Aerodynamic Performance Analysis Research Articles

Wind tunnel testing of a Formula Student vehicle for checking CFD simulation trends

The aerodynamic performance analysis of Formula Student racecars has been mostly done by teams with CFD tools, for time and cost savings, that often lack proper validation. To address this, the FST Lisboa team performed a detailed wind tunnel (WT) test campaign, using a one-third scale model, under different configurations, including variable ride heights, bullhorn appendix, and rear wing flap settings, also replicated in CFD. The simulations used RANS with the SST k-omega turbulence model, with a 13.7 million polyhedral mesh for the test chamber region domain. Both experimental and numerical errors were estimated from the instrumentation and mesh convergence analysis, respectively. Comparisons were made between WT and CFD both in terms of local flow, using tufts for flow visualization, and global flow, using lift, drag, and pitching moment coefficients. Overall, the numerical streamlines agreed very well with the orientations of the tufts in experiments, but some discrepancies were found in regions of cross-flow and high-frequency unsteadiness, mainly caused by limitations of the visualization technique. The gamma transition model in CFD was abandoned as it could not replicate the WT observations. In terms of aerodynamic coefficients, a strong correlation was found between WT and CFD. The parametric studies revealed that the simulations captured the experimental sensitivity to each car setting parameter studied but the uncertainties did not enable a full quantitative evaluation of the aerodynamic performance. The drag reduction system significantly impacted the aerodynamic balance of the racecar, while the current bullhorn design proved to be ineffective. The ride height increase led to higher downforce, mostly due to the higher pitch angle of the vehicle, with negligible variation of the aerodynamic balance. This work validated the team CFD studies, building confidence in that trends estimated in numerical parametric studies are likely to be translated to the real prototype performance.

Numerical Investigation of Aerodynamic Performance and Structural Analysis of a 3D J-Shaped Based Small-Scale Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

Small vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) are often considered suitable for use in urban areas due to their compact design. However, they are also well known to offer poor performance at low wind speeds, which is a common situation in such environments. An optimised 3D J-shaped VAWT was designed from standard NACA 0015 blades and analysed numerically through computational fluid dynamics (CFD). A finite element analysis (FEA) was also carried out to ensure the model’s structural integrity. Optimal results were obtained with aluminium alloy hollow blades and stainless-steel struts with X-shaped beams, with internal ribs. Numerical results showed that the J-shaped VAWT achieved an 18.34% higher moment coefficient compared to a NACA 0015-based VAWT, indicating better self-starting abilities.

Correlation analysis of lift fan lip feature geometry and aerodynamic performance

In hover, the lip of a lift fan plays a crucial role, contributing to nearly half of the lift for the VTOL aircraft power plant. Thus, investigating the geometric parameters that influence lip performance is of significant importance. In this study, four types of lift fan lips were designed, tailored to meet specific application requirements. Numerical analysis, validated through experimental data, was employed to examine the flow field and the geometric factors that lead to variations in lip performance. Based on the findings, the relationship between lip geometric parameters and aerodynamic performance was thoroughly investigated and confirmed. The results demonstrate that, at a rotational speed of 10 000 r/min, the non-dimensional lift and non-dimensional mass flow of the lemniscate lip exhibit improvements of 33% and 9.5%, respectively, compared to lips designed based on NACA65. Among the various lip configurations, it is found that the performance parameters of the lip are optimal when the slope of the inner surface equaled twice the slope of the lemniscate. On the other hand, when the slope deviated from this optimal value, whether greater or lesser, a reduction in lip performance was observed. Specifically, at a rotational speed of 10 000 r/min, the lip designed based on a lemniscate slope could increase the total lift of the lift fan by 5.6% when compared to the lemniscate lip.

Aerodynamic Investigation and Simulation Studies on Wing Section of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Attached with Solar Plate

The paper investigates the aerodynamic performance and power requirement characteristics of wing sections integrated with high-lift airfoil to support the operation of solar-powered Unmanned Aerial vehicle (UAV). The flight mission is aimed to simulate the operation of solar-powered UAVs under low -speed environment. The research focuses on studying the aerodynamic effect of non-solar UAV wing model and solar UAV wing model for the varying angle of attack. The UAV wing models are tested using a subsonic wind tunnel to validate the aerodynamic characteristics at low-speed condition. The aerodynamic parameters such as coefficient of lift (Cl), coefficient of drag (Cd), coefficient of pressure (Cp), and the total power required to accelerate the solar UAV are studied to maintain steady level flight. The solar UAV and non-solar UAV wing models were subjected to a computational process to examine the pressure and velocity distributions for the aerodynamic performance analysis. Evident results show that the solar cells positioned at the flow separation region of the UAV wing model produces an aerodynamic efficiency rate of 5.45% and required 37.13W of minimum power compared to non-solar UAV at the Reynolds number of 9.8 106.

