Effect of Factors on the Lift of an Airfoil

The problem of the experiment was to determine what factors affect the lift of an airfoil the greatest. The factors that were used were the airfoil shape, the airfoil thickness, and the air speed. The shapes that were used were a rounded, a wedge and a rectangle airfoil. The thicknesses that were used were .75 in., 1 in., and 1.25 in. The air speeds that were used were the high, medium, and low air speed settings on the wind tunnel. A design of experiment was used to compare these factors to see which had the greatest effect, and to see which factors interacted with each other. Foam airfoils were placed in a wind tunnel, with different air speeds, and the lift force was measured by using a force probe. It was concluded that the faster air speed, the rounded airfoil, and the 0.75 in thick airfoil created the most lift. This type of wing, according to the experiment, would be the best wing to use on an airplane.

Research Done By:

Anthony Graziosi
L'Anse Creuse High School

Thomas Volinski
L'Anse Creuse High School

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