THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING

MME 3303 “Fluid Mechanics II”

Lift and drag on an airfoil

1. Introduction

Whenever there is a relative motion between a solid body and the viscous fluid surrounding it,
the body experiences a net force. The main factors on which the magnitude of this force depends
are, the relative velocity, shape and size of the body and fluid properties such as, density,
viscosity, etc. Except for the simplest body shapes, it is extremely difficult to get an analytical
expression for this net force. Due to unavailability of the analytical solution, we have to rely
heavily on the experimental data to determine the net force experience by the body.
Conventionally, the net force, F, is resolved into two components; the drag force (FD) and lift
force (FL). The drag force is the component of force parallel to the direction of motion and the
lift force is the component of the force perpendicular to the direction of motion (see figure 1).

Figure 1: Lift and drag forces on an object subjected to a free stream flow

The lift (FL) and drag (FD) forces are given as,
FL = 12 C L ρV 2 A (1)

FD = 12 C D ρV 2 A (2)

where, ρ is the fluid density, V is the velocity and A is the characteristic cross-sectional area. CD
is the nondimensional drag force coefficient commonly referred to as the drag coefficient, and CL
is the nondimensional lift force coefficient commonly referred to as the lift coefficient.
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An airfoil, shown in figure 2 is a device to generate lift force. Airfoils are used in a variety of
applications but their commonly used application is the airplane wing.

Figure 2: Schematic of an airfoil

The chord of an airfoil is the straight line joining the leading edge and the trailing edge. The
angle of attack, α, is the angle between the airfoil chord and the free stream velocity. If the chord
line is not a line of symmetry, then the airfoil is said to be cambered. The Reynolds number in
airfoil design is based on the chord length and is referred to as the chord Reynolds number, i.e.
Uc
Re c =
ν
where, U is the free stream velocity, c is the chord length and ν is the kinematic viscosity of the
fluid. The phenomenon of aerodynamic lift is commonly explained as the generation of different
pressure distribution on the top and bottom surfaces. The increase in velocity over the top surface
causing a decrease in pressure and a velocity decrease along the bottom surface result in an
increase in pressure (the Bernoulli Effect). Thus, we have high pressure under the object and low
pressure above the object. This pressure difference causes the lift.
Airfoils normally operate at large Reynolds numbers at which, the viscous effects are confined to
the boundary layers and the wake regions. Hence, the wall shear stress contributes little to the
lift, and most of the lift comes from the surface pressure distribution. A change in angle of attack
significantly influence the flow dynamics around the airfoil and hence has a significant impact
on the magnitudes of lift and drag forces exerted by the fluid on the airfoil. If the angle of attack
becomes too large, the flow is separated completely from the upper surface and the airfoil is said
to be stalled. In this case, the lift drops significantly, the drag increases significantly and the
airfoil is no longer flyable.
The lift/drag ratio (CL/CD) is very important in the design of an aircraft. The lift coefficient
determines the lift of the wing and hence the load that can be carried. The drag coefficient

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indicates a large part (in addition to that caused by fuselage) of the drag, the airplane engines
have to work against in order to generate the needed lift. Hence, a high CL/CD ratio is the goal.

2. Objectives

(i) To study the influence of the angle of attack on the lift and drag forces on an airfoil
(ii) To visually observe the flow dynamics around the airfoil

3. Experimental Apparatus

Experiments will be conducted in a wind tunnel located in the Gas Dynamics Laboratory (SEB
1072). It is a closed-circuit wind tunnel with a test section. Figure 3 shows the general
configuration of the lab apparatus. The airfoil will be placed inside the wind tunnel test section
and exposed to two different free stream air velocities. The drag and lift forces exerted by the
wind on the airfoil will be recorded via load cell located underneath the object mounting
structure. To obtain the drag and lift coefficients of a given geometric shape, three parameters
will be measured; drag force, lift force and wind speed in the test section of the tunnel. The load
cell for measurements can record forces in three axes. However, as only the drag and lift force
are of interest, the force components parallel (horizontal) and perpendicular (vertical) relative to
the flow stream will be recorded. To measure the speed of the wind inside the tunnel, a pitot tube
is used. A pitot tube operates based on Bernoulli’s equation, and computes fluid velocity by
comparing the stagnation pressure to the static pressure. The load cell measurement is read from
a LabVIEW program.

Figure 3: Schematic of the wind tunnel showing the test section and airfoil mounted to the load cell
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5. Procedure

I. Preliminary run to estimate the drag force due to the mounting system
a) The drag force on the mounting system for both speeds was determined and is
summarized below in table 1.

Mounting System – 15 Hz - 10.6121 m/s Mounting System – 30 Hz - 23.1461 m/s

Drag Force (N) 0.235 2.075
Lift Force (N) 1.178 5.137
Table 1: Mounting System Forces

II. Drag and lift force measurements on the airfoil:

a) Set the airfoil angle of attack to 0 degrees.

b) Zero offset the load cell. This is done by clicking “Bias” in the LabVIEW program. All
forces and torques will be zero.

c) Start the wind tunnel (done by TA).

d) Set the wind tunnel fan frequency to 15 Hz (done by TA).

e) Record the drag and lift force components measured by the load cell. In the LabVIEW
program, set a file location for the data to be saved (Desktop\MME3303\Lab3). Record
the data over a short amount of time (~1second).

f) Repeat the measurements for the wind tunnel fan frequency of 30 Hz.

g) Stop the wind tunnel (done by TA).

h) Repeat steps a) to g) with varying angles of attack (specified by TA).

6. Data Analysis and Discussion

1. For each drag and lift force measurement, subtract the background drag force associated
with the mounting system (provided in Step I)

2. Calculate the Drag Coefficient for each angle of attack & wind speed.

3. Calculate the Lift Coefficient for each angle of attack & wind speed.

4. Plot the Drag Coefficient versus angle of attack for each wind speed.

5. Plot the Lift Coefficient versus angle of attack for each wind speed.

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 6. Plot the ratio of the Lift Coefficient to the Drag Coefficient (CL/CD) versus the angle of
attack for each wind speed.

7. For each angle and wind speed, present the drag force, lift force, drag coefficient and lift
coefficient values versus the angle of attack (see table below).

Angle of Attack Drag Force Lift Force Drag Coefficient Lift

(Degree) (N) (N) Coefficient

8. Calculate the chord Reynolds number for each wind speed.

9. Determine the angle of attack which corresponds to the greatest wing efficiency.

10. Comment on
a. The influence of wind speed on the lift and drag
b. The effect of angle of attack on lift and drag
c. The effect of the stall attack in terms of lift versus drag. How does this translate
into the performance of an aircraft?
d. Compare the generated plots to available literature of airfoils. Comment on the
differences.

7. Laboratory Safety

The wind tunnel should only be operated under the supervision of the laboratory TA. No
attempts should be made to start or stop the wind tunnel except under the supervision of the
laboratory TA.