scholarly journals Forcing Boundary-Layer Transition on a Single-Element Wing in Ground Effect

2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke S. Roberts ◽  
Mark V. Finnis ◽  
Kevin Knowles

The transition from a laminar to turbulent boundary layer on a wing operating at low Reynolds numbers can have a large effect on its aerodynamic performance. For a wing operating in ground effect, where very low pressures and large pressure gradients are common, the effect is even greater. A study was conducted into the effect of forcing boundary-layer transition on the suction surface of an inverted GA(W)-1 section single-element wing in ground effect, which is representative of a racing-car front wing. Transition to a turbulent boundary layer was forced at varying chordwise locations and compared to the free-transition case using experimental and computational methods. Forcing transition caused the laminar-separation bubble, which was the unforced transition mechanism, to be eliminated in all cases and trailing-edge separation to occur instead. The aerodynamic forces produced by the wing with trailing-edge separation were shown to be dependent on trip location. As the trip was moved upstream the separation point also moved upstream, this led to an increase in drag and reduction in downforce. In addition to significant changes to the pressure field around the wing, turbulent energy in the wake was considerably reduced by forcing transition. The differences between free- and forced-transition wings were shown to be significant, highlighting the importance of modeling transition for ground-effect wings. Additionally, it has been shown that while it is possible to reproduce the force coefficient of a higher Reynolds-number case by forcing the boundary layer to a turbulent state, the flow features, both on-surface and off-surface, are not recreated.

2008 ◽  
Vol 2008.44 (0) ◽  
pp. 91-92
Author(s):  
Yuichiro Saiki ◽  
Yoshihiro Yamaguchi ◽  
Toshiyuki Arima ◽  
Takuma Kato ◽  
Yasuaki Kohama

2009 ◽  
Vol 2009.45 (0) ◽  
pp. 81-82
Author(s):  
Takuma KATO ◽  
Yuichiro SAIKI ◽  
Yoshihiro YAMAGUCHI ◽  
Toshiyuki ARIMA ◽  
Yasuaki KOHAMA

2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke S. Roberts ◽  
Mark V. Finnis ◽  
Kevin Knowles

The influence of Reynolds number on the aerodynamic characteristics of various wing geometries was investigated through wind-tunnel experimentation. The test models represented racing car front wings of varying complexity: from a simple single-element wing to a highly complex 2009-specification formula-one wing. The aim was to investigate the influence of boundary-layer transition and Reynolds-number dependency of each wing configuration. The single-element wing showed significant Reynolds-number dependency, with up to 320% and 35% difference in downforce and drag, respectively, for a chordwise Reynolds number difference of 0.81 × 105. Across the same test range, the multi-element configuration of the same wing and the F1 wing displayed less than 6% difference in downforce and drag. Surface-flow visualization conducted at various Reynolds numbers and ground clearances showed that the separation bubble that forms on the suction surface of the wing changes in both size and location. As Reynolds number decreased, the bubble moved upstream and increased in size, while reducing ground clearance caused the bubble to move upstream and decrease in size. The fundamental characteristics of boundary layer transition on the front wing of a monoposto racing car have been established.


2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Ausoni ◽  
Amirreza Zobeiri ◽  
François Avellan ◽  
Mohamed Farhat

Experiments on vortex shedding from a blunt trailing edge symmetric hydrofoil operating at zero angle of attack in a uniform high speed flow, Reh=16.1·103-96.6·103, where the reference length h is the trailing edge thickness, are reported. The effects of a tripped turbulent boundary layer on the wake characteristics are analyzed and compared with the condition of a natural turbulent transition. The foil surface is hydraulically smooth and a fully effective boundary layer tripping at the leading edge is achieved with the help of a distributed roughness. The vortex shedding process is found to be strongly influenced by the boundary layer development: the tripped turbulent transition promotes the re-establishment of organized vortex shedding. In the context of the tripped transition and in comparison with the natural one, significant increases in the vortex span-wise organization, the vortex-induced hydrofoil vibration, the wake velocity fluctuations, and the vortex strength are revealed. Although the vortex shedding frequency is decreased, a modified Strouhal number based on the wake width at the end of the vortex formation region is constant and evidences the similarity of the wakes in terms of spatial distribution for the two considered boundary layer transition processes.


