EAS 3921

AEROSPACE LABORATORY 1

FLOW PAST A CIRCULAR CYLINDER

(AERODYNAMIC)

BACHELOR OF AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

FITRIYAH GHAZALI

151854

DATE OF EXPERIMENT: 18 FEB 2010

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 25 FEB 2010

OBJECTIVE
  Determination of pressure profile around a cylinder, whose axis is positioned transversely
to a stream of air.
 The derivation of drag force and drag coefficient.

INTRODUCTION
The two-dimensional wind tunnel P3230 is positioned on the working surface of the air
flow bench P3200. The tunnel end is connected to the air flow bench’s fan inlet spigot, using the
quick release fastenings, and any variations required to the wind tunnel’s height are made by
means of its adjustable feet. The model mounting cradle is clamped in position using the two
thumbscrews provided and the cylindrical model inserted and secured using the single center line
thumbscrew.
The slots in the top surface of the tunnel are blanked off with the black acrylic blanking
plate, whilst the slot immediately above the model mounting position accommodates the acrylic
mounting plate, which has a pressure tapping. The Pitot static tube is located in the slot upstream
of the model mounting position, with its nose approximately halfway down the height of the
tunnel and pointing upstream parallel to the direction.
The upper (total pressure) tapping of the pitot static tube is connected to the reservoir
tapping of the larger manometer, which is used initially in the upper inclined position. The side
(static pressure) tapping is connected to the leg of the longer manometer. The pressure tapping
on the cylinder model is connected to the reservoir tapping on the smaller manometer leg of the
inclined manometer, using the small bore flexible tube provided. The manometer tapping of this
leg is connected to the wind tunnel pressure tapping point positioned above the model mounting
position. The small manometer leg is used in its upper inclined position when the manometer is
leveled and its two legs zeroed.

THEORY
The derivation of the drag force and drag coefficient:

Figure 1 Figure 2
Figure 1 show the resultant aerodynamic force and the components into which it splits.
Figure 2 show the geometrical relationship of differential lengths.
From figure 1,
V∞ = free stream velocity
D = drag
= component of R parallel to V ͚
N = normal force
= component of R perpendicular to c
A = axial force
= component of R parallel to c
So, we can see that,
D=N sin α + A cos α

Drag coefficient,
FD
C D= 1
ρV 2 A
2

S= cross sectional area ( πd²/4 )

From the picture shown in Figure 2,

dx=ds cos θ
dy =−( ds sin θ )
S=c (1)

thus,
c d =c n sin α +c a cos α

The CD is dependent on the Reynold’s number if the dynamic pressure of the flow, P D is
changed. As the Reynold’s number is increased, the drag coefficient, CD will also be increased.
PROCEDURE

1. The outlet valve on the fan ductwork is fully closed and then the fan is switched on.
2. The outlet valve is slowly opened to give a pressure reading of approximately 0.4kPa
3. The actual value of pitot static tube reading is recorded and the then pitot tube is
withdrawn to a higher position in the tunnel, so that the air flow around the model is not
disturbed by the presence of the tube.
4. The position of the model is adjusted within its carrier so that the pressure taping points
directly upstream i.e. zero degree indicated on angular scale.
5. The value of the gauge pressure is recorded as indicated by the smaller manometer leg
reading multiplied by the manometer angle correction factor.
6. While keeping the outlet air valve in its fixed position, the model position is adjusted to
an angle of 10° and once again the gauge pressure is recorded.
7. This procedure is repeated for the range of angles 0- 180° using 10 increments.
RESULT & CALCULATIONS
Pitot static tube reading = 0.5 kPa
Manometer inclination factor = 1
Dynamic pressure of flow, PD = 0.5 kPa × 1
= 0.5 kPa

Pressure, P = 731 mmHg = 97 458.67 Pa

Room temperature, T = 29 ⁰C = 302.15 K
Specific gas constant for dry air, R= 287.05 J kg−1 K−1
P
Density of air, ρ=
RT
97 458.67 Pa
¿
( 287 ) (29+273.15 K )
= 1.1238698 kg/m3

1
PD = ρu∞2
2
2 PD
Upstream velocity, u∞ =
√ ρ
2( 500 Pa)
¿
√ 1.1238698 kg /m³
= 29.8292 m/s

∆P=ρg∆H
Where,
g= gravitational force = 9.81 m/s2
ρ = density of air = 1.1238698 kg/m3
∆H= difference in height = (∆Hmm x 10⁻3 )m
At angle of 0°

