Aerodynamic Characteristics Of Airfoil Research Articles

Helicopter airfoil aerodynamic characteristics and rotor trim in sandy environments

PurposeThe sandy environment is one of the typical environments in which helicopters operate. Air-sand two-phase flow in sandy environments may be an important factor affecting flight safety. Taking a typical example, this paper aims to investigate the aerodynamic and rotor trim characteristics of the UH-60 helicopter in sandy environments.Design/methodology/approachA computational study is conducted to simulate the air-sand flow over airfoils based on the Euler–Lagrange framework. The simulation uses the S-A turbulence model and the two-way momentum coupling methodology. Additionally, the trim characteristics of the UH-60 rotor are calculated based on the isolated rotor trim algorithm.FindingsThe simulation results show that air-sand flow significantly affects the aerodynamic characteristics of the SC1095 airfoil and the SC1094R8 airfoil. The presence of sand particles leads to a decrease in lift and an increase in drag. The calculation results of the UH-60 helicopter rotor indicate that the thrust decreases and the torque increases in the sandy environment. To maintain a steady forward flight in sandy environments, it is necessary to increase the collective pitch and the longitudinal cyclic pitch.Originality/valueIn this paper, the aerodynamic characteristics of airfoils and the trim characteristics in the air-sand flow of the UH-60 helicopter are discussed, which might be a new view to analyse the impact of sandy environments on helicopter safety and manoeuvring.

Numerical Simulations of the Adverse Effects of Rain on Airfoil And Rotor Aerodynamic Characteristics

There is a significant interest in improving the performance of rotors under adverse operating conditions. However, there is a very limited understanding of the performance implications on two-dimensional (2D) airfoils and rotor blades under adverse effects of rainfall. Furthermore, the fundamental physical phenomena causing the loss in performance are not clearly understood. In this study, low-fidelity models are first developed to rapidly estimate the water layer formation on 2D airfoils and assess the resulting impact on lift and drag characteristics. The low-fidelity simulations are also useful to obtain quick estimates of water layer thickness as a function of liquid water content and droplet diameter. Subsequently, computational fluid dynamics studies for 2D airfoils and a small-scale rotor in hover are done to obtain more accurate estimates of the effects of rain on airfoil performance and match test data where available. Higher fidelity parametric studies for various airfoils were conducted by varying angles of attack, the liquid water content in the rain droplets, and the droplet diameters to capture trends in performance degradation. The resulting trends match the trends from the test data reasonably well. The higher fidelity airfoil loads are subsequently used within a classical combined blade element-momentum model to assess the loss of performance attributable to rain for a small-scale rotor. The present studies indicate a significant loss in thrust production, a rise in the power requirement, and a reduction in the figure of merit for small-scale rotors caused by rain.

Optimizing Airfoil Aerodynamic Characteristics by Using Proposed CSA-KJ Method

Combined with the cuckoo search algorithm (CSA) and the Kutta–Joukowski (KJ) theorem, a CSA-KJ optimization method was proposed to improve the airfoil aerodynamic characteristics in this work. The fourth-order constant-free polynomial function was employed to describe the airfoil profile. The KJ loop lift of the airfoil was taken as the objective function, and the CSA was applied to iteratively update this method, which was used to optimize the NACA4412 airfoil. The results demonstrate that the optimized effect of the CSA-KJ method on the lift-drag ratio becomes increasingly more significant with the increase of incoming wind speed, and it has the best performance at an angle of attack of 0°. Compared with the NACA4412 airfoil, the average and the maximum lift-drag ratio coefficients of the CSA-KJ4412 airfoil have increased. Meanwhile, the pressure difference distribution is improved, and the aerodynamic characteristic is better. From this, it can be seen that the CSA-KJ method can provide an effective way to optimize the aerodynamic performance of other airfoils.

Design, optimization and application of two-element airfoils for tactical UAV

Owning to the requirements for longer endurance, larger payloads as well as simpler mechanical structure of tactical UAV, the two-element airfoil technology is introduced. Firstly, the aerodynamic characteristics of five common low-speed airfoils are calculated and compared. The airfoil with good aerodynamic performance after segmentation is selected as initial airfoil. Then, the influence of different segmentation types on the aerodynamic characteristics of airfoils is analyzed, and the segmentation type which brings the best aerodynamic benefits is selected. The slot parameters are optimized by NSGA-II optimization algorithm under cruising, take-off, and a large angle of attack states to obtain a high-performance self-adaption tactical UAV airfoil. Finally, the new airfoil is applied to Sparrow-hawk tactical UAV, the CL1.5 /CD of acceleration state increases 15.5%, the CL of large angle of attack increases 20.4% and the CL1.5 /CD of cruising state after enlarge the aspect ratio increase12.3%.

