Low Reynolds Number Aerodynamics of Low-Aspect-Ratio, Thin/Flat/Cambered-Plate Wings

The design of micro aerial vehicles requires a better understanding of the aerodynamics of small low-aspect-ratio wings. An experimental investigationhas focused onmeasuring the lift, drag, and pitchingmoment about the quarter chord on a series of thin at plates andcambered plates at chordReynoldsnumbersvaryingbetween 60,000 and 200,000.Results show that the cambered plates offer better aerodynamic characteristics and performance. It also appears that the trailing-edge geometry of the wings and the turbulence intensity in the wind tunnel do not have a strong effect on the lift and drag for thin wings at low Reynolds numbers. Moreover, the results did not show the presence of any hysteresis, which is usually observed with thick airfoils/wings. Nomenclature AR = full-span aspect ratio a = slope CD = drag coef cient (three-dimensional) Cd = section drag coef cient CL = lift coef cient (three-dimensional) Cl = section lift coef cient CL a = lift–curve slope C 3/2L /CD = endurance parameter Cm /4 = pitching-moment coef cient Cm a = slope of pitchingmoment curve c = root-chord length eQ = quantization error L /D = lift-to-drag ratio M = resolution of A/D converter Rec = root-chordReynolds number sAR = semispan aspect ratio t = wing thickness a = angle of attack a CL = 0 = zero-lift angle of attack a stall = stall angle of attack s = Glauert parameter Subscripts max = maximum min = minimum 0 = two-dimensional