Boundary Layer Measurements on an Axisymmetric Body with Spin and Yaw

Citation

Thorman, Herman Carl (1958) Boundary Layer Measurements on an Axisymmetric Body with Spin and Yaw. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/R54D-S906. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-01192006-132244

Abstract

A directionally-sensitive hot-wire anemometer was developed for measuring the three-dimensional boundary-layer flow on a spinning, axisymmetric body in a low-speed wind tunnel. Boundary-layer velocity profiles at numerous positions around the body are presented for several spin rates at incidence angles of zero and 3 degrees. Displacement thickness distributions, based on integration of the velocity profiles, are also included. The asymmetries in the azimuthal distribution of the boundary layer around the spinning body at a small angle of incidence (3°) are examined by means of a Fourier analysis of the experimental data. The experimental results are compared with the results of certain theoretical analyses (BRL 870 (Revised), NAVORD 5036) which provide a method for determining Magnus force (and also normal force) due to the displacement effect of the boundary layer.

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