Blade Design and Aerodynamic Performance Analysis of a 20 MW Wind Turbine for LCoE Reduction

The aim of this study is to develop a blade mass model that incorporates a low-induction rotor (LIR) and a low-specific power concept to reduce aerodynamic loads and lower the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE). This blade mass model replaces the traditional simple scaling rule and incorporates the concept of LCoE reduction, presenting not only the mass distribution in the blade span direction but also the stiffness distribution. In order to achieve the desired reduction in LCoE, we developed a mathematical model that expresses blade mass as a function of the axial induction factor, which influences the aerodynamic load on the blade. We used this model to determine geometries of various low-induction rotors for 20 MW class horizontal axis wind turbine, and to identify the axial induction factor that correlates with the lowest blade mass. The chord length and twist angle in the spanwise direction of the blade were determined using PROPID’s reverse design process, based on the specified axial induction factor. Since the low-induction concept is not aerodynamically optimal, a low-specific power design approach was also adopted. This involved increasing the blade length and shifting the power curve to the left. By doing so, the AEP is increased, directly contributing to a reduction in the LCoE. Mass per unit length of the blade was presented, reflecting the distribution of airfoil type, blade geometry, and shapes of internal structures such as spars and webs.

Review and aerodynamic analysis of NACA 2415 morphing wing for variable span and scale morphing concepts using CFD analysis

Morphing wings made a significant advancement in aircraft engineering by improving aerodynamic performance for better fuel efficiency and are still under research. This paper reviewed and investigated some morphing wing types including the variable sweep, trailing edge, leading edge, variable span, variable chord, or scale, and airfoil morphing among others. Based on the review, two types of morphing wings were chosen for detailed investigation, and they were variable span and variable scale. Each morphing concept from the selected morphing wing types was implemented in airfoil wing configuration for aerodynamic performance analysis. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation is used to design and analyse morphing wing configurations of the chosen morphing concepts. In this research, two CFD analyses were investigated based on wing configuration; each consists of chosen morphing concept. Before the main CFD simulation of morphing wing analysis, CFD analysis of reference data of a typical NACA 2415 airfoil was verified. The lift coefficient of the morphing wing obtained from CFD analysis was compared with the unmorphed NACA airfoil wing to evaluate the morphing wing’s aerodynamic performance. It is concluded that there is an improvement in lift coefficients using the morphing concept cases, showing improved aerodynamic performance.

Prediction of ice accretion and aerodynamic performance analysis of NACA 2412 aerofoil

AbstractAdverse meteorological conditions often contribute to the formation of ice on aircraft wing section, engine nacelle and other parts leading to the loss of lift coefficient and increase in drag coefficient affecting aircraft control and stability. This paper addresses the problem of in-flight icing on an asymmetric aerofoil under three different ambient and cloud conditions. The study involves prediction of the leading-edge ice thickness using a numerical model developed from the mass and energy conservation law and Messinger freezing fraction model at the same Reynolds number. Later on, degradation in the aerodynamic performance of the iced aerofoil was also investigated using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique, taking the flow field around a 2D aerofoil geometry into account. The aerodynamic study indicates that cumulus clouds embedded with stratified clouds contribute to the formation of mixed ice on aerofoil leading edge and causes the worst icing scenario reducing the lift coefficient to 90% and increasing the drag coefficient to 800% for the same ambient conditions.

Research on aerodynamic performance analysis of micro radial spiral-grooved air bearing

The paper simulates and analyzes the internal gas of the spiral-groove radial air bearing. Bearing clearance pressure distribution and bearing load capacity were obtained. Under various geometrical parameters and operational circumstances, the air flow properties of air bearings were examined and contrasted. There is established a law for the variation of air flow properties. The bearing geometric parameters are optimized which affect the gas bearing pressure and bearing capacity. The research provided a useful reference for the design and optimization of the air bearings. It is found that the bearing capacity increases with the increase of eccentricity. The bearing reaches the best effect when the groove depth is 40 μm and the groove number is 40.

