Experimental Analysis of a Low Cost Lift and Drag Force Measurement System for Educational Sessions
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International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056 Volume: 04 Issue: 09 | Sep -2017 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072 Experimental Analysis of a Low Cost Lift and Drag Force Measurement System for Educational Sessions Asutosh Boro B.Tech National Institute of Technology Srinagar Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012 ---------------------------------------------------------------------***--------------------------------------------------------------------- Abstract - A low cost Lift and Drag force measurement wind- tunnel and used for educational learning with good system was designed, fabricated and tested in wind tunnel accuracy. In addition, an indirect wind tunnel velocity to be used for basic practical lab sessions. It consists of a measurement capability of the designed system was mechanical linkage system, piezo-resistive sensors and tested. NACA airfoil 4209 was chosen as the test subject to NACA Airfoil to test its performance. The system was tested measure its performance and tests were done at various at various velocities and angle of attacks and experimental angles of attack and velocities 11m/s, 12m/s and 14m/s. coefficient of lift and drag were then compared with The force and coefficient results obtained were compared literature values to find the errors. A decent accuracy was with literature data from airfoil tools[1] to find the deduced from the lift data and the considerable error in system’s accuracy. drag was due to concentration of drag forces across a narrow force range and sensor’s fluctuations across that 1.1 Methodology range. It was inferred that drag system will be as accurate as the lift system when the drag forces are large. So overall The phenomenon of Lift and drag is very complex and is the composed system performs well at large force ranges. In theorized for better understanding by potential flow and addition, the lift system was indirectly used to measure the boundary layer theory which has good agreements with wind tunnel velocity and results were compared with experimental results [2]. Overall the complex theories accurate values from a differential manometer. Results were derives two simple equations for lift and drag forces: good with an error of -6.5%. So the system could likewise be utilized to measure wind tunnel’s fluid velocity. Overall, the = budget for the system was very low in contrast to other = measurement systems and this system proved good enough to be used for force and velocity analysis in practical sessions for students. Further, the same design could be Where v is the free stream air velocity, ρ is the air density experimented with different sensors for better accuracy and and Ay is the projected area of the object as seen from cost reduction parallel to fluid flow and Ax is the projected area of the object as seen from perpendicular to the fluid flow. and Key Words: Piezo-resistive, Naca, Mechanical Linkage, contains all the complex dependencies and they are Wind Tunnel, Airfoil generally determined experimentally [ 3]. 1.INTRODUCTION 2. Design Chosen Any atmospheric flying objects, ships and cars need to go The main parts of the design are consists of the following through various CFD simulations and wind tunnel tests for parts: better design and lift & drag force tests are some of the most important tests that it has to go through. Coefficient i. Mechanical Linkage of Lift and Drag are two of the primary concerns of these ii. Pulleys And Supports tests. Furthermore, flow over immersed bodies is an iii. Piezo resistive Sensors important part of fluid mechanics and it has to be iv. Airfoil experimentally experienced and visualized by a student. v. Microcontroller circuit So wind tunnel experiments become very important. However, wind tunnel testing is expensive. And only a few 2.1 Mechanical Linkage educational Institutions in India have wind turbines with an accurate force measurement. A six component force Mechanical linkages are made of aluminum strips for its balance device can cost up to lakhs which could sometimes lightweight and considerable stiffness Strips S1 and S2 are be twice as much as the wind tunnel’s cost. This paper joined by rivets such that they can rotate freely about presents a simple low cost design for a force measurement system that can easily be fabricated and arranged inside a © 2017, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 5.181 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 278 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056 Volume: 04 Issue: 09 | Sep -2017 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072 by balancing torque by placing some resistance at a distance