UNSTEADY LIFT OF THICK AIRFOILS IN TURBULENT FLOW

Measurements of the unsteady lift forces acting on airfoils in turbulent flow were made to determine the effect of thickness on the gust response and validate a previously developed analytical model. A family of NACA 65-series uncambered airfoils with a range of thickness-to-chord ratios were tested in a water tunnel with grid-generated turbulence. Piezoelectric force gages were used to measure the spectral density of the unsteady lift, and the system was calibrated using an impulse force hammer. An accelerometer-based multiple coherence noise removal technique was employed to eliminate background noise contamination from the facility. The experimental results are shown to agree well with an analytical model of the unsteady lift based on turbulence ingestion theory and an incompressible gust response which accounts for airfoil thickness.