Effects of trailing edge flap dynamic deployment on blade-vortex interactions

Abstract

Due to the character of the original source materials and the nature of batch digitization, quality control issues may be present in this document. Please report any quality issues you encounter to digital@library.tamu.edu, referencing the URI of the item.Includes bibliographical references.Issued also on microfiche from Lange Micrographics.A theoretical and experimental investigation is undertaken to determine the effects of an actively deployable trailing edge flap on the disturbances created during blade-vortex interactions (BVI). The theoretical model consists of an unsteady panel code based on potential flow theory with provisions for deformable geometry to incorporate a trailing edge flap. Experimental tests were conducted using a 2-D wind tunnel setup incorporating a pressure instrumented airfoil section with a deployable 20% trailing edge flap and an upstream vortex generator to produce and simulate BVI events. Results of this study showed that the disturbances caused by BVI events on the pressure distribution over the airfoil occur mostly at the leading edge. Carefully synchronized deployment of the trailing edge flap during BVI events resulted in a reduction of this pressure disturbance. However, the trailing edge flap deployment had additional effects on the pressure distributions which were not present in the purely BVI related disturbance. As a result, trailing edge flap deployments during BVI events resulted in an increase in the perturbation of the lift and moment coefficients relative to the perturbations caused by the BVI event alone