Effects of Key Parameters on Airfoil Aerodynamics Using Co-Flow Jet Active Flow Control

The Co-Flow Jet (CFJ) technique is an effective way to enhance the aerodynamics of airfoils. The present study is to comprehensively investigate the effects of CFJ key parameters, viz., the jet momentum coefficient, the injection slot location, the injection slot size, the suction slot location, the suction slot size, and the suction slot angle, on the airfoil aerodynamic characteristics based on the numerical method of Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations coupled with the Spalart-Allmaras (S-A) turbulence model. The numerical method is validated by a CFJ6415 airfoil case, and a relatively good agreement with the experiment is achieved. The results show that a larger jet momentum coefficient is more conducive to lift enhancement, drag reduction, and stall margin enlargement. However, a relatively smaller jet momentum coefficient could increase the corrected aerodynamic efficiency at small angles of attack. The variation of the injection slot location is barely influential to the lift coefficient. With the increase of the injection slot size, the power coefficient first decreases and then increases, and the corrected aerodynamic efficiency first increases and then decreases. The drag coefficient increases monotonously as the suction slot location moves downstream. Furthermore, a relatively smaller suction slot size or a larger suction slot angle could better reduce the drag and enhance the CFJ airfoil aerodynamics.

Aerodynamic performance characterization of bio-inspired wings with leading edge tubercles at low Reynolds number

On the observation of biomimetic Humpback Whale (HW) flippers, the airfoil aerodynamic performance characteristics are explored. The Leading Edge (LE) tubercle geometry was inspired by the flipper of HW that has rounded LE protuberances and tapered trailing edge configurations. The tubercles have excellent flow control characteristics at the post-stall region. Aerodynamic characteristics of airfoils such as NACA0015 and NACA4415 with LE tubercles are experimentally and numerically investigated at the low Reynolds number about Re = 1.83 × 105. The bio-inspired modified airfoils (HUMP 0015 and 4415) are designed with the amplitude to wavelength ratio [Formula: see text] of 0.05. The numerical simulation over the modified airfoils shows that, at higher Angle of Attack the flow separation is delayed in the peak region whereas the early flow separation is observed in the trough region adjacent to the LE. The boundary layer flow separation analysis is done extensively through numerical simulations and the velocity vector profiles are captured at different chordwise positions. The stall delay phenomenon is observed through the outcome of this research that specifically insists at the peak region of tubercles. Computation of Coefficient of pressure [Formula: see text] distribution is also done by both numerical and wind tunnel experiments. Analysis of [Formula: see text] distribution allows the identification of critical regions that initiate the adverse pressure gradient and region of flow separation. It is a novel effort to predict the Coefficients of Lift [Formula: see text] and Drag [Formula: see text] concerning the bio-inspired airfoils through [Formula: see text] distribution such that the influence of flow separation and vortex distribution are characterized for the modified and baseline airfoils. Comparison of [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] between the baseline and modified airfoils reveal the enhanced momentum transfer characteristics of bio-inspired tubercles.

Influence of airfoil trailing edge on blade design and machining of small wind turbine

In the design of small wind turbine, narrow structure is often produced at the trailing edge of airfoil, which brings great difficulties to production and processing. In this paper, the airfoil sd7080 is modified by removing part of the airfoil trailing edge to meet the processing technology. Through the calculation and analysis of the Q blade software, part of the airfoil trailing edge is removed, and the airfoil and wind-wheel aerodynamic characteristics are changed. Results: Under the same angle of attack, after removing part of the airfoil trailing edge, The lift coefficient CL and drag coefficient Cd of the airfoil are reduced, α<8.6°, the lift-to-drag ratio CL/Cd decreases, α>8.6°, the lift-to-drag ratio Cl/Cd slightly increases; After removing the trailing edge of some airfoils, the wind energy utilization coefficient CP, torque and thrust of the wind turbine are slightly reduced, and the aerodynamic performance meets the use requirements. Finally, this paper introduces the blade modeling method, and processes the blade through 3D printing technology. The research provides reference significance for the initial design and processing of small wind turbine blades.

