Flow Control Over a Tractor-Trailer Using Vortex Generators

No abstract available

Flow around an articulated lorry model

An experimental study has been conducted to investigate both the time-averaged and instantaneous flow pattern over a scale articulated vehicle model for understanding the flow physics of tractor-trailer vehicles. Fully turbulent flow was used in the study and smoke visualisation, surface oil flow visualisation and two-component particle image velocimetry were employed for flow diagnostics. Results obtained from the time-averaged and instantaneous flow fields show different flow pattern in the wake region downstream of the rear end of the trailer model. In the time-averaged flow field, a single counter-clockwise rotating vortex is presented in the wake region due to the coil-up of the lower shear layer. The instantaneous flow pattern shows that two wake vortices are presented in the wake region downstream of the trailer model. Moreover, the interactions between the wake vortex and the upper shear layer lead to the formation of the streamwise vortices within the shear layer. These streamwise vortices grow and propagate downstream which lead to the occurrence of vortex shedding in the upper shear layer downstream of the trailer model

Flow visualisation of a normal shock impinging over a rounded contour bump in a Mach 1.3 free-stream

An experimental study has been conducted to visualise the instantaneous streamwise and spanwise flow patterns of a normal shock wave impinging over a rounded contour bump in a Mach 1.3 free-stream. A quartz-made transparent shock generator was used, so that instantaneous images could be captured during the oil-flow visualisation experiments. Fluorescent oil with three different colours was used in the surface oil-flow visualisation experiment to enhance the visualisation of flow mixing and complicated flow features that present in the flow field. Experimental data showed that the rounded contour bump could split the impinging normal shock wave into a or a series of lambda-shaped shock wave structure(s). In addition, it was found that the flow pattern and the shock wave structures that appeared over the rounded contour bump depended highly on the impinging location of the normal shock wave. The flow pattern shown in this study agreed with the findings documented in literature. Moreover, it was observed from the instantaneous oil streaks that the normal shock impinging location also affected the size and the formation location of the spanwise counter-rotating vortices downstream of the bump crest. Finally, it was concluded that the terminating shock could distort the oil streaks that left over the surface of the contour bump. Therefore, the use of the transparent normal shock wave generator is recommended when conducting experiments with normal shock wave impingement involved

Control of flow separation on a contour bump by jets in a Mach 1.9 free-stream: an experimental study

Flow separation control over a three-dimensional contour bump using jet in a Mach 1.9 supersonic free-stream has been experimentally investigated using a transonic/supersonic wind tunnel. Jet total pressure in the range of 0–4 bar was blowing at the valley of the contour bump. Schlieren photography, surface oil flow visualisation and particle image velocimetry measurements were employed for flow visualisation and diagnostics. Experimental results show that blowing jet at the valley of the contour bump can hinder the formation and distort the spanwise vortices. The blowing jet can also reduce the extent of flow separation appears downstream of the bump crest. It was observed that this approach of flow control is more effective when high jet total pressure is employed. It is believed that a pressure gradient is generated as a result of the interaction between the flow downstream of the bump crest and the jet induced shock leads to the downwards flow motion around the bump valley

Supersonic flow over rounded contour bumps with vortex generators or passive longitudinal jets

An experimental study has been conducted to investigate the flow characteristics over two rounded contour bumps. Vane-type vortex generators or longitudinal aligned passive by-pass jets were implemented in attempt to achieve wake flow control in rounded contour bumps. According to the results collected from the surface oil flow visualisation experiments, it was observed that the use of both the vane-type vortex generators and the longitudinally aligned passive by-pass jet could reduce the size of the spanwise vortices in the bump valley. In addition, a pair of streamwise horseshoe vortices was observed downstream of the bump crest of the contour bump that equipped with the vane-type vortex generators. From the data collected in the particle image velocimetry measurements, it was found that the use of both the vane-type vortex generators and the longitudinally aligned passive by-pass jet could not reduce the size of the wake region but they could reduce its strength. It is deduced that the two streamwise horseshoe vortices generated by the vane-type vortex generators enhance flow mixing which results in reducing the strength of the wake region. In contrast, blowing passive by-pass jet in the bump valley increases the local flow velocity in order to reduce the strength of the wake region