Author(s):  
Chenglong Wang ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Bengt Sundén ◽  
Valery Chernoray ◽  
Hans Abrahamsson

In the present study, the heat transfer characteristics on the suction and pressure sides of an outlet guide vane (OGV) are investigated by using liquid crystal thermography (LCT) method in a linear cascade. Because the OGV has a complex curved surface, it is necessary to calibrate the LCT by taking into account the effect of viewing angles of the camera. Based on the calibration results, heat transfer measurements of the OGV were conducted. Both on- and off-design conditions were tested, where the incidence angles of the OGV were 25 degrees and −25 degrees, respectively. The Reynolds numbers, based on the axial flow velocity and the chord length, were 300,000 and 450,000. In addition, heat transfer on suction side of the OGV with +40 degrees incidence angle was measured. The results indicate that the Reynolds number and incidence angle have considerable influences upon the heat transfer on both pressure and suction surfaces. For on-design conditions, laminar-turbulent boundary layer transitions are on both sides, but no flow separation occurs; on the contrary, for off-design conditions, the position of laminar-turbulent boundary layer transition is significantly displaced downstream on the suction surface, and a separation occurs from the leading edge on the pressure surface. As expected, larger Reynolds number gives higher heat transfer coefficients on both sides of the OGV.


1992 ◽  
Vol 114 (3) ◽  
pp. 322-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. F. Blair

Hot-wire anemometry was employed to examine the laminar-to-turbulent transition of low-speed, two-dimensional boundary layers for two (moderate) levels of flow acceleration and various levels of grid-generated freestream turbulence. Flows with an adiabatic wall and with uniform-flux heat transfer were explored. Conditional discrimination techniques were employed to examine the zones of flow within the transitional region. This analysis demonstrated that as much as one-half of the streamwise-component unsteadiness, and much of the apparent anisotropy, observed near the wall was produced, not by turbulence, but by the steps in velocity between the turbulent and inter-turbulent zones of flow. Within the turbulent zones u′/v′ ratios were about equal to those expected for equilibrium boundary-layer turbulence. Near transition onset, however, the turbulence kinetic energy within the turbulent zones exceeded fully turbulent boundary-layer levels. Turbulent-zone power-spectral-density measurements indicate that the ratio of dissipation to production increased through transition. This suggests that the generation of the full equilibrium turbulent boundary-layer energy cascade required some time (distance) and may explain the very high TKE levels near onset.


2016 ◽  
Vol 792 ◽  
pp. 274-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guo-Sheng He ◽  
Chong Pan ◽  
Li-Hao Feng ◽  
Qi Gao ◽  
Jin-Jun Wang

Evolution of Lagrangian coherent structures (LCS) in a flat plate boundary layer transition induced by the wake of a circular cylinder is investigated. Both hydrogen bubble visualization and particle image velocimetry (PIV) techniques are used. It is found that downstream of the cylinder, the disturbance in the boundary layer experiences a fast growth followed by a slow decay in the transition. Lagrangian coherent structures are revealed by qualitative hydrogen bubble visualizations and quantitative finite-time Lyapunov exponents (FTLE) fields derived from the PIV data. The evolution of the LCS is considered from the very beginning of the transition up to when the boundary layer becomes fully developed turbulent flow. The mean convection velocity and average inclination angle of the LCS are first extracted from the FTLE fields. The streamwise length of the low-speed streaks seems to increase, while their spanwise distance decreases in the boundary layer transition. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of the PIV data shows that low-speed streaks associated with the hairpin vortices and hairpin packets are the dominant coherent structures close to the wall in the transitional and turbulent boundary layer. The POD modes also reveal a variety of scales in the turbulent boundary layer. Moreover, it is found that large-scale coherent structures can modulate the amplitude of the small-scale ones.


Author(s):  
Debasish Biswas ◽  
Tomohiko Jimbo

Boundary layer transition is an important phenomenon experienced by the flow through gas turbine engines. A substantial fraction of the boundary layer on both sides of a gas turbine airfoil may be transitional. The extended transition zone exist due to strong favorable pressure gradients, found on both near the leading edge portion of the suction side and the pressure side, which serve to stabilize the boundary layer and consequently delay the transition process, even under high free-stream turbulence intensity (FSTI) in practical gas turbine. It is very important to properly model and predict the high FSTI transition mechanism, since boundary layer transition leads to substantial increase in friction coefficients and heat transfer rate. Near wall turbulence production is thought to be largely absent in the non-turbulent zone. The intermittent nature of transition need to be taken into account in developing improved transition model. Much has been learned from the to date, but the nature of separated flow transition is still not completely clear, and existing models are still not robust as needed for accurate prediction. Therefore, in the present work a high order LES turbulent model proposed by the author is used to predict the separated flow transition. The experimental data of Volino is chosen for this comparison purpose. In his experimental work, the flow through a single-passage cascade simulator is documented under both high and low FSTI conditions at several different Reynolds numbers. The geometry of the passage (in Volino’s work) corresponds to that of the “Pak-B” airfoil, which is an industry supplied research airfoil that is representative of a modern, aggressive LP turbine design. Volino’s data included a complete documentation of cases with Re as low as 25,000 and also the documentation of turbulent shear stress in the boundary layer under both high and low FSTI.


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