Lift and Drag Force Analysis of Airfoil Shape in The Low Subsonic Wind Tunnel

Abstract

The wind tunnel is a tool used in aerodynamic research to study the effects of wind moving over a solid object. This thesis work is done to design and simulate a low-subsonic wind tunnel as the future construction of a laboratory instrument for our university. To experimentally determine the drag and lift forces acting on an airfoil model in a low-subsonic wind tunnel using measured upstream and downstream air velocities. To compute the lift and drag coefficients for the airfoil (chord of airfoil 0.15m and span 0.12m) at various angles of attack (0° to 90°, in 15° steps) and validate them using JavaFoil simulation at Reynolds number 7.2 × 104 and air density 1.1839 kg/m³.To analyze the aerodynamic performance of the airfoil by observing the variation of lift and drag forces with respect to changes in angle of attack under steady low-subsonic flow conditions.