Aircraft Propeller Design through Constrained Aero-Structural Particle Swarm Optimization

An aero-structural algorithm to reduce the energy consumption of a propeller-driven aircraft is developed through a propeller design method coupled with a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). A wide range of propeller parameters is considered in the optimization, including the geometry of the airfoil at each propeller section. The propeller performance prediction tool employs a convergence improved Blade Element Momentum Theory fed by airfoil aerodynamic characteristics obtained from XFOIL and a validated OpenFOAM. A stall angle correction is estimated from experimental NACA 4-digits data and employed where convergence issues emerge. The aerodynamic data are corrected to account for compressibility, three-dimensional, viscous, and Reynolds number effects. The coefficients for the rotational corrections are proposed from experimental data fitting. A structural model based on Euler-Bernoulli beam theory is employed and validated against Finite Element Analysis, while the impact of centrifugal forces is discussed. A case of study is carried out where the chord and pitch distributions are compared to minimal losses distribution from vortex theory. Wind tunnel tests were performed with printed propellers to conclude the feasibility of the entire routine and the differences between XFOIL and CFD optimal propellers. Finally, the optimal CFD propeller is compared against a commercial propeller with the same diameter, pitch, and operational conditions, showing higher thrust and efficiency.

Simulation of Aerodynamic Performances of Flexible Flapping Wing Airfoils

Compared with fixed wings, the flapping wing has a significant aerodynamic performance advantage at low speeds and low Reynolds numbers, which draws more and more attentions. But most previous studies focus on rigid flapping airfoils, the aerodynamic performances of flexible flapping airfoils are still unclear. A fluid-solid coupling model for the flexible elliptical airfoils was developed to analyze the flow field around the airfoil, the airfoil deformation and the aerodynamic characteristics of airfoils, at different wind speeds and attack angles. Compared with the rigid airfoil, the flexible airfoil can delay the shedding time of the wake vortex and reduce the oscillation frequency of the disturbance on the lift force. The flexible airfoil significantly suppresses the disturbance of the wake flow and reduces the oscillation amplitude of disturbance. Even, the airfoil disturbance oscillation can be completely eliminated at an appropriate Young’s modulus of the airfoil. These results provide a theoretical guidance for the design of soft aircraft.

Effects of Pitching Motion Elements on Aerodynamic Characteristics of Airfoil

The aerodynamic characteristics of NACA4412 airfoil with different pitching motion elements were compared and analyzed based on CFD in this research. The results are acquired as follows: the difference between the lift and drag coefficients of the airfoil during pitch up and pitch down motions becomes larger with the increase of the pitching amplitude or initial angle of attack; as the pitching amplitude increases, the lift coefficient grows slightly greater and the drag coefficient grows much greater; as the initial angle of attack increases, the lift coefficient grows much greater and the drag coefficient grows slightly; the smaller the attenuation frequency is, the larger the lift-to-drag ratio of the airfoil will be.

Numerical analysis of the effect of vortex generator on inboard region of wind turbine blade

The blade design of a horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) prioritizes structural stability over aerodynamic performance, which results in power loss caused by stalling in the inboard regions. In this study, a vortex generator (VG) was employed for stall control. Because the generated vortex intensity varies with the VG geometry and size, design values based on the aerodynamic characteristics of airfoils in a wind turbine blade were considered. The VG design values for the HAWT were determined based on the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of the airfoil in the blade region with the maximum chord length. VG applicability was examined for all airfoils applied to the blade inboard region. Based on the lift and drag data obtained through the CFD analysis, the performance improvement of the wind turbine was analyzed through the blade element momentum theory. This analysis also incorporated the angle of attack of the airfoil, which differed for each local cross section in a wind turbine. The VG application increased the wind turbine power for each wind speed interval by an average of 2.5% and the annual energy production by up to 2.7%. The application of the proposed VG design to the inboard region can control the radial flow generated near the hub, improving the aerodynamic performance and decreasing the power loss.

