Showing papers on "Airfoil published in 2015"

On the use of helium-filled soap bubbles for large-scale tomographic PIV in wind tunnel experiments

Abstract: The flow-tracing fidelity of sub-millimetre diameter helium-filled soap bubbles (HFSB) for low-speed aerodynamics is studied. The main interest of using HFSB in relation to micron-size droplets is the large amount of scattered light, enabling larger-scale three-dimensional experiments by tomographic PIV. The assessment of aerodynamic behaviour closely follows the method proposed in the early work of Kerho and Bragg (Exp Fluids 50:929–948, 1994) who evaluated the tracer trajectories around the stagnation region at the leading edge of an airfoil. The conclusions of the latter investigation differ from the present work, which concludes sub-millimetre HFSB do represent a valid alternative for quantitative velocimetry in wind tunnel aerodynamic experiments. The flow stagnating ahead of a circular cylinder of 25 mm diameter is considered at speeds up to 30 m/s. The tracers are injected in the free-stream and high-speed PIV, and PTV are used to obtain the velocity field distribution. A qualitative assessment based on streamlines is followed by acceleration and slip velocity measurements using PIV experiments with fog droplets as a term of reference. The tracing fidelity is controlled by the flow rates of helium, liquid soap and air in HFSB production. A characteristic time response, defined as the ratio of slip velocity and the fluid acceleration, is obtained. The feasibility of performing time-resolved tomographic PIV measurements over large volumes in aerodynamic wind tunnels is also studied. The flow past a 5-cm-diameter cylinder is measured over a volume of 20 × 20 × 12 cm3 at a rate of 2 kHz. The achieved seeding density of <0.01 ppp enables resolving the Karman vortices, whereas turbulent sub-structures cannot be captured.

Dynamic Stall in Pitching Airfoils: Aerodynamic Damping and Compressibility Effects

Abstract: 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.

Airfoil noise reductions through leading edge serrations

Abstract: This paper provides an experimental investigation into the use of leading edge (LE) serrations as a means of reducing the broadband noise generated due to the interaction between the aerofoil’s LE and impinging turbulence. Experiments are performed on a flat plate in an open jet wind tunnel. Grids are used to generate isotropic homogeneous turbulence. The leading edge serrations are in the form of sinusoidal profiles of wavelengths, λ, and amplitudes, 2h. The frequency and amplitude characteristics are studied in detail in order to understand the effect of LE serrations on noise reduction characteristics and are compared with straight edge baseline flat plates. Noise reductions are found to be insignificant at low frequencies but significant in the mid frequency range (500 Hz–8 kHz) for all the cases studied. The flat plate results are also compared to the noise reductions obtained on a serrated NACA-65 aerofoil with the same serration profile. Noise reductions are found to be significantly higher for the flat plates with a maximum noise reduction of around 9 dB compared with about 7 dB for the aerofoil. In general, it is observed that the sound power reduction level (ΔPWL) is sensitive to the amplitude, 2h of the LE serrations but less sensitive to the serration wavelength, λ. Thus, this paper sufficiently demonstrates that the LE amplitude acts as a key parameter for enhancing the noise reduction levels in flat plates and aerofoils.

Numerical Study of Shock Buffet on Three-Dimensional Wings

Abstract: The paper presents a computational study of the transonic shock-buffet flow instability phenomenon on three-dimensional wings. Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations were conducted on three wing configurations, all based on the RA16SC1 airfoil, at shock-buffet flow conditions. Numerical validation is presented for the OAT15A and RA16SC1 swept wings based on wind-tunnel experiments. The simulated configurations include infinite-straight, infinite-swept, and finite-swept three-dimensional wing models of several sweep angles and span lengths. Based on the results, the effects of three-dimensional flow, wing sweep, and span length on the shock-buffet characteristics are identified. For small wing-sweep angles, the fundamental shock-buffet instability mechanism remains similar to the two-dimensional mechanism, which is characterized mainly by chordwise shock oscillations. For moderate sweep angles, a phenomenon of lateral pressure disturbance propagation is observed. This phenomenon is essentially differe...

