Lift Calculation Using Wind-Tunnel Wall-Pressure Measurements

Lift in subsonic wind tunnels is generally calculated using load-balances or static pressure ports on the airfoil surface. While the load-balance method is relatively cheap compared to the airfoil surface pressure method, it yields only a single vector for the force on the airfoil instead of a force distribution over the surface. On the other hand, lift measurements using airfoil surface pressure ports require complex, expensive models and do not provide an easy way to test multiple airfoil shapes. Additionally, literature has shown that the pressure ports on the surface of an airfoil affect the flow and can cause premature flow transition, thereby leading to inaccuracy in the measurement of data. The Wall-Pressure Measurement (WPM) technique uses static ports on the walls of the wind tunnel to calculate the lift generated by an airfoil. Since the model inside the wind tunnel requires no instrumentation, the WPM method is especially suited to easy experimental analysis of large numbers of airfoils.

Students

• Sreevishnu Oruganti (BS AE 2020)
• Jack Madigan (BS AE 2021)

Publications

• Oruganti, S. and Narsipur. S., “Airfoil Lift Calculation Using Wind Tunnel Wall Pressures”, presented at the AIAA Region II Student Conference, Cocoa Beach, FL