Aerodynamic Performance and Wake Characteristics Analysis of Archimedes Spiral Wind Turbine Rotors with Different Blade Angle

Continuous improvement of wind turbines represent an effective way of achieving green energy and reducing dependence on fossil fuel. Conventional lift-type horizontal axis wind turbines, which are widely used, are designed to run under high wind speed to obtain a high efficiency. Aiming to use the low-speed wind in urban areas, a novel turbine, which is called the Archimedes Spiral Wind Turbine (abbreviated as ASWT), was recently proposed for low-speed wind applications. In the current work, a numerical simulation on the five ASWT rotors with different blade angles was carried out, which were performed to predict the detailed aerodynamic performance and wake characteristics. The results show that the ASWT rotor with a large blade angle has a wider operating tip speed ratio range and a higher tip speed ratio point of maximum power coefficient within a certain range, and yet the ASWT rotor with the larger blade angle has a higher thrust coefficient. Additionally, the ASWT rotor with a large blade angle usually has a large power coefficient and thrust coefficient fluctuation amplitude. On the other hand, the ASWT rotor with a small blade angle permits the undisturbed free stream to pass through the rotor blades more easily than that with a large blade angle. This causes a stronger blockage effect for the ASWT rotor with a large blade angle. Moreover, the blade angle also has a great effect on the shape of the vortex structure. The blade tip vortex of the fixed-angle ASWT rotors is more stable than those of the variable-angle ASWT rotors. The hub vortex of the ASWT rotors with a large blade angle is stronger than those with a small blade angle. Meanwhile, the wake recovery for ASWT rotors with a small blade angle is evidently lower than those with a large blade angle.

Visual Explainable Convolutional Neural Network for Aerodynamic Coefficient Prediction

Recently, aerodynamic performance analysis has been widely studied due to its importance in aircraft design. Most works adopted computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation to compute the aerodynamic forces, which is time consuming. To reduce the simulation time, several works proposed to use deep learning model as the surrogate model of CFD simulation. However, the explainability of deep learning models is poor and has been widely criticized, which limits the further development of deep learning in aerodynamic performance analysis. In this paper, a novel neural network is proposed to predict the aerodynamic forces of airfoils. To improve the explainability, the circular padding is proposed to replace traditional zero padding in the convolutional layers. Moreover, the saliency map of the predicted aerodynamic force on the input airfoil is shown in a more intuitive way. In this manner, the influence of different parts of airfoil on the final aerodynamic force can be easily analyzed. Extensive experiments on different data sets show that our work is efficient and effective. Most importantly, these results explain the potential relationship between the airfoil and the aerodynamic force.

Computational analysis of vortex dynamics and aerodynamic performance in flying-snake-like gliding flight with horizontal undulation

This paper numerically studies the flow dynamics of aerial undulation of a snake-like model, which is adapted from the kinematics of the flying snake (Chrysopelea) undergoing a gliding process. The model applies aerial undulation periodically in a horizontal plane where a range of angle of attack (AOA) is assigned to model the real gliding motion. The flow is simulated using an immersed-boundary-method-based incompressible flow solver. Local mesh refinement mesh blocks are implemented to ensure the grid resolutions around the moving body. Results show that the undulating body produces the maximum lift at 45° of AOA. Vortex dynamics analysis has revealed a series of vortex structures including leading-edge vortices (LEV), trailing-edge vortices, and tip vortices around the body. Changes in other key parameters including the undulation frequency and Reynolds number are also found to affect the aerodynamics of the studied snake-like model, where increasing of undulation frequency enhances vortex steadiness and increasing of Reynolds number enhances lift production due to the strengthened LEVs. This study represents the first study of both the aerodynamics of the whole body of the snake as well as its undulatory motion, providing a new basis for investigating the mechanics of elongated flexible flyers.

Parametric research and aerodynamic performance analysis of wind turbine airfoil with added flap

A self-popped up flap is added to the airfoil (S809) suction surface to improve aerodynamic performance under large angle of attack (AOA) inspired by the slightly popped up feathers on the trailing edge of a bird’s wing. The response surface methodology (RSM) optimization of H, D, and θ is conducted. The lift–drag ratio of an airfoil is taken as the optimization response target, and the Box–Behnken design is adopted to design the experiment scheme for H, D, and θ. Multivariate quadratic polynomials are used to carry out equation regression analysis on the combined results of 17 sample schemes, and the mathematical surrogate model between the flap structure parameters and the airfoil lift–drag ratio and the optimal design parameter combination of the flap structure are obtained. The clean airfoil and the airfoil with optimal flap are compared and analyzed from the static and dynamic aerodynamic characteristics by numerical simulation. The calculation results show that the optimal flap obtained by RSM increases the pressure difference between the suction and the pressure surfaces at large AOA, suppresses flow separation on the suction surface, and delays the stall AOA. The airfoil with optimal flap leads to a smaller separation vortex and wake vortex, therefore delaying the dynamic stall effect.

