Bernoulli's Theory of Flight

• The Theory of Flight is often explained in terms Bernoulli's

Equation which is a statement of the Conservation of Energy.
It states that:
For a non-viscous, incompressible fluid in steady flow, the sum
of pressure, potential and kinetic energies per unit volume is
constant at any point.
• In other words, ignoring the potential energy due to altitude:
When the velocity of a fluid increases, its pressure decreases by
an equivalent amount to maintain the overall energy. This is
known as Bernoulli's Principle.
Aircraft Wings
• Aircraft are kept in the air by the forward thrust of the wings
or airfoils , through the air. The thrust driving the wing
forward is provided by an external source, in this case by
propellers or jet engines.
• The result of the movement of the wing through stationary air
is a lift force perpendicular to the motion of the wing, which is
greater than the downwards gravitational force on the wing
and so keeps the aircraft airborne. The lift is accompanied by
drag which represents the air resistance against the wing as it
forces its way through the air. The drag is dependent on the
effective area of the wing facing directly into the airflow as
well as the shape of the aerofoil.
• The magnitudes of the lift and drag are dependent on
the angle of attack between the direction of the motion of the
wing through the air and the chord line of the wing.
• The angle of attack of a turbine blade is the angle between the direction
of the apparent or relative wind and the chord line of the blade. For an
aircraft wing, it is the angle between the direction of motion of the wing
and the chord line
• Increasing the angle of attack increases the area of the aerofoil facing
directly into the wind. This increases the lift but it also moves the
separation point of laminar flow of the air above the aerofoil part way up
towards the leading edge and the result of the increased turbulent flow
above the aerofoil is an increase in the drag.
• Maximum lift typically occurs when the angle of attack is around 15
degrees but this could be higher for specially designed airfoils.
• Above 15 degrees, the separation point moves right up to the leading
edge of the aerofoil and laminar flow above the aerofoil is destroyed. The
increased turbulence causes the rapid deterioration of the lift force while
at the same time it dramatically increases the drag, resulting in a stall.
Graph of lift and drag at different angles
of attack
At different angles of attack experienced by a Clark
Y aerofoil, a type widely used in general purpose
aircraft designs. When moving through the air at
constant speed, as the angle of attack is increased,
both the lift and the drag increase until the aerofoil
reaches a critical angle when the lift suddenly falls
away and the aerofoil begins to stall, in this case, as the
angle of attack approaches 20 degrees.
Since the lift generated by an aircraft wing is
proportional to the angle of attack and also to the
square of the aircraft speed, the same lift can be
accomplished by flying at a higher speed with a lower
angle of attack. Reducing the angle of attack also
reduces the induced drag due to turbulence thus
enabling greater aerodynamic efficiency.
 EXPERIMENT

DETERMINATION OF LIFT AND

DRAG FORCES ON AIRFOIL
 Procedure
The aerodynamic lift and drag forces experienced by Airfoil
placed in a uniform free-stream velocity. This will be
accomplished using a wind tunnel and various pressure
probes along an airfoil as the subject of study.
When viscous shear stresses act along a body, as they would
during all fluid flow, the resultant force can be expressed as a
lift and drag component. The lift component is normal to
the airflow, whereas the drag component is parallel .
• To further characterize and communicate these
effects, non-dimensional coefficients are utilized . For
example, a simple non-dimensional coefficient can
be expressed as
 Governing Equations
• To assist in determining the properties of the working
fluid, air, several proven governing equations can be
used, including the ideal gas law, Sutherland’s viscosity
correlation, and Bernoulli’s equation. These relationships
are valid for steady, incompressible, irrotational flow at
nominal temperatures with negligible body forces. The
ideal gas law can be used to relate the following
PV=mRT
• Sutherland’s viscosity correlation is readily available for the
testing conditions and can be expressed as
µ= (bT^0.5)/(1+(S/T))

Where b is equal to 1.458 x 10^-6(kg)/(m s K^(0.5)) and S is

110.4 K
• Bernoulli’s equation defines the total
stagnation pressure as
 Equipment
• The following experiment used the following equipment:
• A wind tunnel with a 1-ft x 1-ft test section
• NACA 0012 airfoil section
• A transversing mechanism to move the pitot tube to various
sections of the test section
• A Pitot-static probe
• Digital pressure transducer
• Data Acquisition (DAQ) Hardware
• Two-component dynamometer (to measure lift and drag
forces)
 Experiment Setup
Before beginning, the pressure and temperature of laboratory
testing conditions was measured and recorded. The density
and viscosity of the air was calculated.
The wind tunnel contains cutouts to allow the NACA airfoil to
be mounted inside the test section. The two-component
dynamometer can measure the force exerted perpendicular
and parallel to the airflow, which represent the lift and drag
respectively.
 Basic Procedure
• To ensure the working flow is relatively laminar and within a
range acceptable for study, the procedure initiated flow with a
Reynolds number of 250,000.
• The velocity at which the laboratory air must be accelerated
was determined by solving equation for velocity. First, the
density and viscosity of the air must be calculated using
equations.
• Using the DAQ hardware, the lift and drag at each angle
of attack and specified dynamic pressure was recorded.
Data & Calculation
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