1. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
www.nasa.gov
Determining the Size, Strength and Scope of a Quadcopter’s Ground EffectDetermining the Size, Strength and Scope of a Quadcopter’s Ground Effect
OMEGA’s TQ201
Series Torque Sensor
Corrugated plastic is usually made from polypropylene which is capable of being recycled and is a highly suitable material for making water/air pressure rocket fins. The
objective is to investigate which corrugation orientation, parallel to the air flow or parallel to the fin’s leading edge, is more drag efficient.
Drag Effects of Corrugated Plastic Rocket Fin Design and Corrugation Orientation
Test Procedure
The project will consist of a total of six tests, one for each of three fin designs. Three of the fins
will have the corrugations parallel to leading edge and the other three fins will have the
corrugations parallel to the root chord. NASA Ames Research Center Fluid Mechanics
Laboratory’ Lifesaver Wind Tunnel will be used for testing. Each fin will be mounted on the
Omega TQ201 Series Torque Sensor to measure the drag for each design.
Lifesaver Wind Tunnel
Load Cell Force Data
Collector
Test Stand
Typical Corrugated Plastic Section
Air Flow and Corrugation Orientation
Test Shapes, Parallelogram, Clipped Delta, Triangle
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
ROTCFD Velocity flow patterns
perpendicular to corrugations