Development of an Experimental Setup for Analyzing the

Influence of Magnus Effect on the Performance of Airfoil

Md Aktharuzzaman1,a), Md. Samad Sarker2,b), Wasiul Safa3,c), Nahreen

Sharah4,d),Md. Abdus Salam5,e)

1,2,3 ,4
Student, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology,Mirpur,Dhaka
5
Professor,Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology,Mirpur,Dhaka.
a)
showrov.aero@gmail.com ,b)samad.sarker@yahoo.com,c)wasiul.safa@gmail.com , d)swarnasharah@gmail.com ,
e)
head@ae.mist.ac.bd

Abstract. Magnus effect is a phenomenon where pressure difference is created according to Bernoulli’s effect due to induced
velocity changes caused by a rotating object in a fluid. Using this concept, the idea of delaying boundary layer separation on
airfoil by providing moving surface boundary layer control has been developed. In order to analyze the influence of Magnus
effect on the aerodynamic performance of an airfoil, there is no alternative of developing an experimental setup. This paper aims
to develop such an experimental setup which will be capable of analyzing the influence of Magnus effect on both symmetric and
asymmetric airfoils by placing a cylinder at the leading edge. To provide arrangements for a rotating cylinder at the leading edge
of airfoil, necessary modifications and additions have been done in the test section of an AF100 subsonic wind tunnel.

INTRODUCTION

Boundary Layer Concept (BLC) has undergone tremendous progress in recent years due to the focused research efforts in the
areas of aerodynamics, structures, and materials. The major experimental effort has been made in aerodynamics not only because
it has been experimentally convenient, but more importantly because of the very strong influence boundary-layer separation[1]
and transition have on many aerodynamic characteristics. At high angles of attack (e.g., during takeoff or while performing a
sharp maneuver), the flow tends to separate from the upper surface of the wing, resulting in a significant reduction in the
attainable lift and a considerable increase in the overall drag of the aircraft [2]. Since the maximum usable lift is an important
ingredient in high angle-of-attack maneuvering for combat aircraft and in determining the maximum payloads for commercial
and rotary wing aircraft, BLC techniques and lift augmentation devices have been a focus of extensive experimental research
over the past 30 years. A rotating cylinder provides additional circulation through the differential jump in the velocity at the
upper surface with respect to the lower surface of the cylinder. Vortices is also generated in the boundary layer around the
rotating cylinder. Thus a rotating cylinder can provide considerably higher lift[3,4].

STEPS OF EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

FIGURE 1.Steps of experimental design process.

Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Mechanical Engineering and Applied Science (ICMEAS 2017)
AIP Conf. Proc. 1919, 020032-1–020032-8; https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5018550
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1611-6/$30.00

020032-1
 METHODOLOGY AND IMPLEMENTATION

Preliminary Remarks for Experimental Setup

a) To rotate the cylinder, an electric motor arrangement had been made. As there was no way of placing the motor inside the test
section of wind tunnel, the connection between cylinder and motor had to be brought outside through the sidewall of test section.
b) With the change of angle of attack, the cylinder has to travel along an arc.
c) To keep the cylinder in line with the airfoil leading edge during the change of angle of attack, there has to be an arrangement
for the movement of cylinder along with the movement of airfoil.
d) As a groove has to be made on the sidewall of test section, additional sealing arrangements is required to provide a smooth
laminar flow over the airfoil.
e) The motor must provide the necessary torque required to rotate the cylinder at desired rpm.

Selection of airfoil

This experimental setup aims to develop a universal arrangement for both symmetric and asymmetric airfoils. For a start, a
symmetric NACA 0012 airfoil having 150 mm chord and 300 mm span is selected. Using solid works software, the diameter of
the rotating cylinder is determined to be 15 mm without distorting the aerodynamic profile of the airfoil. The clearance between
cylinder and airfoil is taken as 1.5 mm.

FIGURE 2.NACA 0012 airfoil (all dimensions are in mm)

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE FOR METHODOLOGY ASSESSMENT

NACA 0012 Airfoil with Groove

Purpose: To analyze the Magnus effect and moving surface boundary layer characteristics, NACA 0012 airfoil equipped with a
rotating cylinder at the leading edge of the airfoil is selected.
Material: Wood

020032-2
 FIGURE 3.Designed NACA 0012 airfoil with groove

Cylinder

Purpose: Cylinder provides a moving surface boundary layer control to practically show the Magnus effect. The cylinder is
situated in front of the leading edge of the wing. It will be rotated by an electric motor.
Material: Wood

FIGURE 4. Designed 15 mm diameter cylinder

Cylinder cap and Coupler

Purpose:Cylinder cap holds one end of the cylinder with the bearing housing . And the coupler hold other end of the cylinder and
keeps it attached to the motor, so that the motor can easily rotate the cylinder.
Material: Mild steel (cylinder cap) and Aluminum (coupler)

(a) (b)

FIGURE 5. (a) Design of Cylinder cap(b)Design of Coupler (all the dimensions in mm)

020032-3
 Front Side Wall Disc and Rear Side Wall Disc

Purpose: The function of the front side wall disc is to make provision for holding the motor and rear side wall disc to hold the
bearing-supporting arm arrangement and to guide the airfoil shaft to the 3 component balance.
Material: Mild Steel (both front and rear side wall discs)

(b)

(a)

FIGURE 6.(a)Design of front side wall disc , (b)Design of rear side wall disc (all the dimensions in mm)

Front Connecting Arm and Rear Connecting Arm

Purpose: Front connecting arm holds the motor in preferred place during the experiment. Rear connecting arm holds the bearing-
support mechanism with the rear sidewall disc and to give the cylinder different angular positions with the change of AOA.
Material: Nylon

(a)
(b)

FIGURE 7. (a) Design of front connecting arm (b) Design of rear connecting arm (all the dimensions are in mm).

