Aeroacoustic Optimization of the Bionic Leading Edge of a Typical Blade for Performance Improvement

New, innovative optimization approaches to improve turbomachine performance and reduce turbomachine noise are significant in engineering. In this paper, based on the bionic concept, a wave structure is used to shape the leading edge of the blade. Using an NACA0018 blade as the basic blade, a united parametric approach controlled by three parameters is proposed to configure the wavy leading edge. Then, a new optimization strategy boosting design efficiency is established to output the optimal design results. Finally, the corresponding performance and flow mechanism are analyzed. Taking into account the existence of the hub wall and the shroud wall from the closed impeller, a near-wall adjustment factor is added, the significance of which is herein demonstrated. An optimal bionic blade is successfully obtained by the optimization strategy, which can reduce the mean drag coefficient by about 6% and the overall sound pressure level by about 3 dB, in relative to the original blade. Mechanism analysis revealed that the wave structure can induce spanwise velocity at the leading edge and cause a further delay in flow separation in the downstream region, synchronously reducing drag and noise.

Bionic Design of Wind Turbine Blade Based on Long-Eared Owl’s Airfoil

The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a bionic design for the airfoil of wind turbines inspired by the morphology of Long-eared Owl’s wings. Glauert Model was adopted to design the standard blade and the bionic blade, respectively. Numerical analysis method was utilized to study the aerodynamic characteristics of the airfoils as well as the blades. Results show that the bionic airfoil inspired by the airfoil at the 50% aspect ratio of the Long-eared Owl’s wing gives rise to a superior lift coefficient and stalling performance and thus can be beneficial to improving the performance of the wind turbine blade. Also, the efficiency of the bionic blade in wind turbine blades tests increases by 12% or above (up to 44%) compared to that of the standard blade. The reason lies in the bigger pressure difference between the upper and lower surface which can provide stronger lift.

Design and Test Research on Cutting Blade of Corn Harvester Based on Bionic Principle

Existing corn harvester cutting blades have problems associated with large cutting resistance, high energy consumption, and poor cut quality. Using bionics principles, a bionic blade was designed by extracting the cutting tooth profile curve of the B. horsfieldi palate. Using a double-blade cutting device testing system, a single stalk cutting performance contrast test for corn stalks obtained at harvest time was carried out. Results show that bionic blades have superior performance, demonstrated by strong cutting ability and good cut quality. Using statistical analysis of two groups of cutting test data, the average cutting force and cutting energy of bionic blades and ordinary blades were obtained as 480.24 N and 551.31 N and 3.91 J and 4.38 J, respectively. Average maximum cutting force and cutting energy consumption for the bionic blade were reduced by 12.89% and 10.73%, respectively. Variance analysis showed that both blade types had a significant effect on maximum cutting energy and cutting energy required to cut a corn stalk. This demonstrates that bionic blades have better cutting force and energy consumption reduction performance than ordinary blades.

Study of a Bionic Anti-Erosion Blade in a Double Suction Centrifugal Pump

A bionic blade with convex domes was applied in a double suction centrifugal pump to improve erosion resistance of the blade surfaces in this study. The hydraulic performance of the pump was simulated and the numerical results were in good agreement with the experiment data. The erosion rates of the smooth blade and bionic blades with convex domes at different heights (1.0 mm, 1.5 mm, 2.0 mm ) were numerically predicted. The results showed that the pump with bionic blades had a higher head and a lower efficiency than those of the pump with smooth blades. A comparison of the erosion rates indicated that the bionic blades exhibited much better erosion resistance than the smooth surface ones. The high erosion-rate area was reduced remarkably and the erosion region became more dispersed on the whole bionic blade surface. The pressure side of the blade with 2.0 mm-height convex domes showed better anti-erosion performance than those with other two heights, while the suction side with 1.0 mm-height domes showed better anti-erosion performance.

Aerodynamic Performance and Acoustic Characteristics of Bionic Airfoil Inspired by Three-Dimensional Long-Eared Owl Wing Under Low Reynolds Number

The aerodynamic performance and noise of the blade are two important aspects which people pay much attention nowadays in the design of turbine machinery such as centrifugal fan and axial flow fan. In this paper, the three-dimensional model of the long-eared owl wing is established based on the section theory and fitting formula firstly. And then, unsteady aerodynamic and acoustic characteristics of the bionic blade are numerically investigated using Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) and the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings (FW-H) equation based on Lighthill’s acoustic theory. The results indicate that the deeply concaved lower surface near the wing root plays a significant role in improving the lift-to-drag ratio. The lift coefficient and drag coefficient of the bionic blade is analyzed by comparing two-dimensional and three-dimensional results. The cross section profiles near the wing root possess the larger lift coefficients and the lesser drag coefficients, even than the three-dimensional long-eared owl wing. The size of the separation bubble grows at increasing angle of attack. The 40% cross-section profile of the long-eared owl wing could increase the distance between the corresponding vortex centers with wall surface thus reducing the range of the vortex shedding near the wall effectively. The iso-Q surfaces show that the location of the vortex shedding and the movement of separation bubble. When the angle of attack α is 5°, the aerodynamic noise generated by the bionic blade is lower than in other angle of attack condition. The minimum value of the sound pressure level (SPL) is even 17.9dB on the y-direction. In the range of 5°–15°, the strength and size of the vortex motion increase with the increase of the angle of attack. The far-field noise suggests the directivities of dipole noise. The range of the separation bubbles act as the most influence of the noise generation. The sound pressure level (SPL) of bionic blade at α = 5° is less than other conditions and the minimum value is even 17.9dB. The thin airfoil near the wingtip could decrease the pressure fluctuation from the blade surface that can reduce the unsteady aerodynamic noise. It means the unique structure of the long-eared owl wing can suppresses the unsteady pressure fluctuation on the surface which could decrease the noise generated by the wing surface.