Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Applied Sciences: Research Areas

Article Title: Analysis of Lift and Drag Characteristic of Airfoil Made From Locally Available Materials at Low Reynolds Number
by Abubakar, M. A; Disina, U. M; Bello, M. S; Bisu, D. Y; and Orisanaiye, B. A,

Abstract:
This work determined the lift/ drag characteristics of a NACA 4415 with a 15% thickness to chord ratio was analyzed to determine airfoil favoured by many wind turbine manufacturers at low Reynolds number. NACA 4415 was cast using thermo set material (fibre glass and polyester resin e.t.c). Wind tunnel experiments were performed to obtain the lift and drag forces. The size of the cast airfoil is such that it can be mounted in the test section of the wind tunnel. Using the wind speeds of 3.0 m/s to 7.0 m/s at intervals of 1 m/s, the lift and drag forces were measured at seventeen different angles of attack. The Reynolds number, Coefficient of Lift, and Coefficient of drag corresponding to each wind speed were obtained using the wind tunnel data management system. From the graphs it was observed that NACA 4415 have a stall angle at 160 angle of attack with maximum at 1.20 angle of attack. As expected with low Reynolds number, the airfoil will generate lesser lift and encounter higher drag; this is due to the increase in velocity of the air as it flows over the model, increasing all aerodynamic forces in the wind tunnel. NACA 4415 airfoil test data was claims better performance compared to NACA 4412, 0015 as expected with low Reynolds number regime due to maximum camber, the drag experienced by the airfoils was high with the Reynolds number. This is more pronounced with the graph.

Keywords: NACA 4415, Lift/Drag, Thermo set cast Airfoil, Reynolds Number

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