Laminar separation bubble development on an airfoil emitting tonal noise

Abstract: The subject of this experimental study is the feedback effects due to tonal noise emission in a laminar separation bubble (LSB) formed on the suction side of an airfoil in low Reynolds number flows. Experiments were performed on a NACA 0012 airfoil for a range of chord-based Reynolds numbers at angle of attack , where laminar boundary layer separation is encountered on both sides of the airfoil. Simultaneous time-resolved, two-component particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements, unsteady surface pressure and far-field acoustic pressure measurements were employed to characterize flow development and acoustic emissions. Amplification of disturbances in separated shear layers on both the suction and pressure sides of the airfoil leads to shear layer roll-up and shedding of vortices from separation bubbles. When the vortices do not break up upstream of the trailing edge, the passage of these structures over the trailing edge generates tonal noise. Acoustic feedback between the trailing edge noise source and the upstream separation bubble narrows the frequency band of amplified disturbances, effectively locking onto a particular frequency. Acoustic excitation further results in notable changes to the overall separation bubble characteristics. Roll-up vortices forming on the pressure side, where the bubble is located closer to the trailing edge, are shown to define the characteristic frequency of pressure fluctuations, thereby affecting the disturbance spectrum on the suction side. However, when the bubble on the pressure side is suppressed via boundary layer tripping, a weaker feedback effect is also observed on the suction side. The results give a detailed quantitative description of the observed phenomenon and provide a new outlook on the role of coherent structures in separation bubble dynamics and trailing edge noise generation.

Direct measurement of thrust and efficiency of an airfoil undergoing pure pitching

Abstract: We experimentally investigate the thrust and propulsive efficiency of a NACA 0012 airfoil undergoing oscillating pitching motion at a Reynolds number of . While previous studies have computed thrust and power indirectly through measurements of momentum deficit in the object’s wake, we use a pair of force transducers to measure fluid forces directly. Our results help solidify a variety of experimental, theoretical and computational answers to this classical problem. We examine trends in propulsive performance with flapping frequency, amplitude and Reynolds number. We also examine the measured unsteady forces on the airfoil and compare them with linear theory dating from the first half of the 20th century. While linear theory significantly overpredicts the mean thrust on the foil, its prediction for the amplitude and phase of the time-varying component is surprisingly accurate. We conclude with evidence that the thrust force produced by the pitching airfoil is largely insensitive to most wake vortex arrangements.

Mechanisms for laminar separated-flow control using dielectric-barrier-discharge plasma actuator at low Reynolds number

Abstract: Large-eddy simulations have been conducted to investigate the mechanisms of separated-flow control using a dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator at a low Reynolds number. In the present study, the mechanisms are classified according to the means of momentum injection to the boundary layer. The separated flow around the NACA 0015 airfoil at a Reynolds number of 63 000 is used as the base flow for separation control. Both normal and burst mode actuations are adopted in separation control. The burst frequency non-dimensionalized by the freestream velocity and the chord length (F+) is varied from 0.25 to 25, and we discuss the control mechanism through the comparison of the aerodynamic performance and controlled flow-fields in each normal and burst case. Lift and drag coefficients are significantly improved for the cases of F+ = 1, 5, and 15 due to flow reattachment associated with a laminar-separation bubble. Frequency and linear stability analyses indicate that the F+ = 5 and 15 cases effectively exc...

Metric-Based Mathematical Derivation of Efficient Airfoil Design Variables

Abstract: Within an aerodynamic shape optimization framework, an efficient shape parameterization and deformation scheme is critical to allow flexible deformation of the surface with the maximum possible design space coverage. Numerous approaches have been developed for the geometric representation of airfoils. A fundamental approach is considered here from the geometric perspective; and a method is presented to allow the derivation of efficient, generic, and orthogonal airfoil geometric design variables. This is achieved by the mathematical decomposition of a training library. The resulting geometric modes are independent of a parameterization scheme, surface and volume mesh, and flow solver; thus, they are generally applicable. However, these modes are dependent on the training library, and so a benchmark performance measure, called the airfoil technology factor, has also been incorporated into the scheme to allow intelligent metric-based filtering, or design space reduction, of the training library to ensure eff...

