scholarly journals Effect of Chordwise Struts and Misaligned Flow on the Aerodynamic Performance of a Leading-Edge Inflatable Wing

Author(s):  
Axelle Viré ◽  
Geert Lebesque ◽  
Mikko Folkersma ◽  
Roland Schmehl

Steady-state Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations are performed for a leading-edge inflatable wing for airborne wind energy applications. Expanding on previous work where only the inflatable leading edge tube was considered, eight additional inflatable strut tubes that support the wing canopy are now included. The shape of the wing is considered to be constant. The influence of the strut tubes on the aerodynamic performance of the wing and the local flow field is assessed, considering flow configurations with and without side-slip. The simulations show that the aerodynamic performance of the wing decreases with increasing side-slip component of the inflow. On the other hand, the chordwise struts have little influence on the integral lift and drag of the wing, irrespective of the side-slip component. The overall flow characteristics are in good agreement with previous studies. In particular, it is confirmed that at a low Reynolds number of Re=10^5, a laminar separation bubble exists on the suction side of this hypothetical rigid wing shape with perfectly smooth surface. The destruction of this bubble at low angles of attack impacts negatively on the aerodynamic performance.

Author(s):  
M.P. Uthra ◽  
A. Daniel Antony

Most admirable and least known features of low Reynolds number flyers are their aerodynamics. Due to the advancements in low Reynolds number applications such as Micro Air vehicles (MAV), Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) and wind turbines, researchers’ concentrates on Low Reynolds number aerodynamics and its effect on aerodynamic performance. The Laminar Separation Bubble (LSB) plays a deteriorating role in affecting the aerodynamic performance of the wings. The parametric study has been performed to analyse the flow around cambered, uncambered wings with different chord and Reynolds number in order to understand the better flow characteristics, LSB and three dimensional flow structures. The computational results are compared with experimental results to show the exact location of LSB. The presence of LSB in all cases is evident and it also affects the aerodynamic characteristics of the wing. There is a strong formation of vortex in the suction side of the wing which impacts the LSB and transition. The vortex structures impact on the LSB is more and it also increases the strength of the LSB throughout the span wise direction.


Author(s):  
Dimitri P. Tselepidakis ◽  
Sung-Eun Kim

This paper presents the computation of the flow around a controlled diffusion compressor cascade. Features associated with by-pass transition close to the leading edge — including laminar leading-edge separation — contribute significantly to the evolution of the boundary layer on the blade surface. Previous studies have demonstrated that conventional k-ε models, based on linear or non-linear Boussinesq stress-strain relations, are able to capture by-pass transition in simple shear, but are unable to resolve transitional features in complex strain, like the leading-edge separation bubble, which is of considerable influence to the suction-side flow at high inlet angle. Here, the k-ω turbulence model has been implemented in a nonstaggered, finite-volume based segregated Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes solver. We demonstrate that this model, if properly sensitized to the generation of turbulence by irrotational strains, is capable of capturing the laminar leading-edge separation bubble. The real flow around the leading edge is laminar and the transition is only provoked on the reattachment region. Additional investigation of transition in a flat-plate boundary layer development has also produced reasonably promising results.


2014 ◽  
Vol 137 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Hergt ◽  
J. Klinner ◽  
W. Steinert ◽  
S. Grund ◽  
M. Beversdorff ◽  
...  

Especially at transonic flow conditions the leading edge shape influences the performance of a fan profile. At the same time the leading edge of a fan profile is highly affected by erosion during operation. This erosion leads to a deformation of the leading edge shape and a reduction of the chord length. In the present experimental and numerical study, the aerodynamic performance of an original fan profile geometry is compared to an eroded fan profile with a blunt leading edge (BLE) and a chord length reduced by about 1%. The experiments are performed at a linear fan blade cascade in the Transonic Cascade Wind Tunnel of DLR in Cologne. The inflow Mach number during the tests is 1.25 and the Reynolds number 1.5 × 106. All tests are carried out at a low inflow turbulence level of 0.8%. The results of the investigation show that losses are increased over the whole operating range of the cascade. At the aerodynamic design point (ADP) the losses raise by 25%. This significant loss increase can be traced back to the increase of the shock losses at the leading edge. The change in shock structure is investigated and described in detail by means of particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements and Schlieren imaging. Additionally, the unsteady fluctuation of the shock position is measured by a high-speed shadowgraphy. Then the frequency range of the fluctuation is obtained by a Fourier analysis of the time resolved shock position. Furthermore, liquid crystal measurements are performed in order to analyze the influence of the leading edge shape on the development of the suction side boundary layer. The results show that for the original fan blade the transition occurs at the shock position on the blade suction side by a separation bubble whereas the transition onset is shifted upstream for the fan blade with the BLE.


