1225 EFFECT OF TURBULENCE INTENSITY ON THE LOW REYNOLDS NUMBER AIRFOILWAKE

Author(s):  
Wang Shu ◽  
Zhou Yu ◽  
Alam Md.Mahbub
Author(s):  
Alberto Di Sante ◽  
Rene´ Van den Braembussche

The impact of Coriolis forces on low Reynolds number decelerating flows is studied by means of time resolved Particle Image Velocimetry in a 6° diverging channel. Measurements are made with a high speed camera and a continuous light source rotating at the same speed as the rotating channel. This allows a direct and accurate recording of the time varying relative velocity. The Reynolds number can be varied from 3 000 to 30 000 in combination with a change of rotation number between 0.0 and 0.33. These values are characteristic for the flow in the blade passage of centrifugal impellers used in micro gasturbines. Increasing rotation stabilizes the flow on the suction side. The peak turbulence intensity shifts away from the wall with a small increase of its amplitude. The turbulence intensity on the pressure side increases its peak value and concentrates closer to the wall when increasing rotation. Instantaneous flow field analyses indicate that elongated vortical structures characterize the boundary layer in the stationary case and on the pressure side of the rotating channel. Isotropic vortices develop relatively distant from the wall on the suction side. Their position and size are tracked in time by means of a wavelet analysis.


Author(s):  
Mazharul Islam ◽  
M. Ruhul Amin ◽  
Yasir M. Shariff

Selection of airfoil is crucial for better aerodynamic performance and design of aerodynamic applications such as wind turbine and aircrafts. In this paper, a high-lift and low-Reynolds number airfoil has been selected and investigated through computational analysis for applying it for small-sized wind turbines as blades. The S1223 airfoil, designed by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was chosen for its high-lift characteristics at low Reynolds number typically encountered by the small wind turbines. CFD work is performed with S1223 airfoil profile over a wide range of conditions of interest to analyze the performance of the airfoil using the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model. The results obtained from the simulation works have been compared with experimental data for validation purpose. It has been found that the Spalart-Allmaras model conforms well with the experimental results, though the values of lift coefficients (Cl) are slightly less than the experimental results. In the present analysis, velocity distributions are analyzed at different angle of attacks for different turbulence intensities. It has been observed that there is vortex shedding around the trailing edge of the airfoil for both turbulence levels. It has been observed in the present study that due to increase in turbulence intensity, both the maximum lift coefficient and the stall angle increases significantly. It has been found after investigating the effect of turbulence intensity over lift-to-drag coefficient ratio that it drastically decreases due to increase in turbulence intensity up to certain value (about 3.5%), then it starts decreasing in gradual manner.


2005 ◽  
Vol 2005 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takayuki Matsunuma ◽  
Yasukata Tsutsui

The unsteady flow field downstream of axial-flow turbine rotors at low Reynolds numbers was investigated experimentally using hot-wire probes. Reynolds number, based on rotor exit velocity and rotor chord lengthReout,RT, was varied from3.2×104to12.8×104at intervals of1.0×104by changing the flow velocity of the wind tunnel. The time-averaged and time-dependent distributions of velocity and turbulence intensity were analyzed to determine the effect of Reynolds number. The reduction of Reynolds number had a marked influence on the turbine flow field. The regions of high turbulence intensity due to the wake and the secondary vortices were increased dramatically with the decreasing Reynolds number. The periodic fluctuation of the flow due to rotor-stator interaction also increased with the decreasing Reynolds number. The energy-dissipation thickness of the rotor midspan wake at the low Reynolds numberReout,RT=3.2×104was1.5times larger than that at the high Reynolds numberReout,RT=12.8×104. The curve of the−0.2power of the Reynolds number agreed with the measured energy-dissipation thickness at higher Reynolds numbers. However, the curve of the−0.4power law fitted more closely than the curve of the−0.2power law at lower Reynolds numbers below6.4×104.


Author(s):  
Kenneth W. Van Treuren ◽  
Terrence Simon ◽  
Marc von Koller ◽  
Aaron R. Byerley ◽  
James W. Baughn ◽  
...  

With the new generation of gas turbine engines, low Reynolds number flows have become increasingly important. Designers must properly account for transition from laminar to turbulent flow and separation of the flow from the suction surface, which is strongly dependent upon transition. Of interest to industry are Reynolds numbers based upon suction surface length and flow exit velocity below 150,000 and as low as 25,000. In this paper, the extreme low end of this Reynolds number range is documented by way of pressure distributions, loss coefficients and identification of separation zones. Reynolds numbers of 25,000 and 50,000 and with 1% and 8–9% turbulence intensity of the approach flow (Free Stream Turbulence Intensity, FSTI) were investigated. At 25,000 Reynolds number and low FSTI, the suction surface displayed a strong and steady separation region. Raising the turbulence intensity resulted in a very unsteady separation region of nearly the same size on the suction surface. Vortex generators were added to the suction surface, but they appeared to do very little at this Reynolds number. At the higher Reynolds number of 50,000, the low-FSTI case was strongly separated on the downstream portion of the suction surface. The separation zone was eliminated when the turbulence level was increased to 8–9%. Vortex generators were added to the suction surface of the low-FSTI case. In this instance, the vortices were able to provide the mixing needed to reestablish flow attachment. This paper shows that massive separation at very low Reynolds numbers (25,000) is persistent, in spite of elevated FSTI and added vortices. However, at a higher Reynolds number, there is opportunity for flow reattachment either with elevated freestream turbulence or with added vortices. This may be the first documentation of flow behavior at such low Reynolds numbers. Though undesirable to operate under these conditions, it is important to know what to expect and how performance may be improved if such conditions are unavoidable.


Author(s):  
Yang Zhang ◽  
Zhou Zhou ◽  
Xu Li

Based on the complex flow field of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft with distributed propulsion, the influence of the turbulence intensity and gradient of turbulence intensity on the aerodynamic characteristics of two-dimensional airfoil under low Reynolds number was studied by solving the unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) Equation based on the c-type structural mesh and γ-Reθt transition model. The aerodynamic characteristics of NACA0012 airfoil at different turbulence intensities and Reynolds numbers are simulated and compared with the experimental data, which verifies the reliability of the low Reynolds number calculation method. Meanwhile, the effects of the different low Reynolds number and gradient of turbulence intensity on the aero-dynamic characteristics of airfoil are studied, and the effect mechanism of the turbulence on the flow field around airfoil is analyzed. It shows that the flow characteristics of the airfoil with high turbulence or Reynolds number are more stable, the separation bubble size is smaller, the flow separation is delayed, and the stall angle of attack is larger, but the effect of the two mechanisms on the earlier transition is different. The influence of the turbulence gradient on the airfoil is limited by the Reynolds number, and the flow separation, transition and reattachment of the airfoil with high turbulence gradient are advance. The generation and evolution of the laminar separation bubble are closely related to the turbulence intensity and Reynolds number, and its scale and location also affect the aerodynamic characteristics of the airfoil.


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