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Taylor A. Swanson
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Advisor: Dr. K. M. Isaac
Abstract
This is a computational study of the aerodynamics of a wing in constant freestream at various angles of attack ranging from 0 to 45o. Four wings were studied: rectangular with and without camber, and semi-ellipse with and without camber. The study was conducted at the extremely low Reynolds number of 500. Lift and drag production was determined and its trends explained, including a force peak at 20o. Flow features were also identified and explained. The dominant flow feature was the tip vortex, which moves streamlines rootward and forms a spiral vortex at high angles of attack for rectangular wings. Semi-ellipse wings also have a spiral vortex at higher angles of attack, but this vortex grows from the root, instead of the tip. Surface stream traces were also investigated using critical point theory.
Taylor Swanson, of Eden Prairie, MN, received his undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering from Iowa State University in 2003. While there, he was involved in AIAA and was president of the local chapter of the aerospace engineering honors society Sigma Gamma Tau. His senior and honors project was titled "Preliminary Design of a Nuclear Thermal Propulsion System." Upon graduating, he attended the University of Illinois in Urbana, where he worked as a research assistant and a teaching assistant. His Master’s title was "Interaction of Laser Energy Deposition with a Normal Shock," and the degree was granted in 2006. That fall, he began attending the University of Missouri in Rolla, later renamed Missouri University of Science and Technology. While there, he worked as a teaching assistant and is studying the low Reynolds number aerodynamics of flapping and plunging wings.
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