020032-4
 Test Section

Purpose: Test section is the vital part of the wind tunnel where all the experimental elements are situated. It provides the
provision for movement of cylinder with the change of angle of attack(AOA).
Material: Acrylic glass having thickness of 10 mm

FIGURE 8.Design of test section (all the dimensions in mm)

Assembly of the components

The assembly is described in following steps.

Step 1: The cylinder cap is attached to the rear connecting arm. It is press fitting.

FIGURE 9. Rear Connecting Arm with Cylinder Cap

Step 2: The cylinder one end is connected to the cylinder cap and tighten by the plug screw on both sides.

FIGURE 10. Cylinder with Rear Connecting Arm

020032-5
Step 3: The coupler is connected to the other end of the cylinder with screws

FIGURE 11. Cylinder Connected With Coupler

Step 4: The three component balance must be opened to set the rear side wall connecting disc. After the disc is fixed, the
connecting arm with bearing attached on it is fixed on the disc and angle is set accurately with the help of the angle measurement.
Also a foam sealing is done with scotch tape to cover the groove and air leak.

FIGURE 12. Rear Side Wall Disc Attached with Cylinder and Sealing

Step 5: The motor is fixed with connecting arm and the connecting arm is inserted into the front side wall disc.

FIGURE 13. Motor with Connecting Arm

020032-6
Step 6: Then the three component balance is attached. From the front side wall direction, the wing is inserted and the wing is set
at the same angle with the cylinder angle. The front side wall disc is also fixed with the front side wall of the wind tunnel. The
motor shaft is attached to the coupler with screws.

FIGURE 14. Designed final assembly

(a) (b)

FIGURE 15.(a)Final assembly (view from the side)(b) Final assembly(view from the inlet)

OBSERVATIONS OF EXPERIMENTAL SET UP

To analyze the result of the experimental set up we took the 150000 Reynolds number and associated free stream velocities were
16.2 m/s for angle of attack ranging from -6º to 24º and compare the results at various velocity ratio (Uc/U )of 1,2,3 etc.where
Uc=velocity of the rotating cylinder and U=free stream velocity.

FIGURE 16. Effect of leading edge cylinder rotation on the lift and stall characteristics of the NACA0012 airfoil at Re=150000

020032-7
From the Figure 16, we see for 150000 Reynolds number the maximum lift coefficient for Uc/U=3 was 1.63, which is almost 1.74
times the lift co-efficient of the base airfoil. Also the stall angle for Uc/U=1 was 15º, whereas for base airfoil is 12º. As the
rotation is increased then the stall angle is being delayed like for Uc/U=2 & Uc/U=3, the stall angles are 18º & 21º.

The impact of drag co-efficient for different cylinder surface velocity ratio was great as compared with base airfoil. As the
rotation was increased from Uc/U=1 to Uc/U=3, drag co-efficient increased drastically.Drag co-efficient at 150000 Reynolds
number, for Uc/U=1 is 0.192 & at Uc/U=3 is 0.25. Increment of drag coefficient up to 15° AOA is comparatively less but after
that it goes up rapidly which is represented below in Fig 17. One of the reasons for this high drag coefficient is that with the
increment of AOA & cylinder rotation lift coefficient increase means that resultant aerodynamics force also increased. As lift and
drag both are component of resultant aerodynamics force so with the increment of lift force drag also increased simultaneously.

FIGURE 17. Effect of leading edge cylinder rotation on the drag and stall characteristics of the NACA0012airfoil at Re=150000

LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

(a) With the increase in rotation per minute(rpm) of the motor, some amount of vibrations was generated which caused slight
misalignment of the experimental setup. The vibrations may also cause the bearing out of the bearing house .To minimize the
adverse effect of vibration, the experimental set up should be rigid. Instead of making the connecting arms with nylon, they may
be made of mild steel. The connecting arms should be rigidly tightened with the side wall discs with the help of screws.

(b) Since the coupler is made of aluminum, some amount of friction may led the screw threads to erosion and as a result the
connections may become loose.To minimize this the aluminum made coupler may be replaced by mid steel to avoid the effect of
friction.

FUTURE SCOPES FOR RESEARCH

(a) The cylinder made of wood may be replaces by hollow stainless steel pipe or nylon to observe the effect of the surface of the
cylinder.

(b) Cylinder may be placed at the leading edge of NACA 0021 and NACA 4421 to analyze the influence of Magnus effect on
those airfoils.

REFERENCES

1. Schlichting,H., Boundary Layer Theory, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1968.

2. Chang, P.K., Separation of flow, pergamon, Oxford, England, U.K., 1970.
3. Jonhson,W. S., Tennant, J. S., and Stamps, R. E., “Leading-Edge Rotating Cylinder for Boundary-Layer Control on
Lifting Surfaces,” Journal of Hydronautics, Vol. 9, No. 2, 1975, pp. 76–78.
4. Modi, V. J., Sun , J. L.C., Akutsu, T., Lake, P., McMillan , K., Swinton , P.G. and Mullins, D., “ Moving -Surface
Boundary- Layer Control for Aircraft Operation at High Incidence,” Journal of Aircraft,Vol.18, No.11,1981, pp. 963– 968

020032-8