Experimental wind tunnel study of airfoils with large flap deflections at low Reynolds numbers

Lift, drag, and moment measurements were taken at low Reynolds numbers for four airfoils with trailing edge plain flaps in an attempt to understand the effects of Reynolds number, percent thickness (t/c), percent chord of flap (flap-chord ratio), and flap deflection on airfoil performance. The four airfoils used in this research were the AG40d-02r, AG455ct-02r, W1011, and W1015. The W1011 and W1015 are symmetrical airfoils that were design using PROFOIL specifically for this research. PROFOIL is an inverse airfoil design code that utilizes conformal mapping. The W1011 and W1015 were designed to have similar performance characteristics that favor aerobatic flight. Airfoil performance was predicted computationally using XFOIL during the inverse design of the W1011 and W1015 airfoils. In order to effectively analyze and compare the experimental results, lift and moment increment plots were created. Drag data with large flap deflections was collected to determine the main driving factor for airfoil drag in this regime. Flap deflections ranged from -20 to 65 deg and Reynolds numbers varied from 100,000 to 500,000 depending on the airfoil being tested. The flap sizes tested for this research ranged from 20 to 30 percent of chord depending on the airfoil being tested.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Aerospace Engineering

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2012

Author dc:creator

• Williamson, Gregory

Contributors dc:contributor

• Selig, Michael S.

• low Reynolds numbers
• low Reynolds number airfoils
• low Reynolds number airfoil design
• low Reynolds number inverse airfoil design
• large flap deflections
• plain flap
• plain flaps at low Reynolds numbers
• trailing edge plain flap
• symmetrical airfoils
• PROFOIL
• MFOIL
• XFOIL
• percent chord flap
• flap-chord ratio
• flap chord ratio
• Reynolds number effects
• Reynolds number effects at low Reynolds numbers
• airfoil thickness effects at low Reynolds numbers
• effects of flap deflection on airfoil performance
• effects of flap deflection on airfoil performance at low Reynolds numbers
• lift increment
• moment increment
• maximum lift with a plain flap at low Reynolds numbers
• drag measurements for large flap deflections at low Reynolds numbers
• lift-to-drag characteristics for airfoils at low Reynolds number with large flap deflections
• inverse airfoil design
• conformal mapping
• AG455ct-02r
• AG40d-02r
• AG455ct
• AG40d
• W1011
• W1015
• E387
• Eppler E387
• aerobatic airfoils
• wind tunnel study at low Reynolds numbers
• Low-Speed Airfoil Tests (LSATs)
• UIUC LSATs
• experimental wind tunnel study of airfoils at low Reynolds numbers with large flap deflections
• experimental wind tunnel study of airfoils at low Reynolds numbers
• laminar separation bubble
• effects of laminar separation bubbles on airfoil performance
• effects of laminar separation bubbles on airfoil performance at low Reynolds numbers
• boundary layer trip
• boundary layer trips at low Reynolds numbers
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2012 by Gregory A. Williamson. All rights reserved.

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/31060

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/31060