scholarly journals Flexible Flaps Inspired by Avian Feathers Can Enhance Aerodynamic Robustness in low Reynolds Number Airfoils

Author(s):  
Yuta Murayama ◽  
Toshiyuki Nakata ◽  
Hao Liu

Unlike rigid rotors of drones, bird wings are composed of flexible feathers that can passively deform while achieving remarkable aerodynamic robustness in response to wind gusts. In this study, we conduct an experimental study on the effects of the flexible flaps inspired by the covert of bird wings on aerodynamic characteristics of fixed-wings in disturbances. Through force measurements and flow visualization in a low-speed wind tunnel, it is found that the flexible flaps can suppress the large-scale vortex shedding and hence reduce the fluctuations of aerodynamic forces in a disturbed flow behind an oscillating plate. Our results demonstrate that the stiffness of the flaps strongly affects the aerodynamic performance, and the force fluctuations are observed to be reduced when the deformation synchronizes with the strong vortex generation. The results point out that the simple attachment of the flexible flaps on the upper surface of the wing is an effective method, providing a novel biomimetic design to improve the aerodynamic robustness of small-scale drones with fixed-wings operating in unpredictable aerial environments.

Author(s):  
Tong Chen ◽  
Allen T. Chwang

The laminar flow behaviors around two vertical circular cylinders (in a tandem arrangement) that pierce a free surface are investigated by the finite element method in this paper. The computational results exhibit two major free-surface effects: the presence of a free surface allows the occurrence of small-scale Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities, but suppresses the onset of large-scale vortex alternating behavior. It is also found that the vorticity will expand in a necklace shape adjacent to the free surface. The second cylinder may experience a persisting suction force due to “trapped” vortices in the gap between the two cylinders, which may not happen in the absence of a free surface.


Author(s):  
Farshad Moradi Gharghani ◽  
Mohamad Ali Bijarchi ◽  
Omid Mohammadi ◽  
Mohammad Behshad Shafii

Abstract Renewable energies could be a good solution to the problems associated with fossil fuels. The storage of wind energy by means of small-scale devices rather than large-scale turbines is a topic that has gained lots of interest. In this study, a compact device is proposed to harvest wind energy and transform it into electrical energy, by means of oscillations of a magnet into a coil, using the concept of vortex-induced vibration (VIV) behind a barrier. For a more comprehensive investigation, this system is studied from two viewpoints of fluid mechanics (without magnet) and power generation (with the magnet). For this purpose, an oscillating plate hinging on one side and three barriers with different geometrical shapes including cylindrical, triangular and rectangular barriers are used. In addition to the effect of barrier geometry, the impacts of various barriers dimensions, the distance between the plate and the barriers as well as inclination angle of the plate with respect to the horizon on the amplitude of oscillations and generated power are investigated. Results showed that in each case, there is a unique Reynolds number in which the frequency of vortex shedding equals to the frequency of plate oscillation and the output power from the energy harvester device is maximum. Besides, by increasing the barrier dimensions, the amplitude of oscillations increases up to three times, which leads to a higher generated power. Finally, by considering the studied parameters, the best conditions for generating energy using the VIV method are presented for design purposes. Among all the considered cases, the cylindrical barrier with the highest diameter and nearest distance to the plate led to the highest efficiency (0.21%) in comparison with other barriers.


1996 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu. A. Berezin ◽  
V. M. Trofimov

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (S300) ◽  
pp. 430-432
Author(s):  
Serge Koutchmy ◽  
Boris Filippov ◽  
Ehsan Tavabi ◽  
Cyril Bazin ◽  
Sylvain Weiller

AbstractBoth the origin of the quiescent prominences and their eruption related to CMEs are still a matter of extended studies. The small scale dynamic aspects like vortex structures and counter- flows are now seriously taken into account having in mind that the flows are a good proxy of the line of force of the omnipresent but rather unknown in detail force free or not magnetic field. Large scale vortex has been detected in a high latitude prominence observed on November 13- 14, 2011 before its eruption.


Author(s):  
Maximilian Streicher ◽  
Andreas Kortenhaus ◽  
Corrado Altomare ◽  
Steven Hughes ◽  
Krasimir Marinov ◽  
...  

Abstract Overtopping bore impact forces on a dike mounted vertical wall were measured in similar large-scale (Froude length scale factor 1-to-4.3) and small-scale (Froude length scale factor 1-to-25) models. The differences due to scale effects were studied, by comparing the up-scaled force measurements from both models in prototype. It was noted that if a minimum layer thickness, velocity of the overtopping flow and water depth at the dike toe were maintained in the small-scale model, the resulting differences in impact force due to scale effects are within the range of differences due to non-repeatability and model effects.