L1 vertically above point1 strip S3 in this case. A sensor is placed at this resistance to measure the drag force Equilibrium equation: FD*L = Fs*L1 FD = Fs(L1/L) 2.2 Pulleys and supports For proper, easy reading and calibration, the self-weight of airfoil and linkage mechanism has to be continuously balanced otherwise the wind would have to first put a force equal to the weight of the foil to start showing sensor readings . A pulley system was designed as a solution as shown in Figure 3. The airfoil was hanged to the pulley and a counter weight was fixed to the other side of the Figure 1. Mechanical Linkage System pulley joint1. The higher vertical end of S2 is bolted to another strip S7 which is bolted to the test subject such that angle of attack can be varied as shown in Figure 3. Strip S1 is fixed with supporting strips S6 and S5 with nuts and bolts such that it can only rotate freely about its center of mass. Strips S5 and S6 are fixed with the supporting base as shown in Figure 1. S3 is fixed with S4 and S4 is fixed to the supporting base. Figure 3. Pulley And Support System Supporting desk is made of wood and its total weight is increased by adding sand bags so that total weight of the support remains greater than the maximum lift force the airfoil can encounter 2.3 Piezoresistive sensor Figure 2. Airfoil with Strip S7 They are used to balance torque such that all the reaction force are exerted by the sensor. Linkage1 consists of main strips S1 and S2. Linkage1 is used for lift force and Linkage 2 is used for drag force measurement. Linkage2 consists of main strips S3 and S4. Since S1 is fixed to rotate about its center of mass so if air tries to lift the foil with force FL this force will be transmitted by strip S2 at joint1 vertically and equal amount of force will be applied by any object kept at S1’s other end to maintain equilibrium. A force sensor will be Figure 4. Piezo-resistive sensor [4] kept at this location. S2 can rotate about joint1. If air exerts a drag force Fd on the foil, equilibrium can be maintained © 2017, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 5.181 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 279 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056 Volume: 04 Issue: 09 | Sep -2017 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072 Two flexi-force[4] piezo-resistive force sensors were used for drag and lift. These sensors are ideal for measuring force without disturbing the dynamics of tests. Both static and dynamic forces can be measured up to 100 lbf. They are thin enough to enable non-intrusive measurement. These sensors use a resistive based technology. The application of a force to the active sensing area of the sensor results in a change in the resistance of the sensing element in inverse proportion to the force applied. Piezo resistive sensors have ultra-thin and flexible printed circuit, which can be easily integrated into most applications. With its paper thin construction as shown in Figure 5, flexibility and force measurement ability, it can Figure 6. NACA 4209 Airfoil measure force between almost any two surfaces and is durable enough to stand up to most environments. It has better force sensing properties, linearity, hysteresis, drift and temperature sensitivity than any other thin-film force sensors. The active sensing area is a 0.375 diameter circle at the end of the sensor. So load should be evenly distributed throughout the circular sensing area for accurate sensing. Its calibration has been done with the Figure 7. Line Diagram of NACA 4209 Airfoil provided resistance vs force relation as shown in Figure 5 Chord length was taken as 39.5 cm Maximum camber 4% of chord length Maximum camber position at 20 % of chord length from leading edge Maximum thickness 9% of chord length 2.5 Microcontroller circuitry and coding Arduino[5] was used for its easy and fast prototyping. The circuitry is as shown in Figure 8 Figure 5. Resistance-Force Relation of sensor[4] After analyzing the inverse relation between resistance and force one can approximately come to conclusion with the relation Force = (25304580/Resistance) N. This relation will be further used in program coding 2.4 Airfoil NACA airfoil 4209 was chosen as the test subject as shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7. It was used because of its simplicity in design and fabrication. This type of airfoil is Figure 8. Arduino Board And Circuit speed sensitive in that an increase in speed will causes your plane to climb. Flat bottom wings create a lot of lift R1 =R4= 100000ohms and are very commonly seen in biplanes and high wing planes. These have a lot of drag. And these are very easy to Voltage in to both the sensors is 5 volts from Arduino . The control. Hence it was chosen since it will give better data. system was tested at a constant voltage of 5 Volts.