Investigation of the pressure distribution over a MAV model

Abstract

Paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Malta, 16-18 July, 2012.

An intensive experimental study was conducted to investigate the effects of various parameters on the surface pressure distribution of a Zimmerman type wing wildly used for MAVs. A full scale wing was designed, fabricated, and tested in a low speed, low turbulence wind tunnel. The model cross section was an airfoil of a type which is usually used in MAV wings. The wing planform was of Zimmerman type. The model was equipped with several static pressure ports located at different span-wise and chord-wise sections of the wing. Surface static pressure data at various angles of attack ranging from -10 to 20 degrees, and at three different Reynolds numbers equal to that of the full scale model were obtained. It should be noted that to author’s knowledge, no experimental pressure data for this type of wing having an airfoil in its cross section are available in the literature. All data that the authors were able to find, dealt with aerodynamic force and moment of a flat plate wing of Zimmerman planform. The measured pressure data over the wing surface shows several interesting results which are different from those for the conventional wing planforms, i.e., rectangular, triangular, etc.