Title:  An experimental investigation of the reverse Magnus effect

Project Supervisor: Dr W.J.Crowther
Email: w.j.crowther@man.ac.uk
Dept: Engineering
 

Abstract:
The reverse Magnus effect is an effect whereby the side force acting on a spinning object is in the opposite direction to that predicted from the Kutta-Joukowski circulation theorem. This effect has been studied theoretically and experimentally for the case of rotating cylinder flows, however much less is known about the more complex case of a rotating sphere. This project will provide experimental insight into the problem with the aim of providing guidance for sports ball design.

Objectives

•  Review existing literature on the reverse Magnus effect
•  Develop simple parametric model of spinning sphere case and identify appropriate scaling parameters
•  Develop wind tunnel rig and models (a wind tunnel rig currently exists for measuring aerodynamic forces acting on a spinning Frisbee)
•  Measure effects of spin rate, sphere diameter, spin axis angle and surface texture on side force characteristic.
•  Identify sources of side force using surface pressure measurements.
•  Investigate flow topology using on and off surface flow visualisation methods
•  Propose design guidelines

Title: Interactive visualisation of the flow around a finite wing

Use of Virtual Reality for visualising fluid flows

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