Sectional lift coefficient of a rotating wing at low Reynolds numbers

Abstract

We study the characteristics of the sectional lift coefficient (C L,S ) of low-aspect-ratio wings in rotating motion at low Reynolds number (Re = 136), by conducting three-dimensional numerical simulations. Three different shapes of thin-plate wings (fruit-fly, rectangular, and triangular wings) are considered but keeping their aspect ratio (wing span/wing chord) the same at 3.74. Each wing rotates at a constant angular velocity and the angle of attack (α) is fixed during rotation. During rotation, the wing is exposed to the downward flows generated from the previous rotation, and thus C L,S is overall reduced due to the decrease in the effective angle of attack. At low α’s, C L,S becomes almost constant on the whole span. At high α’s, C L,S on the wing mid-section is inversely proportional to the radial position. The radial distribution of the sectional lift coefficient is less affected by the wing planform, while the lift coefficient significantly depends on the wing planforms. Finally, we show that the effect of the Reynolds number on the sectional lift coefficient is insignificant at low angle of attack but becomes important at high angle of attack.