Comparison of Two Active Flow Control Mechanisms of Pure Blowing and Pure Suction on a Pitching NACA0012 Airfoil at Reynolds Number of 1 × 106

Author(s):  
Ehsan Asgari ◽  
Mehran Tadjfar

In this study, we have applied and compared two active flow control (AFC) mechanisms on a pitching NACA0012 airfoil at Reynolds number of 1 × 106 using 2-D computational fluid dynamics (CFD). These mechanisms are continuous blowing and suction which are applied separately on the airfoil which pitches around its quarter-chord in a sinusoidal motion. The location for suction and blowing was determined in our previous study based on the formation of a counter clock-wise vortex near the leading-edge. In our current study, we have compared the effectiveness of pure blowing and pure suction in suppressing the dynamic stall vortex (DSV) which is the main contributor to the drag increase, particularly near the maximum angle of attack (AOA) and in early downstroke motion. The blowing/suction slot is considered as a dent on the airfoil surface which enables the AFC to perform in a tangential manner. This configuration would allow blowing jet to penetrate further downstream and was shown to be more effective compared to a cross-flow orientation. We have compared the two aforementioned mechanisms in terms of hysteresis loops of lift and drag coefficients and have demonstrated the dynamics of flow in controlled and uncontrolled situations.

Author(s):  
I. Madan ◽  
N. Tajudin ◽  
M. Said ◽  
S. Mat ◽  
N. Othman ◽  
...  

This paper highlights the flow topology above blunt-edged delta wing of VFE-2 configuration when an active flow control technique called ‘blower’ is applied in the leading edge of the wing. The flow topology above blunt-edged delta wing is very complex, disorganised and unresolved compared to sharp-edged wing. For the sharp leading-edged wing, the onset of the primary vortex is fixed at the apex of the wing and develops along the entire wing towards the trailing edge. However, the onset of the primary vortex is no longer fixed at the apex of the wing for the blunt-edged case. The onset of the primary vortex develops at a certain chord-wise position and it moved upstream or downstream depending on Reynolds number, angle of attack, Mach number and the leading-edge bluntness. An active flow control namely ‘blower’ technique has been applied in the leading edge of the wing in order to investigate the upstream/downstream progression of the primary vortex. This research has been carried out in order to determine either the flow on blunt-edged delta wing would behave as the flow above sharp-edged delta wing if any active flow control is applied. The experiments were performed at Reynolds number of 0.5×106, 1.0×106 and 2.0×106 corresponding to 9 m/s, 18 m/s and 36 m/s in UTM Low Speed wind Tunnel based on the mean aerodynamic chord of the wing. The results obtained from this research have shown that the blower technique has significant effects on the flow topology above blunt-edged delta wing. The main observation from this study was that the primary vortex has been shifted 20% upstream when the blower technique is applied. Another main observation was the ability of this flow control to delay the formation of the vortex breakdown.


2017 ◽  
Vol 140 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehran Tadjfar ◽  
Ehsan Asgari

We have studied the influence of a tangential blowing jet in dynamic stall of a NACA0012 airfoil at Reynolds number of 1 × 106, for active flow control (AFC) purposes. The airfoil was oscillating between angles of attack (AOA) of 5 and 25 deg about its quarter-chord with a sinusoidal motion. We have utilized computational fluid dynamics to investigate the impact of jet location and jet velocity ratio on the aerodynamic coefficients. We have placed the jet location upstream of the counter-clockwise (CCW) vortex which was formed during the upstroke motion near the leading-edge; we have also considered several other locations nearby to perform sensitivity analysis. Our results showed that placing the jet slot within a very small range upstream of the CCW vortex had tremendous effects on both lift and drag, such that maximum drag was reduced by 80%. There was another unique observation: placing the jet at separation point led to an inverse behavior of drag hysteresis curve in upstroke and downstroke motions. Drag in downstroke motion was significantly lower than upstroke motion, whereas in uncontrolled case the converse was true. Lift was significantly enhanced during both upstroke and downstroke motions. By investigating the pressure coefficients, it was found that flow control had altered the distribution of pressure over the airfoil upper surface. It caused a reduction in pressure difference between upper and lower surfaces in the rear part, while substantially increased pressure difference in the front part of the airfoil.