Surging and plunging oscillations of an airfoil at low Reynolds number

Abstract: We investigate the forces and unsteady flow structures associated with harmonic oscillations of an airfoil in the streamwise (surging) and transverse (plunging) directions in two-dimensional simulations at low Reynolds number. For the surging case, we show that there are specific frequencies where the wake instability synchronizes with the unsteady motion of the airfoil, leading to significant changes in the mean forces. Resonant behaviour of the time-averaged forces is observed near the vortex shedding frequency and its subharmonic; the behaviour is reminiscent of the dynamics of the generic nonlinear oscillator known as the Arnol’d tongue or the resonance horn. Below the wake instability frequency, there are two regimes where the fluctuating forces are amplified and attenuated, respectively. A detailed study of the flow structures associated with leading-edge vortex (LEV) growth and detachment are used to relate this behaviour with the LEV acting either in phase with the quasi-steady component of the forces for the amplification case, or out of phase for the attenuation case. Comparisons with wind tunnel measurements show that phenomenologically similar dynamics occur at higher Reynolds number. Finally, we show that qualitatively similar phenomena occur during both surging and plunging.

On the Unsteady Behavior of the Flow around NACA 0012 Airfoil with Steady External Conditions at Re=1000

Abstract: Even for the stationary airfoils, due to the boundary and shear layer interactions of upper and lower surface of the airfoils, alternating vortex patterns form and the flow becomes time dependent. In the current study, the unsteady behavior of the flow around a symmetric airfoil is considered as incidence angle increases. The flow patterns are presented for wide range of angles of attack values. The vortex pattern generated is analyzed numerically for different angles of attack at Re=1000 around NACA 0012 airfoil. At this Reynolds number, the flow is laminar and boundary layers are quite thick. Flow separation and unsteady vortex shedding is observed even at low angles of attack. For NACA 0012 airfoil, the unsteady vortex pattern is observed at about 8° angle of attack for Re=1000. Spectral analysis is performed for angles of attack ranging from 0° to 90°. It is presented that amplitude spectrum of lift coefficient (C1) start to shows a peak at 8° for NACA 0012 and the aerodynamic forces presents oscillat...

Control of Thick Airfoil, Deep Dynamic Stall Using Steady Blowing

Abstract: The utility of constant blowing as an aerodynamic load control concept for wind turbine blades was explored experimentally. A NACA 0018 airfoil model equipped with control slots near the leading edge and at mid-chord was investigated initially under quasi-static conditions at Reynolds numbers ranging from 1.25·105 to 3.75·105. Blowing from the leading-edge slot showed a significant potential for load control applications. Leading-edge stall was either promoted or inhibited depending on the momentum coefficient, and a corresponding reduction or increase in lift on the order of Δcl≈0.5 was obtained. Control from the mid-chord slot counteracted trailing-edge stall but was ineffective at preventing leading-edge separation. The impact of blowing from the leading-edge slot on dynamic stall was explored by means of unsteady surface pressure measurements and simultaneous particle image velocimetry above the suction surface. At a sufficiently high momentum coefficient, the formation and shedding of the dynamic sta...