Numerical Simulation of Flow over Bionic Airfoil

In this study, the aerodynamic performance of bionic airfoil was numerically studied by CFD method. The bionic airfoil was represented by the combination of airfoil and a small trailing edge flap. A variety of configurations were calculated to study the effect of flap parameters, such as the flap angle, position, and shape, on the bionic airfoil aerodynamic characteristics based on two layouts which were that (1) there was a tiny gap between the airfoil and the flap and (2) there was no gap between the two. The results showed that the flap angle and position had significant effects on the aerodynamic performance of the airfoil with the two layouts. Compared with the clean airfoil, the maximum lift coefficients of the first layout and the second layout could be increased by 10.9% and 7.9%, respectively. And the effective angle of attack (AoA) range for improving the lift-to-drag ratio could reach 7°. The flap shape also affected the airfoil aerodynamic characteristics, and the flap with the sinusoid curve shape showed ideal performance.

Effect of trailing edge dual synthesis jets actuator on aerodynamic characteristics of a straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine

Based on the improved effect of synthetic jet (SJ) on airfoil aerodynamic characteristics and the configuration characteristics of dual synthesis jets actuator (DSJ), the effects of DSJ actuators arranged at the trailing edge on the aerodynamic efficiency of straight-blade vertical axis wind turbine (SB-VAWT) were studied. By comparing with the experimental results, the accuracy of the numerical simulation results of clean SB-VAWT power coefficient is verified. In order to consider the control effect of the arrangement, the actuation frequency and the momentum coefficient, the Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) and the SST k-ω turbulence model were used to simulate the SB-VAWT with different types and parameters. The simulation results show that the three arrangement modes of the trailing edge DSJ actuator proposed in this paper can effectively improve the power capacity of VAWT. Among them, Juxtaposition-type is the best. Through periodic “blowing” and “sucking”, the trailing edge vortex is induced to fall off in advance and delay the occurrence of stall. When λ = 2.05, f = 360 Hz, Cμ = 1.975 × 10−2, the power coefficient can be increased by 58.87%.

Influence of Reynolds number consideration for aerodynamic characteristics of airfoil on the blade design of small horizontal axis wind turbine

ABSTRACT Airfoil’s aerodynamic characteristics are vital for the design and performance evaluation of wind turbine rotor blades through blade element momentum theory. Generally, the airfoil’s aerodynamic characteristics are evaluated at an approximated fixed Reynolds number. However, during a typical operation of a wind turbine, the Reynolds number varies along the length of the blade as well as with wind speed. Since airfoil’s aerodynamic characteristics are dependent on Reynolds number, inadequate consideration of Reynolds number in blade element momentum theory may result in discrepancy in an optimum design and performance evaluation. In the present work, the influence of inadequate consideration of Reynolds number on design and performance evaluation of a small horizontal axis wind turbine blade is studied. For the study, a wind turbine blade design with various design considerations, including a range of design tip speed ratio (5, 6, 7, and 8) and a range of inadequately approximated fixed (i.e., 0.5, 0.75, 1.00, and 1.25 million) and operational Reynolds number for aerodynamic characteristics of the airfoil, is considered. The study suggests that inadequate fixed Reynolds number consideration for blade design and performance evaluation can result in blade solidity as high as 17.1% with respect to blade design considering operational Reynolds number consideration and discrepancy in power coefficient prediction as high as 3.6% with fixed Reynolds number consideration for aerodynamic characteristics of the airfoil.

Effect of turbulence intensity and gradient of turbulence intensity on airfoil aerodynamic characteristics at low Reynolds number

Based on the complex flow field of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft with distributed propulsion, the influence of the turbulence intensity and gradient of turbulence intensity on the aerodynamic characteristics of two-dimensional airfoil under low Reynolds number was studied by solving the unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) Equation based on the c-type structural mesh and γ-Reθt transition model. The aerodynamic characteristics of NACA0012 airfoil at different turbulence intensities and Reynolds numbers are simulated and compared with the experimental data, which verifies the reliability of the low Reynolds number calculation method. Meanwhile, the effects of the different low Reynolds number and gradient of turbulence intensity on the aero-dynamic characteristics of airfoil are studied, and the effect mechanism of the turbulence on the flow field around airfoil is analyzed. It shows that the flow characteristics of the airfoil with high turbulence or Reynolds number are more stable, the separation bubble size is smaller, the flow separation is delayed, and the stall angle of attack is larger, but the effect of the two mechanisms on the earlier transition is different. The influence of the turbulence gradient on the airfoil is limited by the Reynolds number, and the flow separation, transition and reattachment of the airfoil with high turbulence gradient are advance. The generation and evolution of the laminar separation bubble are closely related to the turbulence intensity and Reynolds number, and its scale and location also affect the aerodynamic characteristics of the airfoil.