Author(s):  
Chris Weiland ◽  
Pavlos Vlachos

Time Resolved Digital Particle Image Velocimetry (TRDPIV) was used in conjunction with spectral analysis to study the effects of Leading Edge Blowing (LEB) flow control on the near-wake of a circular cylinder. The airfoil was placed 1.9 circular cylinder diameters downstream, effectively acting as a splitter plate. Spectral measurements of the TRDPIV results indicated that the presence of the airfoil decreased the Strouhal number from 0.19 to 0.12 as anticipated. When activated the LEB jet organized the circular cylinder wake, effectively neutralizing the effect of the splitter plate and modifying the wake so as to return the Strouhal number to 0.19. Thus the circular cylinder wake returned to its normal shedding frequency, even in the presence of the airfoil. Evidence presented in this study supports the notion that the LEB jet directly excites the circular cylinder shear layers causing instability, roll up, and subsequent vortex shedding.


2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tien Dat Phan ◽  
Patrick Springer ◽  
Robert Liebich

In order to prevent critical effects due to pulsed detonation propulsion, e.g., incidence fluctuations, an elastomer-piezo-adaptive stator blade with a deformable front part is developed. Numerical investigations with respect to the interaction of fluid and structure including the piezoelectric properties and the hyperelastic material behavior of an elastomer membrane are conducted in order to investigate the concept of the elastomer-piezo-adaptive blade for developing the best suitable concept for subsequent experiments with a stator cascade in a wind tunnel. Results of numerical investigations of the structure-dynamic and fluid mechanical behavior of the elastomer-piezo-adaptive blade by using a novel fluid–structure-piezoelectric-elastomer-interaction simulation (FSPEI simulation) show that the latent danger of a laminar flow separation at the leading edge at incidence fluctuations can be prevented by using an adaptive blade. Therefore, the potential of the concept of the elastomer-piezo-adaptive blade for active flow control is verified. Furthermore, it is essential to consider the interactions between fluid and structure of the transient FSPEI simulations, since not only the deformation of the adaptive blade affects the flow around the blade, the flow has a significant effect on the dynamic behavior of the adaptive blade, as well.


Author(s):  
Michael Thake ◽  
Nathan Packard ◽  
Carlos Bonilla ◽  
Jeffrey Bons

Author(s):  
Subhadeep Gan ◽  
Urmila Ghia ◽  
Karman Ghia

Most practical flows in engineering applications are turbulent, and exhibit separation. Losses due to separation are undesirable because they generally have adverse effects on performance and efficiency. Therefore, control of turbulent separated flows has been a topic of significant interest as it can reduce separation losses. It is of utmost importance to understand the complex flow dynamics that leads to flow separation and come up with methods of flow control. In the past, passive flow-control was mostly implemented that does not require any additional energy source to reduce separation losses but it leads to increasing viscous losses at higher Reynolds number. More recent work has been focused primarily on active flow-control techniques that can be turned on and off depending on the requirement of flow-control. The present work is focused on implementing flow control using steady suction in the region of flow separation. The present work is Case 3 of the 2004 CFD Validation on Synthetic Jets and Turbulent Separation Control Workshop, http://cfdval2004.larc.nasa.gov/case3.html, conducted by NASA for the flow over a wall-mounted hump. The flow over a hump is an example of a turbulent separated flow. This flow is characterized by a simple geometry, but, nevertheless, is rich in many complex flow phenomena such as shear layer instability, separation, reattachment, and vortex interactions. The baseline case has been successfully simulated by Gan et al., 2007. The flow is simulated at a Reynolds number of 371,600, based on the hump chord length, C, and Mach number of 0.04. The flow control is being achieved via a slot at approximately 65% C by using steady suction. Solutions are presented for the three-dimensional RANS SST, steady and unsteady, turbulence model and DES and LES turbulence modeling approaches. Multiple turbulence modeling approaches help to ascertain what techniques are most appropriate for capturing the physics of this complex separated flow. Second-order accurate time derivatives are used for all implicit unsteady simulation cases. Mean-velocity contours and turbulent kinetic energy contours are examined at different streamwise locations. Detailed comparisons are made of mean and turbulence statistics such as the pressure coefficient, skinfriction coefficient, and Reynolds stress profiles, with experimental results. The location of the reattachment behind the hump is compared with experimental results. The successful control of this turbulent separated flow causes a reduction in the reattachment length, compared with the uncontrolled case. The effects of steady suction on flow separation and reattachment are discussed.


