Experimental Study of Airfoil in Wind-Tunnel

Flow dynamics of airfoil is a crucial subject of aeronautical research. The extensive analysis done over past one century has enabled us to obtain optimization of aeronautical profiles in modern aircrafts. This book primarily presents the experimental results and analysis of a symmetrical airfoil and its behavior inside a subsonic wind-tunnel. The study includes mapping of change in wind velocity with the variation in wattage power supplied to the wind-tunnel. Further, a symmetrical airfoil - NACA 0015, has been employed to study the aerodynamic parameters involved. Analysis of the pressure distribution, velocity distribution and aerodynamic forces acting on the airfoil has been done. The pressure coefficients have been calculated at different positions on the airfoil surface subjected to varying wind velocity. Coefficients of lift and drag have also been calculated for NACA 0015 airfoil over a range of angles of attack. All the variations have been plotted accordingly. The experimental results and corresponding graphs obtained were found to be in agreement with the literature.