Effects of Trailing Edge Deflections Driven by Shape Memory Alloy Actuators on the Transonic Aerodynamic Characteristics of a Super Critical Airfoil

A smart structure to actuate a morphing trailing edge based on the super critical airfoil NASA sc-0714(2) was designed and verified in a transonic wind tunnel. The pressure distribution over the wing was measured to evaluate the structure ability and effects of trailing edge deflections on the aerodynamic characteristics. In the experiment, Mach number was from 0.4 to 0.8, and the angle of attack was from 0° to 6°. The results showed that the smart structure based on shape memory alloy could carry aerodynamic loads under transonic flow and deflect the trailing edge. When the driving force was constant, deformation would be influenced by the Mach number and angle of attack. Increasing the Mach number weakened the actuation capability of the smart structure, which decreased the deflection angle and rate of the trailing edge. The influence of the angle of attack is more complex, and couples with the influence of the Mach number. The higher the Mach number, the stronger the influence of the angles of attack. Additionally, the trailing edge deflection would dramatically change the flow structure over the airfoil, such as the shock wave position and strength. If separation was caused by the trailing edge deflection, the limitation of the smart structure would be further found.

Numerical Calculations of VGs Influence on Aerodynamic Characteristics of Airfoil

Numerical Calculations of VGs Influence on Aerodynamic Characteristics of Airfoil

Study on Flow Mechanism of a Morphing Supercritical Airfoil

In order to maintain the best performance in flight, a new concept, morphing aircraft, has been proposed, which can change the real-time aerodynamic characteristics under different flight conditions. The key problem is to figure out the response of strong flow instability caused by structure changes during the morphing. To solve this problem, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and wind tunnel tests (WTT) were employed. The results show that the deformation of thickness and camber angle of the airfoil will significantly change the distribution of pressure and result in obvious hysteresis loops of lift and drag. With the increase of deformation frequency and amplitude, the instability increases correspondingly. Moreover, the unsteady effect caused by camber deformation is much stronger than that caused by thickness deformation. In addition, the flow structures on the airfoil, such as the shock strength and boundary separation location, have a delay in response to structure changes. Therefore, there will be a hysteresis between airfoil deformation and aerodynamic characteristics, which means strong flow instability.

Aerodynamic Characteristics of Airfoil and Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Employed with Gurney Flaps

In the present studies, the effects of Gurney flaps on aerodynamic characteristics of a static airfoil and a rotating vertical axis wind turbine are investigated by means of numerical approaches. First, mesh and time step studies are conducted and the results are validated with experimental data in good agreement. The numerical solutions demonstrate that the usage of Gurney flap increases the airfoil lift coefficient CL with a slight increase in drag coefficient CD. Furthermore, mounting a Gurney flap at the trailing edge of the blade increases the power production of the turbine considerably. Increasing the Gurney flap height further increases the power production. The best performance found is obtained for the maximum height used in this study at 6% relative to the chord. This is in contrast to the static airfoil case, which shows no further improvement for a flap height greater than 0.5%c. Increasing the angle of the flap decreases the power production of the turbine slightly but the load fluctuations could be reduced for the small value of the flap height. The present paper demonstrates that the Gurney flap height for high solidity turbines is allowed to be larger than the classical limit of around 2% for lower solidity turbines.

Experimental Study of Self-starting Characteristics for H-Type Wind Turbine

In order to study self-starting characteristics for H-type wind turbine, firstly, the effect of low Reynolds number and large separated flow on aerodynamic characteristics of airfoil were analyzed in detail, then two H-type wind turbines with different aerodynamic configurations were tested in a low speed wind tunnel for collecting the static torques at different phase angles and time-rotating speed curves in starting process. Based on theoretical analysis and experimental data, the cause of self-stating problem of H-type wind turbine has been revealed. The aerodynamic profile parameters of the wind turbine are closely related to the dependency of starting on initial phase position, and the minimum static torque determines whether the wind turbine has potential to start from rest. The time-rotating speed curves exhibit two different starting behaviour features, determined by the minimum dynamic torque in driving force conversion stage. Unless both the minimum static torque and minimum dynamic torque in driving force conversion stage are greater than the friction torque, the self-starting of the wind turbine cannot be realized. The typical self-starting behavior characteristics is that the time-rotating speed curve includes four different stages of initial linear acceleration, plateau, rapid acceleration and stable equilibrium with the final tip speed ratio more than 1.