Flow control over an airfoil using virtual Gurney flaps

Abstract: Flow control over a NACA 0012 airfoil is carried out using a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuator at the Reynolds number of 20 000. Here, the plasma actuator is placed over the pressure (lower) side of the airfoil near the trailing edge, which produces a wall jet against the free stream. This reverse flow creates a quasi-steady recirculation region, reducing the velocity over the pressure side of the airfoil. On the other hand, the air over the suction (upper) side of the airfoil is drawn by the recirculation, increasing its velocity. Measured phase-averaged vorticity and velocity fields also indicate that the recirculation region created by the plasma actuator over the pressure surface modifies the near-wake dynamics. These flow modifications around the airfoil lead to an increase in the lift coefficient, which is similar to the effect of a mechanical Gurney flap. This configuration of DBD plasma actuators, which is investigated for the first time in this study, is therefore called a virtual Gurney flap. The purpose of this investigation is to understand the mechanism of lift enhancement by virtual Gurney flaps by carefully studying the global flow behaviour over the airfoil. First, the recirculation region draws the air from the suction surface around the trailing edge. The upper shear layer then interacts with the opposite-signed shear layer from the pressure surface, creating a stronger vortex shedding from the airfoil. Secondly, the recirculation region created by a DBD plasma actuator over the pressure surface displaces the positive shear layer away from the airfoil, thereby shifting the near-wake region downwards. The virtual Gurney flap also changes the dynamics of laminar separation bubbles and associated vortical structures by accelerating laminar-to-turbulent transition through the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability mechanism. In particular, the separation point and the start of transition are advanced. The reattachment point also moves upstream with plasma control, although it is slightly delayed at a large angle of attack.

Regimes of tonal noise on an airfoil at moderate Reynolds number

Abstract: Tonal noise generated by airfoils at low to moderate Reynolds number is relevant for applications in, for example, small-scale wind turbines, fans and unmanned aerial vehicles. Coherent and convected vortical structures scattering at the trailing edge from the pressure or suction sides of the airfoil have been identified to be responsible for such tonal noise generation. Controversy remains on the respective significance of pressure- and suction-side events, along with their interaction for tonal noise generation. The present study surveys the regimes of tonal noise generation for low to moderate chord-based Reynolds number between and and effective angle of attack between and for the NACA 0012 airfoil profile. Extensive acoustic measurements with smooth surface and with transition to turbulence forced by boundary layer tripping are presented. Results show that, at non-zero angle of attack, tonal noise generation is dominated by suction-side events at low Reynolds number and by pressure-side events at high Reynolds number. At smaller angle of attack, interaction between events on the two sides becomes increasingly important. Particle image velocimetry measurements complete the information on the flow field structure in the source region around the trailing edge. The influences of both angle of attack and Reynolds number on tonal noise generation are explained by changes in the mean flow topology, namely the presence and location of reverse flow regions on the two sides. Data gathered from experimental and numerical studies in the literature are reviewed and interpreted in view of the different regimes.

An experimental investigation on the surface water transport process over an airfoil by using a digital image projection technique

Abstract: In the present study, an experimental investigation was conducted to characterize the transient behavior of the surface water film and rivulet flows driven by boundary layer airflows over a NACA0012 airfoil in order to elucidate underlying physics of the important micro-physical processes pertinent to aircraft icing phenomena. A digital image projection (DIP) technique was developed to quantitatively measure the film thickness distribution of the surface water film/rivulet flows over the airfoil at different test conditions. The time-resolved DIP measurements reveal that micro-sized water droplets carried by the oncoming airflow impinged onto the airfoil surface, mainly in the region near the airfoil leading edge. After impingement, the water droplets formed thin water film that runs back over the airfoil surface, driven by the boundary layer airflow. As the water film advanced downstream, the contact line was found to bugle locally and developed into isolated water rivulets further downstream. The front lobes of the rivulets quickly advanced along the airfoil and then shed from the airfoil trailing edge, resulting in isolated water transport channels over the airfoil surface. The water channels were responsible for transporting the water mass impinging at the airfoil leading edge. Additionally, the transition location of the surface water transport process from film flows to rivulet flows was found to occur further upstream with increasing velocity of the oncoming airflow. The thickness of the water film/rivulet flows was found to increase monotonically with the increasing distance away from the airfoil leading edge. The runback velocity of the water rivulets was found to increase rapidly with the increasing airflow velocity, while the rivulet width and the gap between the neighboring rivulets decreased as the airflow velocity increased.

