Dynamic stall is an incredibly rich fluid dynamics problem that manifests itself on an airfoil during rapid, transient motion in which the angle of incidence surpasses the static stall limit. It is an important element of many manmade and natural flyers, including helicopters and supermaneuverable aircraft, and low–Reynolds number flapping-wing birds and insects. The fluid dynamic attributes that accompany dynamic stall include an eruption of vorticity that organizes into a well-defined dynamic stall vortex and massive excursions in aerodynamic loads that can couple with the airfoil structural dynamics. The dynamic stall process is highly sensitive to surface roughness that can influence turbulent transition and to local compressibility effects that occur at free-stream Mach numbers that are otherwise incompressible. Under some conditions, dynamic stall can result in negative aerodynamic damping that leads to limit-cycle growth of structural vibrations and rapid mechanical failure. The mechanisms leading to negative damping have been a principal interest of recent experiments and analysis. Computational fluid dynamic simulations and low-order models have not been good predictors so far. Large-eddy simulation could be a viable approach although it remains computationally intensive. The topic is technologically important owing to the desire to develop next-generation rotorcraft that employ adaptive rotor dynamic stall control.

Dynamic Stall in Pitching Airfoils: Aerodynamic Damping and Compressibility Effects

We investigated the detailed kinematics and wake structure of lesser dog-faced fruit bats (Cynopterus brachyotis) flying in a wind tunnel. High speed recordings of the kinematics were conducted to obtain three-dimensional reconstructions of wing movements. Simultaneously, the flow structure in the spanwise plane perpendicular to the flow stream was visualized using time-resolved particle image velocimetry. The flight of four individuals was investigated to reveal patterns in kinematics and wake structure typical for lower and higher speeds. The wake structure identified as typical for both speed categories was a closed-loop ring vortex consisting of the tip vortex and the limited appearance of a counter-rotating vortex near the body, as well as a small distally located vortex system at the end of the upstroke that generated negative lift. We also investigated the degree of consistency within trials and looked at individual variation in flight parameters, and found distinct differences between individuals as well as within individuals.

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Wake structure and wing kinematics: the flight of the lesser dog-faced fruit bat, Cynopterus brachyotis

We present synchronized time-resolved measurements of the wing kinematics and wake velocities for a medium sized bat, Cynopterus brachyotis, flying at low-medium speed in a closed-return wind tunnel. Measurements of the motion of the body and wing joints, as well as the resultant wake velocities in the Trefftz plane are recorded at 200 Hz (approximately 28–31 measurements per wing beat). Circulation profiles are found to be quite repeatable although variations in the flight profile are visible in the wake vortex structures. The circulation has almost constant strength over the middle half of the wing beat (defined according the vertical motion of the wrist, beginning with the downstroke). A strong streamwise vortex is observed to be shed from the wingtip, growing in strength during the downstroke, and persisting during much of the upstroke. At relatively low flight speeds (4.3 m/s), a closed vortex structure behind the bat is postulated.

Time-resolved wake structure and kinematics of bat flight

The three-dimensional flow structure of a tip vortex in the near wake of both a rectangular, square-tipped NACA 0015 airfoil and a high-lift cambered airfoil was investigated by using a seven-hole pressure probe at Re = 2.01 x 10 5 . Lift-induced drag was computed based on vorticity and was compared with force-balance data. For both the airfoils tested, the vortex strength reached a maximum immediately behind the trailing edge and remained nearly constant up to two chord lengths downstream. As the airfoil incidence increased, the increase in the lift force resulted in a basically linear increase in the vortex strength and the peak values of the tangential velocity and vorticity, whereas the vortex radius did not appear to have a clear dependence on the vortex strength. Depending on the airfoil incidence, the core axial velocity could be wake-like or jet-like. The normalized circulation within the inner region of the nearly axisymmetric tip vortex exhibited a universal, or self-similar, structure. The NACA 0015 airfoil, however, possessed smaller tangential velocities but similar vortex core diameters compared to those of a cambered airfoil

Structure and induced drag of a tip vortex

Thin-airfoil theory is applied to the lift problem of an airfoil with a Gurney flap. The lift and pitching moment coefficient increments are given as a square-root function of the relative Gurney flap height, and they are proportionally related. This model interprets the Gurney flap lift enhancement as a special camber effect. The theoretical relations are in good agreement with experimental and numerical data for several different wings. The theoretical method developed in this paper can be applied to similar trailing-edge devices for lift enhancement, and it is useful in the preliminary design of these flow control devices.

