Airfoil moment performance details

[enigma]

I'm looking for either tables or graphs which show variations in moment coefficient (either about the 1/4 chord or the leading edge) as angle of attack changes.

I have details for a handful of NACA standard airfoils from Anderson's Intro to Flight book, but I'm looking for more.

Most of the information I've found on the NACA technical reports server only applies to tests with different types of flaps, which is not going to work for my needs.

Basically, I need to decide on an airfoil shape which I'm going to be using to test a new type of pressure sensor. The goal is to find a shape which results in as large a variation in moment coefficient as possible without having major flow separation as the angle of attack is varied. The specific angles of attack haven't been decided yet, but my guess is anywhere from +-10 to +-20 degrees.

It looks like the moments for NACA 4 and 5 series are fairly stable over a wide angle of attack range, and the 64- series are a bit better, but I only have one or two data points to compare.

Anyone know where this information can be found, short of designing each wing in FEMLAB and running simulations?

 

[paults2]

Try the NASG site. They have polars for many airfoil shapes.

http://www.nasg.com/afdb/list-polar-e.phtml


UIUC also has lift and moment data (vols 1 to 3):

http://www.aae.uiuc.edu/m-selig/pub/lsat/

Airfoil comparison:

http://soaring.cnde.iastate.edu/calcs/frames.shtml

Check out this last one. It's a Java applet that let's you make airfoils and analyze parameters such as lift, drag, and moment.

http://www.mh-aerotools.de/airfoils/javafoil.htm

Click on 'The Applet' on the left side frame to start the applet. 'Polar' and 'moment' tabs are available and bring up a plot of Cm vs. angle of attack.

 

[NatSusan]

There are a few resources that might be helpful for your research. The first place I would recommend checking is the NACA Technical Reports Server. They have a wide range of reports on airfoil studies and you might be able to find some that specifically address your needs. Another option is to look at the databases on airfoiltools.com or airfoiltools.de. They have a large collection of airfoil data, including graphs and tables of moment coefficients at various angles of attack.

If you're looking for more recent data, you could also try searching for academic papers on airfoil studies. Many universities have databases that allow you to search for and access published research papers.

Lastly, if you're interested in comparing the performance of different airfoil shapes, there are some software programs that allow you to input airfoil coordinates and generate graphs of the moment coefficients. XFOIL and JavaFoil are two popular programs for this purpose.

I hope this helps and good luck with your research!