Effect of wing planform on plunging wing aerodynamics

Abstract

The unsteady aerodynamics of three plunging wings with different planform shapes was investigated in water tunnel experiments by means of force/moment and three-dimensional volumetric velocity measurements at a post-stall angle of attack. In contrast with a rectangular wing, a tapered wing does not exhibit a local minimum of the time-averaged lift coefficient at a reduced frequency of k≈ 1.7. This is due to the oblique shedding of trailing-edge vortices, which prevents the coupling with leading-edge vortices. The wing with a round-tip exhibits the same double maxima that correspond to the subharmonic and the fundamental frequency of vortex shedding in steady freestream. However, combined leading-edge and tip vortex produce larger time-averaged lift force with increasing reduced frequency. The variation of the bending moment is similar to that of the lift force in general. However, the mean bending moment arm shifts outboard with increasing reduced frequency due to the increased three-dimensionality of the vortex filaments and the tip-vortex effect. Maximum lift and bending moment become more similar for all three wings at higher reduced frequencies as the added mass effect becomes more significant.