The Effect of Surface Irregularities on Wing Drag, 3, Roughness

Description:

Tests have been made in the N.A.C.A. 8-foot high-speed wind tunnel of the drag caused by roughness on the surface of an airfoil of N.A.C.A. 23012 section and 5-foot chord. The tests were made at speeds from 80 t o 500 miles per hour at lift coefficients from 0 to 0.30. For conditions corresponding to high-speed flight, the increase in the drag was 30 percent of the profile drag of the smooth airfoil for the roughness produced by spray painting and 63 percent for the roughness produced. by 0.0037-inch carborundum grains. About one-half the drag increase was caused by the roughness on the forward one-fourth of the airfoil. Sandpapering the painted surface with No. 400 sandpaper made it sufficiently smooth that the drag was no greater than when the surface was polished. In the lower part of the range investigated the drag due to roughness increased rapidly with Reynolds Number.

Creator(s): Hood, Manley J.
Creation Date: February 1, 1938
Partner(s):
UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
Collection(s):
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Collection
Technical Report Archive and Image Library
Usage:
Total Uses: 38
Past 30 days: 1
Yesterday: 1
Creator (Author):
Original Creation Date: February 1, 1938
Description:

Tests have been made in the N.A.C.A. 8-foot high-speed wind tunnel of the drag caused by roughness on the surface of an airfoil of N.A.C.A. 23012 section and 5-foot chord. The tests were made at speeds from 80 t o 500 miles per hour at lift coefficients from 0 to 0.30. For conditions corresponding to high-speed flight, the increase in the drag was 30 percent of the profile drag of the smooth airfoil for the roughness produced by spray painting and 63 percent for the roughness produced. by 0.0037-inch carborundum grains. About one-half the drag increase was caused by the roughness on the forward one-fourth of the airfoil. Sandpapering the painted surface with No. 400 sandpaper made it sufficiently smooth that the drag was no greater than when the surface was polished. In the lower part of the range investigated the drag due to roughness increased rapidly with Reynolds Number.

Language(s):
Subject(s):
Keyword(s): aerodynamics
Contributor(s):
Serial Title: NACA Special Report
Partner:
UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
Collection:
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Collection
Collection:
Technical Report Archive and Image Library
Identifier:
Resource Type: Report
Format: Text
Rights:
Access: Public
Statement: No Copyright, Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available