has been applied to carry out the pressure differences will give effect of pressure
parametric study and results are being validated on both the surfaces of an aerofoil and hence
with the established results and he compared lift and drag produced due to aerofoil.
experimental characteristic graphs with the
theoretical graphs of lift versus angle of attack
and gave ideas of stall effect. Experimental
study of aerofoil with wind tunnel set up by P.
Ghosh [2] and his team experimented flow
characteristics over a symmetrical airfoil in a
low speed wind tunnel. They measured pressure

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High pressure region starts increasing on

lower surface of an aerofoil as shown in fig.7 as
we increase angle of contact. Effective high
pressure is obtained from 7.5 degree angle of
attack. Maximum high pressure gradient is
obtained at 15 degree which is around 0.92 at a
distance of 20 mm from the leading edge.

Fig.3 NACA 0018 Aerofoil with pressure

tappings
Co efficient of pressure at different locations on
the upper and lower side of an aerofoil is
obtained by measuring water level in multitube
manometerand in u-tube manometer.
The co efficient of pressure is given by,
P  P0
Cp  (1)
1 2
v
2
Where, P is static pressure at different points
and P0 is atmospheric pressure measured by
multitube manometer. Free stream velocity of Fig.5 Pressure distribution over upper
the flow V, can be measured by using piutot surface
tube and u-tube manometer. (angle of attack 0-15 degree)

Fig.4 Experimental setup

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
At an angle of attack equal to 0˚, pressure Fig.6 Pressure distribution over upper
distribution line is symmetry about each other surface
on both upper and lower surface. But due to (angle of attack 0- (-15) degree)
the effect of circulation and vortices on the
trailing edge of an aerofoil, high pressure At higher angle of attack, from 7.5. to 15,
region is formed near the trailing edge on the due to formation of wake region on the upper
upper surface of an aerofoil. surface of an aerofoil, pressure towards the
Increase in angle of attack from 0◦-15◦ results leading edge of an aerofoil reduces sharply.
in flow separation leading towards the leading Further increase in angle of attack may lead
edge of an aerofoil on the upper surface as towards stall effect of an aerofoil.
shown in fig.5 while sudden rise in pressure
occurs on the lower side at angle of attack 15◦
which increases the effect of sudden rise in
drag on the pressure side.

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separation and formation of wake region occurs

which gives high pressure on the trailing edge
of the pressure surface.
V. CONCLUSION
Vortices and flow separation starts forming at
the trailing edge of an aerofoil and it starts
growing further towards the leading edge as
angle of contact increases. This flow separation
can lead to increase in pressure at the trailing
edge and hence decrease in lift will occur. As
angle of attack is increase further, stall may
Fig.7 Pressure distribution over lower occur on the aerofoil which may lead to
surface decrease in lift or pressure gradient of an
(angle of attack 0-15 degree) aerofoil.
Further, increase in angle of contact 15◦
onwards may lead flow separation towards
leading edge of an aerofoil which may results
in stall effect of an aerofoil.
Even to reduce the effect of stall and flow
separation towards the leading edge, one may
do changes and modifications in design of an
aerofoil or can use slats and flap on the leading
and trailing edge of an aerofoil which generates
boundary layer flows.
On the opposite side, decrease in angle of
contact leads towards increase in effect of flow
Fig.8 Pressure distribution over lower resistance which results in effect of drag on the
surface aerofoil.
(angle of attack 0-(-15) degree) Acknowledgement
Increase in angle of attack leads the flow We are very thankful to Charotar University of
separation towards the leading edge of an Science and Technology, CHARUSAT,
aerofoil as shown in fig.5. From angle of attack Changa, Dist: Anand (Gujarat) for providing us
7.5◦ to 15◦, sudden increase in pressure starts facilities for performing experiment in fluid
occurring from 20 mm to 12 mm chord length mechanics lab on wind tunnel.
from the leading edge. It shows that flow starts References
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