Analysis of the development of dynamic stall based on oscillating airfoil experiments

The effects of dynamic stall on airfoils oscillating in pitch were investigated by experimentally determining the viscous and inviscid characteristics of the airflow on the NACA 0012 airfoil and on several leading-edge modifications. The test parameters included a wide range of frequencies, Reynolds numbers, and amplitudes-of-oscillation. Three distinct types of separation development were observed within the boundary layer, each leading to classical dynamic stall. The NACA 0012 airfoil is shown to stall by the mechanism of abrupt turbulent leading-edge separation. A detailed step-by-step analysis of the events leading to dynamic stall, and of the results of the stall process, is presented for each of these three types of stall. Techniques for flow analysis in the dynamic stall environment are discussed. A method is presented that reduces most of the oscillating airfoil normal force and pitching-moment data to a single curve, independent of frequency or Reynolds number

On the effect of leading edge blowing on circulation control airfoil aerodynamics

In the present context the term circulation control is used to denote a method of lift generation that utilizes tangential jet blowing over the upper surface of a rounded trailing edge airfoil to determine the location of the boundary layer separation points, thus setting an effective Kutta condition. At present little information exists on the flow structure generated by circulation control airfoils under leading edge blowing. Consequently, no theoretical methods exist to predict airfoil performance under such conditions. An experimental study of the flow field generated by a two dimensional circulation control airfoil under steady leading and trailing edge blowing was undertaken. The objective was to fundamentally understand the overall flow structure generated and its relation to airfoil performance. Flow visualization was performed to define the overall flow field structure. Measurements of the airfoil forces were also made to provide a correlation of the observed flow field structure to airfoil performance. Preliminary results are presented, specifically on the effect on the flow field structure of leading edge blowing, alone and in conjunction with trailing edge blowing

Annular impinging jet with recirculation zone expanded by acoustic excitation

Flow visualization and mass transfer (naphthalene sublimation) experiments were performed on acoustically excited annular air jet with diameter ratio Di/Do=0.95. Two different regimes of the time-mean flow field were found, differing in the size of the central recirculation zone, with either the single stagnation point or the stagnation circle. The switching between the two regimes is accomplished by acoustic excitation, under identical geometry conditions. An effective stabilization of the large recirculation zone, as well as remarkable augmentation of average heat/mass transfer by 23%, have been achieved at the excitation Strouhal number Sh=0.94

Computation of Navier-Stokes equations for three-dimensional flow separation

Supersonic flows over a sharp and a flat-faced blunt fin mounted on a flat plate are simulated numerically. Several basic issues involved in the resultant three-dimensional steady flow separation are studied. Using the same number of grid points, different grid spacings are employed to investigate the effects of a grid resolution on the origin of the line of separation. Various shock strengths are used to study the so-called separated and unseparated boundary layer and to establish the existence or absence of secondary separation. The length of separation ahead of the flat-faced blunt fin, bifurcation of a horseshoe vortex, and the accessibility of a closed-type separation are investigated. The usual interpretation of the flow field from previous studies and new interpretations arising from the present simulation are discussed

Visualization of leading edge vortices on a series of flat plate delta wings

A summary of flow visualization data obtained as part of NASA Grant NAG2-258 is presented. During the course of this study, many still and high speed motion pictures were taken of the leading edge vortices on a series of flat plate delta wings at varying angles of attack. The purpose is to present a systematic collection of photographs showing the state of vortices as a function of the angle of attack for the four models tested

An experimental study of boundary-layer transition induced vibrations on a hydrofoil

This paper aims at characterizing experimentally laminar to turbulent transition induced vibrations. Here, the transition is known to be triggered by a Laminar Separation Bubble that results from a laminar separation of the boundary-layer flow on a hydrofoil. In this study we consider two NACA66312 (Mod) laminar hydrofoils at low angles of incidence (mostly 2° and 4°) and Reynolds numbers ranging from Re=450 000 to 1 200 000, in order to get transitional regimes. The first hydrofoil, made of steel (E=2.1×1011 Pa), is referred to as the rigid hydrofoil, although it is seen to vibrate under the action of the LSB. To better understand the possible interaction between the flow and the foil vibrations, vibration measurements are repeated using a flexible hydrofoil (E=3×109 Pa) of same geometry (under zero loading) and in close configurations. The experiments are carried out at the French Naval Academy Research Institute (IRENav, France). Wall pressure and flow velocity measurements enable a characterization of the laminar separation bubble and the identification of a vortex shedding at a given frequency. It is hence shown that the boundary-layer transition induces important foil vibrations, whose characteristics in terms of frequency and amplitude depend on the vortex shedding frequency, and can be coupled with natural frequencies of the hydrofoils

Vortex interaction with a leading-edge of finite thickness

Vortex interaction with a thick elliptical leading-edge at zero relative offset produces a pronounced secondary vortes of opposite sense that travels with the same phase speed as the primaty vortex along the lower surface of the edge. The edge thickness (scale) relative to the incident vorticity field has a strong effect on the distortion of the incident primary vortex during the impingement processs. When the thickness is sufficiently small, there is a definite severing of the incident vortex and the portion of the incident vortex that travels along the upper part of the elliptical surface has a considerably larger phase speed than that along the lower surface; this suggests that the integrated loading along the upper surface is more strongly correlated. When the thickness becomes too large, then most, if not all, of the incident vortex passes below the leading-edge. On the other hand, the relative tranverse offset of the edge with respect to the center of the incident vortex has a significant effect on the secondary vortex formation