Experimental study of flow field on stepped airfoil at very low Reynolds number

Author(s):  
Reza Kamyab Matin ◽  
Hojat Ghassemi ◽  
Abbas Ebrahimi ◽  
Bahman Ghasemi

In this article, the flow field around NACA0024 airfoil with step at lower and upper surfaces is experimentally investigated. For this purpose, particle image velocimetry technique based on the instantaneous flow structures is used to investigate the flow field around the airfoil at different times. All the experimental measurements in current study are conducted at very low Reynolds number condition based on the chord of the airfoil (Re=2000) and at angles of attack at 0° and 5° where the flow around airfoils is separated. The differences between vortical structures, mean streamlines, sizes of the wake regions, and vortex shedding of the stepped airfoils compared to unmodified airfoil are observed. The results disclose that using step in airfoil leads to a decrease in the Strouhal number. In addition, the formation of vortices in wake region and their positions at different times are discussed.

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. F. K. Tay ◽  
D. C. S. Kuhn ◽  
M. F. Tachie

This paper reports an experimental investigation of the effects of wall roughness and favorable pressure gradient on low Reynolds number turbulent flow in a two-dimensional asymmetric converging channel. Flow convergence was produced by means of ramps (of angles 2 deg and 3 deg) installed on the bottom wall of a plane channel. The experiments were conducted over a smooth surface and over transitionally rough and fully rough surfaces produced from sand grains and gravel of nominal mean diameters 1.55 mm and 4.22 mm, respectively. The dimensionless acceleration parameter was varied from 0.38×10−6 to 3.93×10−6 while the Reynolds number based on the boundary layer momentum thickness was varied from 290 to 2250. The velocity measurements were made using a particle image velocimetry technique. From these measurements, the distributions of the mean velocity and Reynolds stresses were obtained to document the salient features of transitionally and fully rough low Reynolds number turbulent boundary layers subjected to favorable pressure gradient.


Author(s):  
B. R. McAuliffe ◽  
M. I. Yaras

This paper presents experimental results on separation-bubble transition at low Reynolds number and low freestream turbulence, measured on an airfoil using particle image velocimetry (PIV). The two-dimensional PIV measurements have been performed over the suction surface of a low-Reynolds-number airfoil in a water tow-tank facility. Reynolds numbers, based on airfoil chord length and towing speed, of 40,000 and 65,000 have been examined at various angles of incidence, providing a range of streamwise pressure distributions and transitional separation-bubble geometries. The types of bubbles observed range from a short and thick bubble with separation near the leading edge of the airfoil, to a long and thin bubble with separation far downstream of the suction peak. The PIV measurements facilitate visualization of the vortex dynamics associated with separation-bubble transition. The growth of instability waves within the separated shear layer and eventual breakdown into turbulence is documented through the instantaneous vector fields. For all cases examined, large-scale vortex shedding and multiple reverse-flow zones are observed in the reattachment region. A technique for estimating the location of transition onset based on statistical turbulence quantities is presented, and comparisons are made to existing transition models.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (82) ◽  
pp. 20121031 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takanobu Yagi ◽  
Ayaka Sato ◽  
Manabu Shinke ◽  
Sara Takahashi ◽  
Yasutaka Tobe ◽  
...  

This study experimentally investigated the instability of flow impingement in a cerebral aneurysm, which was speculated to promote the degradation of aneurysmal wall. A patient-specific, full-scale and elastic-wall replica of cerebral artery was fabricated from transparent silicone rubber. The geometry of the aneurysm corresponded to that found at 9 days before rupture. The flow in a replica was analysed by quantitative flow visualization (stereoscopic particle image velocimetry) in a three-dimensional, high-resolution and time-resolved manner. The mid-systolic and late-diastolic flows with a Reynolds number of 450 and 230 were compared. The temporal and spatial variations of near-wall velocity at flow impingement delineated its inherent instability at a low Reynolds number. Wall shear stress (WSS) at that site exhibited a combination of temporal fluctuation and spatial divergence. The frequency range of fluctuation was found to exceed significantly that of the heart rate. The high-frequency-fluctuating WSS appeared only during mid-systole and disappeared during late diastole. These results suggested that the flow impingement induced a transition from a laminar regime. This study demonstrated that the hydrodynamic instability of shear layer could not be neglected even at a low Reynolds number. No assumption was found to justify treating the aneurysmal haemodynamics as a fully viscous laminar flow.


Author(s):  
Hauke Ehlers ◽  
Robert Konrath ◽  
Marcel Börner ◽  
Ralf Wokoeck ◽  
Rolf Radespiel

Author(s):  
J.-S. Liu ◽  
M. L. Celestina ◽  
G. B. Heitland ◽  
D. B. Bush ◽  
M. L. Mansour ◽  
...  

As an aircraft engine operates from sea level take-off (SLTO) to altitude cruise, the low pressure (LP) turbine Reynolds number decreases. As Reynolds number is reduced the condition of the airfoil boundary layer shifts from bypass transition to separated flow transition. This can result in a significant loss. The LP turbine performance fall-off from SLTO to altitude cruise, due to the loss increase with reduction in Reynolds number, is referred to as a lapse rate. A considerable amount of research in recent years has been focused on understanding and reducing the loss associated with the low Reynolds number operation. A recent 3-1/2 stage LP turbine design completed a component rig test program at Honeywell. The turbine rig test included Reynolds number variation from SLTO to altitude cruise conditions. While the rig test provides detailed inlet and exit condition measurements, the individual blade row effects are not available. Multi-blade row computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis is used to complement the rig data by providing detailed flow field information through each blade row. A multi-blade row APNASA model was developed and solutions were obtained at the SLTO and altitude cruise rig conditions. The APNASA model predicts the SLTO to altitude lapse rate within 0.2 point compared to the rig data. The global agreement verifies the modeling approach and provides a high confidence level in the blade row flow field predictions. Additional Reynolds number investigation with APNASA will provide guidance in the LP turbine Reynolds number research areas to reduce lapse rate. To accurately predict the low Reynolds number flow in the LP turbine is a challenging task for any computational fluid dynamic (CFD) code. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the capability of a CFD code, APNASA, to predict the sensitivity of the Reynolds number in LP turbines.


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