∆P=ρg∆H
∆P=1.1238698 kg/m3 x 9.81 m/s2 x (24mm x 10⁻3 )m
=0.264603906 Pa

CP=∆P/PD
= 0.264603906 Pa/ 500 Pa
= 0.000529208

CP cos Ѳrad
0°× π
= 0.000529208 cos ( ¿
180°

DATA

Angle,Ѳ average ∆H
(⁰) ∆H1 ∆H2 ∆H3 (mmH2O) ∆P=ρg∆H CP=∆P/PD CP cos Ѳ
0 20 26 26 24.00 0.264603906 0.000529208 0.000529208
10 20 26 28 24.67 0.271990765 0.000543982 0.000535717
20 32 38 38 36.00 0.396905859 0.000793812 0.000745939
30 44 54 56 51.33 0.565921603 0.001131843 0.000980205
40 56 74 74 68.00 0.749711066 0.001499422 0.001148624
50 72 88 94 84.67 0.933500529 0.001867001 0.001200085
60 82 108 106 98.67 1.087852807 0.002175706 0.001087853
70 84 114 110 102.67 1.131953458 0.002263907 0.000774302
80 86 106 108 100.00 1.102516274 0.002205033 0.0003829
90 84 104 106 98.00 1.080465948 0.002160932 0
100 86 104 106 98.67 1.087852807 0.002175706 -0.000377807
110 86 104 104 98.00 1.080465948 0.002160932 -0.000739082
120 84 102 102 96.00 1.058415623 0.002116831 -0.001058416
130 88 102 102 97.33 1.073079089 0.002146158 -0.001379524
140 88 102 102 97.33 1.073079089 0.002146158 -0.001644053
150 86 102 104 97.33 1.073079089 0.002146158 -0.001858628
160 98 100 106 101.33 1.11717974 0.002234359 -0.002099611
170 92 100 104 98.67 1.087852807 0.002175706 -0.002142652
180 92 100 100 97.33 1.073079089 0.002146158 -0.002146158
In order to find CD, we need to calculate the area below the graph
2π
1
C D= ∫ C P cos θ . dθ
20 = Area below graph

Cp cos Ѳ against Ѳ
0

0
C D
A
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Cp cos Ѳ 0
E F
0

0
Ѳ

CD≅ (A+B+C+D)-(E+F)

Where;

10° × π
A= 0.0005 x ( ¿ =0.000087
180°

1 30° × π
B= ( ¿0.0005+0.0012)) x ( ¿ =0.000445
2 180°

20° × π
C= 0.0012 x ( ¿ =0.000419
180°

1 30° × π
D= x 0.0012 x ( ¿ =0.000314
2 180°

1 70° × π
E= x 0.00215 x ( ¿ =0.001313
2 180°
 20° × π
F= 0.00215 x ( ¿ =0.00075
180°

Thus, CD≅ (1.265 x10-3) – (2.063 x 10-3) ≅ -0.000798

Which show that although in theoretical D=0, in real D is not equal to zero (D’Alembert paradox)

DISCUSSION
Direction of flow
Direction of motion

Flow features around circular cylinder

1. Comments on difficulties found in the experimental work:

The first difficulty in setting up this experiment is to get the dynamic pressure from the
manometer because there is some inclination factor to use this manometer. We have to
get 0.5kPa for the dynamic pressure for this experiment to determine the pressure profile
around a cylinder.

2. The drag force can be measured directly by simply attaching the body subjected to fluid
flow to a calibrated spring and measuring the displacement in the flow direction

Drag force FD = ∫A (-P cos Ѳ + τW sin Ѳ ) dA

FD
Drag coefficient CD = 1
ρV 2 A
2
From the experiment, we calculate the coefficient of drag is -0.000798

3. There are differences in the patterns between the theoretical results and the results
obtained by experiment. The errors are due to environmental factors, such as air density
and air temperature during conducting experiments, and consistency of air flowing.

4. In addition to that, the differences of the readings from the theoretical values are also
caused by the error made when taking readings i.e. parallax error.
 5. From what we had calculated, we find that the pressure at 0° is the lower and start to
increasing to the highest when angle of attacks increased to 70° and decreased slowly till
180°. The pressure tend to be approximately higher at 90° to 180° rather than 0° to 70°
since the principle of Bernoulli equation is applied. Velocity is inversely proportional to
pressure.

CONCLUSION
1. From the experiment, we calculate the coefficient of drag is -0.000798 which means that
drag will never be zero in real life according to D’Alembert Paradox.
2. The aerodynamic pressure is varies at various angle of attacks. It follows the Bernoulli
Principles.
3. The coefficient of drag between the smooth and rough surfaces of the cylindrical was
found using the integrated pressure distribution and it was found that the drag coefficient
of the smooth surface was greater than the rough surface. This is due to the delay of flow
separation caused by the rough surface, which decreases drag at that region of the
cylinder.

REFERENCES

1. Anderson J.D., “Fundamental of Aerodynamics”, McGraw Hill Int, 4th edition, 2007.2.
2. http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coefficient_of_lift
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_constant
4. http://wiki.xtronics.com/index.php/Pressure_Conversion_Table