Author(s):  
A. V. Voskobijnyk ◽  
V. M. Turick ◽  
O. A. Voskoboinyk ◽  
V. A. Voskoboinick

The paper presents the results of experimental studies of the space-time characteristics of the velocity and pressure field inside a hemispherical dimple on a flat surface. The features of the formation and development of vortex structures generated inside the dimple, as well as their interaction with the streamlined surface of the dimple and the boundary layer were established. Integral, spectral and correlation characteristics of the field of velocity, dynamic and wall pressure fluctuations were obtained. The velocities and directions of transfer of large-scale vortex structures and small-scale vortices inside the dimple were determined. The frequencies of rotations and ejections of large-scale vortices, the frequencies of oscillations of the vortex flow inside the dimple and self-oscillations of the vortex structures of the shear layer, their subharmonics and harmonics of higher orders were established.


Author(s):  
Ramgopal Sampath ◽  
Vikram Ramanan ◽  
S. R. Chakravarthy

The present work deals with time-resolved investigation of the flow field during acoustic self-excitation by a lean premixed flame in a dump combustor with varying equivalence ratio at a constant air flow rate. Simultaneous measurements of pressure fluctuations, velocity fields using Time resolved Particle imaging velocimetry (TR-PIV) and CH* chemiluminescence were performed. The pressure, velocity and chemiluminescent intensity time traces were Fourier transformed to estimate the frequency and amplitudes. Conditions of maximum pressure amplitude correspond to the prevalence of intermittent bursts in pressure, velocity, and chemiluminescent intensity. Further, Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) is applied to the chemiluminescent intensity and velocity fields. The POD mode shapes are able to capture the modes pertaining to both the acoustic and vortex mode of flame/flow oscillations. The burst oscillations are understood by examining the sequence of time-resolved velocity and chemiluminescent intensity during their growth and decay regimes. The growth of oscillations is promoted by the flame heat release fluctuations following the pattern of the large-scale vortex roll-up in the recirculation zone downstream of the dump plane, causing a tendency of acoustic excitation at the vortex mode. As the amplitude rises, the natural acoustic mode of the duct is simultaneously amplified, leading to small-scale vortices shed from the step corner at the acoustic time scale. These small-scale vortices adversely interact with the large-scale vortex controlling the heat release, resulting in its weakening and hence the decay of oscillations. This behavior was further observed in the spatially averaged vorticity along the shear layer. In addition to this, the time traces of the pressure and the velocity fluctuations at the shear layer and located half step height from the separation point were overlapped. The overlapped time traces showed a drift in the instantaneous phase during which the growth and decay of the oscillations were observed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 815 ◽  
pp. 333-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Céline Guervilly ◽  
David W. Hughes ◽  
Chris A. Jones

Several recent studies have demonstrated how large-scale vortices may arise spontaneously in rotating planar convection. Here, we examine the dynamo properties of such flows in rotating Boussinesq convection. For moderate values of the magnetic Reynolds number ($100\lesssim Rm\lesssim 550$, with $Rm$ based on the box depth and the convective velocity), a large-scale (i.e. system-size) magnetic field is generated. The amplitude of the magnetic energy oscillates in time, nearly out of phase with the oscillating amplitude of the large-scale vortex. The large-scale vortex is disrupted once the magnetic field reaches a critical strength, showing that these oscillations are of magnetic origin. The dynamo mechanism relies on those components of the flow that have length scales lying between that of the large-scale vortex and the typical convective cell size; smaller-scale flows are not required. The large-scale vortex plays a crucial role in the magnetic induction despite being essentially two-dimensional; we thus refer to this dynamo as a large-scale-vortex dynamo. For larger magnetic Reynolds numbers, the dynamo is small scale, with a magnetic energy spectrum that peaks at the scale of the convective cells. In this case, the small-scale magnetic field continuously suppresses the large-scale vortex by disrupting the correlations between the convective velocities that allow it to form. The suppression of the large-scale vortex at high $Rm$ therefore probably limits the relevance of the large-scale-vortex dynamo to astrophysical objects with moderate values of $Rm$, such as planets. In this context, the ability of the large-scale-vortex dynamo to operate at low magnetic Prandtl numbers is of great interest.


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