2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Wang ◽  
Ruifeng Hu ◽  
Xiaojing Zheng

Leading edge erosion is a considerable threat to wind turbine performance and blade maintenance, and it is very imperative to accurately predict the influence of various degrees of erosion on wind turbine performance. In the present study, an attempt to investigate the effects of leading edge erosion on the aerodynamics of wind turbine airfoil is undertaken by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. A new pitting erosion model is proposed and semicircle cavities were used to represent the erosion pits in the simulation. Two-dimensional incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equation and shear stress transport (SST) k–ω turbulence model are adopted to compute the aerodynamics of a S809 airfoil with leading edge pitting erosions, where the influences of pits depth, densities, distribution area, and locations are considered. The results indicate that pitting erosion has remarkably undesirable influences on the aerodynamic performance of the airfoil, and the critical pits depth, density, and distribution area degrade the airfoil aerodynamic performance mostly were obtained. In addition, the dominant parameters are determined by the correlation coefficient path analysis method, results showed that all parameters have non-negligible effects on the aerodynamics of S809 airfoil, and the Reynolds number is of the most important, followed by pits density, pits depth, and pits distribution area. Meanwhile, the direct and indirect effects of these factors are analyzed, and it is found that the indirect effects are very small and the parameters can be considered to be independent with each other.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Krøgenes ◽  
Lovisa Brandrud ◽  
Richard Hann ◽  
Jan Bartl ◽  
Tania Bracchi ◽  
...  

Abstract. The demand for wind power is rapidly increasing, creating opportunities for wind farm installations in more challenging climates. Cold climate areas, where ice accretion can be an issue, are often sparsely populated and have high wind energy potential. Icing may lead to severely reduced aerodynamic performance and thereby reduced power output. To reach a greater understanding of how icing affects the aerodynamics of a wind turbine blade, three representative icing cases; rime ice, glaze ice and a mixed ice, were defined and investigated experimentally and computationally. Experiments at Re = 1.0 × 105–4.0 × 105 were conducted in the low-speed wind tunnel at NTNU on a two dimensional wing with applied 3D-printed ice shapes, determining lift, drag and surface pressure distributions. Computational results, obtained from the Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes fluid dynamics code FENSAP, complement the experiments. Measured and predicted data show a reduction in lift for all icing cases. Most severe is the mixed ice case, with a lift reduction of up to 30 % in the linear lift area, compared to a clean reference airfoil. Computational results show an under-prediction in maximum lift of 7–18 % compared to experimental values. Curvature and tendencies for both lift and drag show good agreement between simulations and experiment.


2007 ◽  
Vol 594 ◽  
pp. 341-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANK M. BOS ◽  
D. LENTINK ◽  
B. W. VAN OUDHEUSDEN ◽  
H. BIJL

The influence of different wing kinematic models on the aerodynamic performance of a hovering insect is investigated by means of two-dimensional time-dependent Navier–Stokes simulations. For this, simplified models are compared with averaged representations of the hovering fruit fly wing kinematics. With increasing complexity, a harmonic model, a Robofly model and two more-realistic fruit fly models are considered, all dynamically scaled at Re = 110. To facilitate the comparison, the parameters of the models were selected such that their mean quasi-steady lift coefficients were matched. Details of the vortex dynamics, as well as the resulting lift and drag forces, were studied.The simulation results reveal that the fruit fly wing kinematics result in forces that differ significantly from those resulting from the simplified wing kinematic models. In addition, light is shed on the effect of different characteristic features of the insect wing motion. The angle of attack variation used by fruit flies increases aerodynamic performance, whereas the deviation is probably used for levelling the forces over the cycle.


Author(s):  
Amr Abdelrahman ◽  
Amr Emam ◽  
Ihab Adam ◽  
Hamdy Hassan ◽  
Shinichi Ookawara ◽  
...  