Dynamic stall on a pitching and surging airfoil

Abstract: Vertical axis wind turbine blades undergo dynamic stall due to the large angle of attack variation they experience during a turbine rotation. The flow over a single blade was modeled using a sinusoidally pitching and surging airfoil in a non-rotating frame with a constant freestream flow at a mean chord Reynolds number of 10^5. Two-dimensional, time-resolved velocity fields were acquired using particle image velocimetry. Vorticity contours were used to visualize shear layer and vortex activity. A low-order model of dynamic stall was developed using dynamic mode decomposition, from which primary and secondary dynamic separation modes were identified. The interaction between these two modes was able to capture the physics of dynamic stall and as such can be extended to other turbine configurations and problems in unsteady aerodynamics. Results from the linear pitch/surge frame are extrapolated to the rotating VAWT frame to investigate the behavior of identified flow structures.

Optimal smoothing length scale for actuator line models of wind turbine blades

Abstract: The actuator line model (ALM) is a commonly used method to represent lifting surfaces such as wind turbine blades within Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) In the ALM the lift and drag forces are replaced by an imposed body force which is typically smoothed over several grid points using a Gaussian kernel with some prescribed smoothing width $\epsilon$ To date, the choice of $\epsilon$ has most often been based on numerical considerations related to the grid spacing used in LES However, especially for finely resolved LES with grid spacings on the order of or smaller than the chord-length of the blade, the best choice of $\epsilon$ is not known In this work, a theoretical approach is followed to determine the most suitable value of $\epsilon$ Firstly, we develop an analytical solution to the linearized flow response to a Gaussian lift and drag force and use the results to establish a relationship between the local and far-field velocity required to specify lift and drag forces Then, focusing first on the lift force, we find $\epsilon$ and the force center location that minimize the square difference between the velocity fields induced by the Gaussian force and 2D potential flow over Joukowski airfoils We find that the optimal smoothing width $\epsilon^{\rm opt}$ is on the order of 14-25\% of the chord length of the blade, and the center of force is located at about 13-26\% downstream of the leading edge of the blade, for the cases considered These optimal values do not depend on angle of attack and depend only weakly on the type of lifting surface To represent the drag force, the optimal width of the circular Gaussian drag force field is shown to be equal to the momentum thickness of the wake

Parameters influencing vortex growth and detachment on unsteady aerodynamic profiles

Abstract: Experiments with a pitching and plunging airfoil are conducted in order to investigate the mechanisms responsible for the formation and detachment of leading edge vortices (LEVs) The chord length is varied from 90 to 180 mm, keeping all other non-dimensional parameters constant, specifically the Reynolds number (17 000), the Strouhal number (025), the reduced frequency (05) and the effective angle of attack history It is shown that the mechanism of vortex detachment changes with chord length, evident in a corresponding change in flow topology One mechanism scales with chord length, the other is attributed to viscous effects in the boundary layer For the latter mechanism a new scaling of the LEV circulation is introduced A second experiment investigates the influence of the reduced frequency on the LEV circulation and detachment mechanisms, again keeping all other non-dimensional parameters constant

Airfoil Aerodynamics in Ground Effect for Wide Range of Angles of Attack

Abstract: The aerodynamics and flow physics of a NACA 4412 airfoil in ground effect for a wide range of angles of attack from −4 to 20 deg are investigated by numerical simulations. The compressible Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations and shear-stress transport k-ω turbulence model equations are solved using the finite-volume method. Analyses of the computed results show that the angle of attack versus height (above the ground) plane can be divided into three regions based on the sign of the lift increment value: region I of positive ground effect, and regions II and III of negative ground effect. For low-to-moderate angles of attack, when the ride height is reduced, the airflow is blocked in the convergent passage between the lower surface of the airfoil and the ground, resulting in increase of pressure on the lower surface of the airfoil. As a consequence, the effective angle of attack decreases, and there is less upward deflection of the streamlines, resulting in an increase in pressure on the upper surfac...