Thin-Airfoil Theoretical Interpretation for Gurney Flap Lift Enhancement

The flow around an oscillating NACA 0015 airfoil with prescheduled trailing-edge flap motion control was investigated by using particle image velocimetry (PIV). Aerodynamic load coefficients, obtained via surface pressure measurements, were also acquired to supplement the PIV results. The results demonstrate that upward flap deflections led to an improved negative peak pitching moment coefficient C
 m,peak, mainly as a consequence of the increased suction pressure on the lower surface of the flap. The behavior of the leading-edge vortex (LEV) was largely unaffected. Its strength was, however, reduced slightly compared to that of the uncontrolled airfoil. No trailing-edge vortex was observed. For downward flap deflection, the strength of the LEV was found to be slightly increased. A favorable increase in C
 l,max, as a consequence of downward flap-induced positive camber effects, accompanied by a detrimental increase in the nose-down C
 m,peak, due to the large pressure increase on the lower surface of the flap, was also observed.

PIV study of flow around unsteady airfoil with dynamic trailing-edge flap deflection

The near-field flow structure of a tip vortex behind a sweptback and tapered NACA 0015 wing was investigated and compared with a rectangular wing at the same lift force and Re=1.81×105. The tangential velocity decreased with the downstream distance while increased with the airfoil incidence. The core radius was about 3% of the root chord c
 r, regardless of the downstream distance and α for α<8°. The core axial velocity was always wake-like. The core Γc and total Γo circulation of the tip vortex remained nearly constant up to x/c
 r=3.5 and had a Γc/Γo ratio of 0.63. The total circulation of the tip vortex accounted for only about 40% of the bound root circulation Γb. For a rectangular wing, the axial flow exhibited islands of wake- and jet-like velocity distributions with Γc/Γo=0.75 and Γo/Γb=0.70. For the sweptback and tapered wing tested, the inner region of the tip vortex flow exhibited a self-similar behavior for x/c
 r≥1.0. The lift force computed from the spanwise circulation distributions agreed well with the force-balance data. A large difference in the lift-induced drag was, however, observed between the wake integral method and the inviscid lifting-line theory.

Near-field tip vortex behind a swept wing model

The flow over a flapped NACA 0012 airfoil, oscillated slightly through the static-stall angle, was investigated by using particle image velocimetry, and was supplemented by surface pressure and dynamic-load measurements. A significant increase in the dynamic lift force and nose-down pitching moment was observed. The most pronounced flow phenomenon was the formation and detachment of an energetic leading-edge vortex compared to the no-flapped airfoil. The details of the underlying physical mechanisms responsible for the various light-stall flow processes were provided via the instantaneous velocity and vorticity fields measurements. In contrast to the Gurney flap, the inverted trailing-edge strip led to an improved negative damping while a reduced lift force. The addition of an inverted strip always led to the appearance of a Karman-type vortex shedding street immediately downstream of the strip over the entire oscillation cycle.

Particle image velocimetry investigation of flow over unsteady airfoil with trailing-edge strip

An investigation of the dependence of the lift-induced drag coefficient C
 Di of a square-tipped, cambered wing model on Reynolds number for Re ≤ 1 × 106 was conducted. Computed based on the vorticity distribution inferred from the near-field cross-flow velocity measurements of the tip vortex, different C
 Di prediction schemes were used. The effect of measurement plane size and grid resolution on the C
 Di calculations was also identified. The C
 Di estimated by the integral method was found to increase with increasing Re and was below the C
 Di = C
 l
 2
 /πeAR prediction. Limits on the measurement plane size and grid resolution were determined to be at least 40% larger than the vortex outside diameter and no larger than 0.63% chord, respectively, in order to provide a good estimate of the induced drag.

P. Gerontakos

Papers

PIV study of flow around unsteady airfoil with dynamic trailing-edge flap deflection

Near-field tip vortex behind a swept wing model

Particle image velocimetry investigation of flow over unsteady airfoil with trailing-edge strip

Lift-induced drag of a cambered wing for Re ≤ 1 × 10 6