Author(s):  
Xiaoxu Du ◽  
Lianying Zhang

The hydrodynamic performance of the blended-wing-body underwater glider can be improved by opening a hole on the surface and applying the steady suction active flow control. In order to explore the influence law and mechanism of the steady suction active flow control on the lift and drag performance of the hydrofoil, which is the profile of the blended-wing-body underwater glider, based on the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method and SST k-ω turbulence model, the steady suction active flow control of hydrofoil under different conditions is studied, which include three suction factors: suction angle, suction position and suction ratio, as well as three different flow states: no stall, critical stall and over stall. Then the influence mechanism in over stall flow state is further analyzed. The results show that the flow separation state of NACA0015 hydrofoil can be effectively restrained and the flow field distribution around it can be improved by a reasonable steady suction, so as to the lift-drag performance of NACA0015 hydrofoil is improved. The effect of increasing lift and reducing drag of steady suction is best at 90° suction angle and symmetrical about 90° suction angle, and it is better when the steady suction position is closer to the leading edge of the hydrofoil. In addition, with the increase of the suction ratio, the influence of steady suction on the lift coefficient and drag coefficient of hydrofoil is greater.


Author(s):  
Djavad Kamari ◽  
Mehran Tadjfar ◽  
Ali Tarokh

Abstract Large Eddy Simulation for active flow control (AFC) by employing synthetic and continuous blowing is done to investigate their effects on resizing separation. The flow around an SD7003 airfoil at Reynolds number of 60,000 and angles of attack of 13° is considered where a widespread separation occurs at post stall. In this work, the Dynamic Smagorinsky model is used as to calculate the turbulent viscosity.


2017 ◽  
Vol 89 (5) ◽  
pp. 725-729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heribert Bieler

Purpose Aerodynamics drives the aircraft performance and, thus, influences fuel consumption and environmental compatibility. Further, optimization of aerodynamic shapes is an ongoing design activity in industrial offices; this will lead to incremental improvements. More significant step changes in performance are not expected from pure passive shape design. However, active flow control is a key technology, which has the potential to realize a drastic step change in performance. Flow control targets two major goals: low speed performance enhancements mainly for start and landing phase via control of separation and drag reduction at high speed conditions via skin friction and shock wave control. Design/methodology/approach This paper highlights flow control concepts and Airbus involvements for both items. To mature flow control systematically, local applications of separation control technology are of major importance for Airbus. In parallel, but at lower maturity level, investigations are ongoing to reduce the turbulent skin friction at cruise. A popular concept to delay separation at low speed conditions is the implementation of jet actuation control systems flush mounted to the wall of aerodynamic components. Findings In 2006, DLR (in collaboration with universities Berlin, Braunschweig and industrial partner Airbus) started to study active flow control for separation delay towards application. Based on basic proof of concepts (achieved in national projects), further flow control hardware developments and wind tunnel and lab testing took place in European funded projects. Originality/value Significant lift enhancements were realized via flow control applied to the wing leading edge and the flap.


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