Shock wave diffraction phenomena around slotted splitters

In the field of aerospace engineering, the study of the characteristics of vortical flows and their unsteady phenomena finds numerous engineering applications related to improvements in the design of tip devices, enhancement of combustor performance, and control of noise generation. A large amount of work has been carried out in the analysis of the shock wave diffraction around conventional geometries such as sharp and rounded corners, but the employment of splitters with lateral variation has hardly attracted the attention of researchers. The investigation of this phenomenon around two-dimensional wedges has allowed the understanding of the basic physical principles of the flow features. On the other hand, important aspects that appear in the third dimension due to the turbulent nature of the vortices are omitted. The lack of studies that use three-dimensional geometries has motivated the current work to experimentally investigate the evolution of the shock wave diffraction around two splitters with spike-shaped structures for Mach numbers of 1.31 and 1.59. Schlieren photography was used to obtain an insight into the sequential diffraction processes that take place in different planes. Interacting among them, these phenomena generate a complicated turbulent cloud with a vortical arrangement

Active Flow Control by Jet Injection on Shock-Boundary Layer Interaction Phenomena

No abstract available

Background-oriented schlieren (BOS) for scramjet inlet-isolator investigation

Background-oriented Schlieren (BOS) technique is a recently invented non-intrusive flow diagnostic method which has yet to be fully explored in its capabilities. In this paper, BOS technique has been applied for investigating the general flow field characteristics inside a generic scramjet inlet-isolator with Mach 5 flow. The difficulty in finding the delicate balance between measurement sensitivity and measurement area image focusing has been demonstrated. The differences between direct cross-correlation (DCC) and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) raw data processing algorithm have also been demonstrated. As an exploratory study of BOS capability, this paper found that BOS is simple yet robust enough to be used to visualize complex flow in a scramjet inlet in hypersonic flow. However, in this case its quantitative data can be strongly affected by 3-dimensionality thus obscuring the density value with significant errors

Wake flow characteristics over an articulated lorry model with/without AC-DBD plasma actuation

The wake flow characteristics of a 1:20 scale articulated lorry model with a linear Alternate Current Dielectric Barrier Discharge (AC-DBD) plasma actuation implemented was experimentally investigated. Time-averaged velocity, turbulence, and vorticity information along the centreline of the model were constructed using a two-component particle image velocimetry technique. In addition, force balance was used to measure the time-average drag force acting on the model with and without the use of AC-DBD plasma actuation. In general, the AC-DBD plasma actuation showed negligible effect in changing the drag coefficient of the test model. Moreover, implementing the AC-DBD plasma actuation around the rear end of the trailer model could neither alter the size nor the reverse flow velocity in the wake region. In contrast, the AC-DBD plasma actuation increased the levels of fluctuation in the flow turbulence kinetic energy and vorticity but showed no observable effect to alter the frequency response of the flow in the wake region. It is deduced that the use of AC-DBD plasma actuation indeed generated no flow control effect at the rear end of an articulated lorry trailer

Experimental investigation of impinging shock – cavity interactions with upstream transverse jet injection

Mixing between the injected fuel and high speed free stream air is challenging at supersonic speeds. Placing cavities downstream of injection holes or slots addresses the problem of flame holding and stabilisation, however there are still open questions related to mixing enhancement, uniformity and efficiency. The present study examines experimentally the flow field interactions due to a transverse jet - cavity combination with shock impingement at supersonic speeds using PIV, Schlieren photography, and oil flow surface visualisation. The oblique shock lifts the shear layer over the cavity and combined with the instabilities generated by the transverse jet injection creates a highly complicated flowfield with numerous vortical structures. The interaction between the oblique shock and the jet leads to a relatively uniform velocity distribution within the cavity. The lifting of the shear layer is also believed to reduce the drag created by the cavity