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Here you will find information on the group project on wings in ground effect that will count for 30% of your final grade.
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Under construction
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The goal of the project is to apply the theoretical concepts covered in the lectures (potential flow theory, thin airfoil theory, Prandtl’s lifting line theory) on a concrete example of an airfoil in ground effect, to compare the results of these foundational theories with all their limitations and assumptions to experimental data.
You have been divided randomly into groups of 3. You will find your group number and fellow group members on moodle . Each group has been assigned a data file containing the experimental results from a experiment with a finite wing in ground effect. The input data can be found on moodle or here. The data file for your group is named group data4groupXX.dat with XX your group number.
The data file includes the results of a lift and a pitch moment polar. The experiments have been conducted in the water channel of the UNFoLD lab. The water channel has a test section of 0.6 m × 0.6 m × 3 m and a maximum free stream velocity of U∞ = 1 m/s. A finite wing with a NACA0018 cross-section is mounted vertically in the centre of the test section at a specific fixed distance from the side wall. The side wall acts as the ground plane. The ground clearance (h) is measured as the distance between the side wall and the quarter chord location. The instantaneous forces and moments acting on the wing are measured using a 6-axis load cell (ATI Nano25) mounted at the root of the wing outside the water. The angle of attack of the wing is increased in small steps in a static way. The lift and pitching moment around the leading edge are measured for each fixed angle of attack. The results are combined in the dat-file.
Render of the water channel in the UNFoLD lab
Photo of the wing in the water channel taken from the top. The splitter plate is missing on the photo.