Aerodynamic Modeling and Performance Analysis of Variable-Speed Coaxial Helicopter

In this paper, the variable-speed coaxial helicopter is modelled by the blade element method, non-uniform inflow method and empirical function method, and the aerodynamic performance analysis method is proposed. To ensure the accuracy of this method, a flight test of the verification aircraft has been performed, and the rotor speed and required power under different forward flight speeds have been obtained. By comparing the experimental results with the calculation results, it is ascertained that the rotor speed trim error of this method is less than 6%, and the required power calculation error is less than 5%, which demonstrates the accuracy of this method. Finally, when the rotor diameter, hovering collective pitch and hovering rotor speed are equal, the required power of variable-speed coaxial helicopter and variable collective-pitch coaxial helicopter is compared through this method. The comparison results show that the variable-speed coaxial helicopter has low required power when it is less than the forward flight speed corresponding to the hovering rotor speed. When the forward speed is higher than that corresponding to the hovering rotor speed, the variable-pitch coaxial helicopter has lower required power.

An overview of aerodynamic performance analysis of vertical axis wind turbines

In this paper, an attempt has been made to highlight major developments of vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) in the last few decades. The effects of various design parameters such as airfoil, number of blades, solidity, aspect ratio, blade helicity, and overlap ratio have been critically analyzed. Wind energy is the most promising renewable, cost-effective, efficient, and accessible source for both domestic and commercial applications. Horizontal axis wind turbines are highly developed and are being used for medium-to-large scale power projects. VAWT are considered viable options for urban and semi-urban areas. These turbines have several characteristics, such as omnidirectional, power generation in weak and unstable winds, esthetically sound, safety, and low noise. Darrieus turbines with a fixed blade-type have starting problems at low wind speeds. Savonius turbines have good starting capability; however, their power coefficients are lower than other types of VAWT. To overcome the shortcomings of conventional wind turbines, an innovative engineering solution was sought in the design of hybrid VAWT. The analysis revealed that hybrid wind turbines have addressed the deficiencies to an extent; however, the overall performance is still less than that of conventional wind turbines. Several recommendations have been made based on state-of-the-art information from the perspective of future studies and acceptability. It was concluded that vast opportunities for wind turbine applications are available in urban areas; however, further academic research is required on critical aspects such as self-starting at low wind speeds, efficiency, structural reliability, design improvement for aerodynamic performance, and wind resource assessment.

Towards an Accurate Aerodynamic Performance Analysis Methodology of Cross-Flow Fans

Cross-flow fans (CFFs) have become increasingly popular in recent years. This is due to their use in several domains such as air conditioning and aircraft propulsion. They also show their utility in the ventilation system of hybrid electric cars. Their high efficiency and performance significantly rely on the design parameters. Up to now, there is no general approach that predicts the CFFs’ performance. This work describes a new methodology that helps deduce the performance of CFFs in turbomachinery, using both analytical modeling and experimental data. Two different loss models are detailed and compared to determine the performance–pressure curves of this type of fan. The efficiency evaluation is achieved by realizing a multidisciplinary study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, and an optimization algorithm combined to explore the internal flow field and obtain additional information about the eccentric vortex, to finally obtain the ultimate formulation of the Eck/Laing CFF efficiency, which is validated by the experimental results with good agreement. This approach can be an efficient tool to speed up the cross-flow fans’ design cycle and to predict their global performance.

Energy-Based Aerodynamic Analysis on the Blended-Wing-Body Aircraft with Boundary Layer Ingestion

This study is aimed at evaluating the energy saving benefit and its limitation of the boundary layer ingestion (BLI) applied to a transonic blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft. The power balance method is adopted in the aerodynamic performance analysis of the aircraft. We further improve the one-dimensional analysis framework by adding the pressure volumetric work term in the power balance equation for the application in compressible flow with shock wave regions. A determining expression for the power-saving coefficient (PSC) of the BLI effect is also deduced, which is related to a BLI fraction, the airframe dissipation component ratios, and the specific thrust of the propulsor. This expression provides a way for the preliminary evaluation and comparison of BLI benefits applied in different aircraft configurations. The flow quantities of three different configurations are obtained by 3D Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) numerical simulations for the calculation of aerodynamic dissipation components. The grid refinement and domain size study shows that the calculated force coefficients and total dissipation coefficient have a good convergence characteristic with the mesh refinement and are insensitive to the variation in domain size. The evaluated PSC of the BWB aircraft with a BLI propulsor is 5% using the previously developed determining expression. The maximum of PSC is 18.8%. The following comparison of dissipation components for the power-on and power-off cases shows that the benefit of BLI is slightly underestimated by the determining expression of PSC. The reason is that the variation in the boundary layer velocity profile at the trailing edge of the center body part is neglected, which is due to the installation of the propulsor. Furthermore, when the BLI propulsor is applied to a BWB aircraft, the variation in trailing edge vortex dissipation and volumetric pressure work term should be studied in detail.