Abstract Through the last two decades, many studies have demonstrated the ability of leading-edge protrusions (tubercles), inspired from the pectoral flippers of the humpback whale, to be an effective passive flow control method for the stall phase of an airfoil in some cases depending on the geometrical features and the flow regime. Nevertheless, there is a little work associated with revealing tubercles performance for the lifting surfaces with a highly cambered cross-section, used in numerous applications. The present work aims to investigate the effect of implementing leading edge tubercles on the performance of an infinite span rectangular wing with the highly cambered S1223 foil at different flow regimes. Two sets; baseline one and a modified with tubercles have been studied at Re = 0.1 × 106, 0.3 × 106 and 1.5 × 106 using computational fluid dynamics with a validated model. The numerical results demonstrated that Tubercles have the ability to entirely alter the flow structure over the airfoil, confining the separation to troughs, hence, softening the stall characteristics. However, the tubercle modification expedites the presence of the stalled flow over the suction side, lowering the stall angle for the three mentioned Reynolds numbers. While, no considerable difference occurs in lift and drag before the stall.


Author(s):  
Hossein Jabbari ◽  
Esmaeili Ali ◽  
Mohammad Hasan Djavareshkian

Since laminar separation bubbles are neutrally shaped on the suction side of full-span wings in low Reynolds number flows, a roughness element can be used to improve the performance of micro aerial vehicles. The purpose of this article was to investigate the leading-edge roughness element’s effect and its location on upstream of the laminar separation bubble from phase portrait point of view. Therefore, passive control might have an acoustic side effect, especially when the bubble might burst and increase noise. Consequently, the effect of the leading-edge roughness element features on the bubble’s behavior is considered on the acoustic pressure field and the vortices behind the NASA-LS0417 cross-section. The consequences express that the distribution of roughness in the appropriate dimensions and location could contribute to increasing the performance of the airfoil and the interaction of vortices produced by roughness elements with shear layers on the suction side has increased the sound frequency in the relevant sound pressure level (SPL). The results have demonstrated that vortex shedding frequency was increased in the presence of roughness compared to the smooth airfoil. Also, more complexity of the phase portrait circuits was found, retrieved from velocity gradient limitation. Likewise, the highest SPL is related to the state where the separation bubble phenomenon is on the surface versus placing roughness elements on the leading edge leads to a negative amount of SPL.


Author(s):  
Christoph Gmelin ◽  
Mathias Steger ◽  
Vincent Zander ◽  
Wolfgang Nitsche ◽  
Frank Thiele ◽  
...  

Time-resolved Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes simulations of a 3D stator compressor cascade are performed. At the design point of the airfoil under investigation, pronounced secondary flow effects are observed. Strong corner vortices emerge from the casing walls and the flow separates from the blade suction side towards the trailing edge. Transition from laminar to turbulent flow occurs within a laminar separation bubble. Using a commercial CFD software, the influence of the spatial resolution is investigated by means of a spanwise coarsening and refinement of the created mesh. Zero net mass flux synthetic jet actuation is used to control the separated regions. The work presents a variation of the temporal discretization and an analysis of the driving parameters of the actuation.


2011 ◽  
Vol 383-390 ◽  
pp. 4221-4226
Author(s):  
Song Ling Wang ◽  
Zhe Liu ◽  
Lei Zhang

It’s of great significance for safe and reliable operation of fan to research on the stall characteristics of the airfoil. The 2D non-compressible Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations was built to simulate the flow around the airfoil of G4-73No.8D centrifugal fan, a detailed numerical simulation under different angles has been carried out which based on the Realizable turbulence model with Fluent. The numerical results show that the smaller of the flow rate, the bigger incidence angle is, when the incidence angle is bigger than the critical incidence angle, the suction side stall appears. According simulation the airfoil stall appears when the incidence angle is -28°, with the increasing of the negative incidence angle, the separation point gradually moves to the leading edge. There is a strong vortex which locates at suction side =0.5,the alternating stress on the blade which caused by vortex will make the blade fatigue. If the incidence angle is less than -20°,there is no flow separation, therefore, to ensure the safe operation of the fan, the incidence angle should be less than -20°.


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