A research on wind tunnel on drag reduction in aircraft wing by inducing surface roughness

Abstract

Drag is a major issue that aircraft industries are facing today. Innumerable investigations are in progress which mainly focus on the methods to reduce drag. Improving the aerodynamic efficiency of the vehicle can resolve this drawback to a great extent. The aerodynamic efficiency is explained in L/D ratio, decreasing the drag component will increase the aerodynamic efficiency. In this research a methodology to reduce the drag by creating roughness over wing surface has been adopted. By adopting this surface roughness method, the transition of the air flow from the laminar to the turbulent region will result in less drag. This research is being carried out based on the above said theory. The outcome of this method can delay the flow separation in a wing which helps in increasing the lift. The roughness has reduced the coefficient of skin friction drag or viscous drag and increased the coefficient of lift along with the stall angle of attack. NACA 0012 airfoil was selected for this study. Aluminum wing models are fabricated with and without surface roughness and same has been tested in Wind Tunnel. The results are discussed in terms of Lift and Drag.