Multi-condition multi-objective optimization using deep reinforcement learning

A novel multi-condition multi-objective optimization method that can find Pareto front over a defined condition space is developed using deep reinforcement learning. Unlike the conventional methods which perform optimization at a single condition, the present method learns correlations between conditions and optimal solutions. The exclusive capability of the developed method is examined in solutions of a modified Kursawe benchmark problem and an airfoil shape optimization problem. The solutions include nonlinear characteristics which are difficult to be resolved using conventional optimization methods. Pareto front with high resolution over a condition space is successfully determined in both problems. Compared with multiple operations of a single-condition optimization method for multiple conditions, the present multi-condition optimization method shows a greatly accelerated search of Pareto front by reducing the required number of function evaluations. An analysis of aerodynamic performance of optimally designed airfoils confirms that multi-condition optimization is indispensable to avoid significant degradation of target performance for varying flow conditions.

Aerodynamic performance analysis and power generation characteristics experiment of vertical axis wind turbine

AbstractWith the wide application of clean energy, the requirements of this vertical axis wind turbine are higher and higher. A new diagonal spiral blade vertical axis wind turbine is designed and studied. The shape of the new type of wind turbine blade is designed based on the diagonal spiral structure that is common in life, considering the situation of different pitch angles and constructing 11 kinds of prototype machine. In‐depth analysis of the aerodynamic performance of these new wind turbines through simulation calculations shows that the prototype with a pitch angle of 110° has the best aerodynamic performance. When the tip speed ratio is 0.4, the maximum wind energy utilization rate can reach 0.29. Besides, the model of this wind turbine is constructed by 3D printing, which is tested, and the performance of the models is compared with that of the traditional S‐type wind turbine in a real environment. There rationality and superiority of the design of the new diagonal spiral blade vertical axis wind turbine are proved, and this apply background of this new diagonal spiral blade wind turbine is demonstrated by comparison. This article also analyzes the wake of the wind turbine and makes reasonable planning of the arrangement spacing that the wake effect has the least effect on the downstream wind turbine, which can increase the power generation efficiency of the group arrangement of turbines.

Aerodynamic performance analysis of a supercritical airfoil in the helicopter main rotor

Helicopters can be considered as any-terrain vehicles, as they can take off and land at any location. The aerodynamic characteristics of helicopters are more complicated than those of fixed-wing aircraft. The rotor is the source of lift and thrust for helicopters. The complex aerodynamic characteristics of helicopters are due to their rotational frame and variations in the velocity and pressure throughout the blades. Moreover, the airfoil undergoes phase changes because half of the phase exhibits a trailing edge toward the flow. In this study, four isolated helicopter rotor blades were analyzed using ANSYS Fluent in terms of flow in a static domain under non-rotating conditions. Supercritical airfoils used in high-speed aircraft have been found to be incredibly useful in the transonic region. They increased the critical and drag divergence Mach numbers. Incorporating supercritical airfoils in helicopter rotor blades ensures suitable flow characteristics and more than 50% efficiency compared to those of the HH02 blade in a stationary frame. Analyses were conducted for HH02 and NASA SC(2)-0714 airfoils with Mach numbers of 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 without rotation. The post-processing results prove that the NASA SC(2)-0714 airfoil rotor achieves a better aerodynamic performance than the HH02 airfoil rotor.

Analysis of Aerodynamic Characteristics of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) Based on Modified Double Multiple Stream Tube Model

To further improvement of the aerodynamic performance simulation model accuracy of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT), based on the traditional double multi-flow tube theoretical model, the aerodynamic parameters of the airfoil before and after stall are modified by the Lanchester method. Prand model is used to modify the aspect ratio of the airfoil under the condition of the small angle of attack before stall. Viterna Corrigan model is used to modify the aspect ratio, lift and drag coefficients of the airfoil under the stall. And a relaxation factor is introduced to correct the induction factor, also to improve the iterative non-convergence of the simulation under the condition of large tip speed ratio. The simulation results match the experimental data very well. Based on this new aerodynamic performance analysis method, the influence of blade tip speed ratio, blade number, blade chord length, rotor radius, and incoming wind speed on power coefficient and tangential force coefficient is studied, which can provide a reference for the design of aerodynamic performance parameters of the wind turbine.