National Advisory Committee For Aeronautics Research Articles

Thermal performance of open microchannel heat sink with NACA airfoil shaped pin fins

ABSTRACT The main purpose of this study is to numerically investigate the effect of pin-fin National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) airfoil on the heat transfer performance of a single open microchannel heat sink with a fixed surface area and a constant wall heat flux. It was found that the helical flow within the microchannel and the converging–diverging flow near the two sides of the microchannel, caused by the periodically arranged NACA airfoil shaped pin fins with an attack angle, dominate the overall heat dissipation ability of the heat sink. The heat dissipation ability can be further improved by increasing the attack angle and Reynolds number. Of the airfoils considered, the symmetrical airfoil NACA0012 in no attack angle case presents the smallest pressure drop, but also the smallest thermal performance value, which can still achieve a Nusselt number improvement of 35.15% and a thermal performance factor (TPF) improvement of 1.38%, compared to the no-fin case. The NACA airfoil effect can be improved when asymmetric airfoils are considered. In terms of overall thermal performance, the NACA6412 would be the best choice. Its percentage increases in the Nusselt number and TPF can be further enhanced by up to 57.62% and 35.43%, respectively, compared to the no-attack-angle NACA0012 case.

Data-driven turbulence model for unsteady cavitating flow

Unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) equations have been widely used in engineering fields to investigate cavitating flow owing to their low computational cost and excellent robustness. However, it is challenging to accurately obtain the unsteady characteristics of flow owing to cavitation-induced phase transitions. In this study, we propose an implicit data-driven URANS (DD-URANS) framework to analyze the unsteady characteristics of cavitating flow. In the DD-URANS framework, a basic computational model is developed by introducing a cavitation-induced phase transition into the equations of Reynolds stress. To improve the computational accuracy and generalization performance of the basic model, the linear and nonlinear parts of the anisotropic Reynolds stress are predicted through implicit and explicit methods, respectively. A data fusion approach, allowing the input and output of characterized parameters at multiple time points, is presented to obtain the unsteady characteristics of the cavitating flow. The DD-URANS model is trained using the numerical results obtained via large-eddy simulation. The training data consist of two parts: (i) the results obtained at cavitation numbers of 2.0, 2.2, and 2.7 for a Venturi flow, and (ii) those obtained at cavitation numbers of 0.8 and 1.5 for a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) 66 hydrofoil. The DD-URANS model is used to predict the cavitating flow at cavitation numbers of 2.5 for a Venturi flow and 0.8 for a Clark-Y hydrofoil. It is found that the DD-URANS model is superior to the baseline URANS model in predicting the instantaneous periodic shedding of a cavity and the mean flow fields.

Investigation on the flow and heat transfer characteristics of supercritical CO2 in printed circuit heat exchanger with asymmetric airfoil fins

As an essential component of the supercritical CO2 recompression Brayton cycle, the recuperator has a significant impact on the efficiency and stability of the entire cycle system. The printed circuit heat exchanger is the most suitable heat exchanger for the recuperator in the supercritical CO2 recompression Brayton cycle. To investigate the effects of the structural parameters of the asymmetric AFF on the thermo-hydraulic performance of the printed circuit heat exchangers, simplified 3-D numerical simulation models for the printed circuit heat exchanger with National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 85XX series asymmetric AFF were built. An optimization method combining an orthogonal experiment and a quadratic polynomial surrogate model with a multi-objective genetic algorithm was proposed to obtain the optimal structural parameters. The results show that the fin thickness, lb, has the most significant effect on the comprehensive performance and fluid-flow performance, and the transverse spacing, lc, has the highest influence on the thermal performance. The optimum structural parameters set are a combination of the transverse spacing of 3.9 mm, the longitudinal spacing of 11.5 mm, and the fin thickness of 0.77mm.

Dynamic response and acoustic characteristics of composite hydrofoil under cavitation-induced vibration

Nonconstant characteristics of cavitating flow can cause adverse effects, including vibration, noise, and cavitation. With the application of composite materials, the vibration and deformation of hydrofoils are becoming increasingly obvious, and the fluid–solid coupling problem is becoming very important. Herein, the cavitating flow field of National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 0012 hydrofoil composed of bronze alloy and composite material is numerically investigated. The hydro-elastic response of a hydrofoil is obtained via a fluid–structure coupling method under a tight coupling strategy. The Schnerr–Sauer model is used to describe the cavitation process, and the large eddy simulation method is used to solve the turbulence problem. Additionally, the finite element method is used to determine the structural deformation. A comparison of the numerical calculation results of the fluid–solid acoustic coupling under two operating conditions shows that the composite materials can suppress the sheet cavitation attached to the hydrofoil suction surface and the tip leakage vortex (TLV) cavitation and can decrease the flow field pressure pulsation and increase the lift-to-drag ratio of the hydrofoil. Additionally, the composite material significantly improves the wake field turbulence, reducing the turbulence intensity and integration scale, and nearly eliminates the large-scale vortex. Moreover, the composite material changes the vortex structure evolution at the gap flow field, results in smoother TLV development, and enhances the flow field velocity gradient effect. Finally, the monitoring of the flow noise radiation characteristics shows that the composite material effectively reduces the sound pressure level of the self-noise and far-field radiation noise.

INVESTIGATION OF FLOW OVER NACA0021 AIRFOIL WITH LEADING-EDGE TUBERCLES USING TRANSITION-BASED HYBRID RANS/LES MODEL

The present paper numerically investigates flow control over NACA0021 (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) airfoil by applying a leading-edge tubercle as a passive flow control device at transitional Reynolds number (Re) regime. The study includes simulations over the unmodified airfoil and modified airfoil operating at Re=120000 using kT-kL-{\omega} based Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (DDES) model. The calculations include both the pre-stall and post-stall regions, while the performance of the mean flow aerodynamic properties like pressure, lift, skin-friction, and drag coefficients are also investigated in the presence of tubercles. The spanwise flow over the modified airfoil interacts with the primary flow. The turbulent separation gets delayed compared to the unmodified airfoil, thereby significantly improving the stall behavior and flow behavior in the post-stall region. The modified airfoil provides the gradual stall behavior against the steep stall behavior for the unmodified airfoil. To optimize tubercle configuration, the study considers two modified airfoils with different combinations of amplitude and wavelength. The unsteady analysis, including the reduced-order modeling, i.e. 3D Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD), characterizes the dominant vortical structure of the flow to evaluate the improvement in the aerodynamic performance of the modified airfoil. The model decomposition for flow over airfoil helps to provide a deeper understanding of the flow control phenomenon.

Dynamic stall of pitching tubercled wings in vortical wake flowfield

In consideration of the turbulent inflow condition of engineering applications, the flow mechanisms of dynamic stall of a tubercled airfoil have been comprehensively analyzed with an upstream cylinder. Numerical simulation of the flowfield of a tubercled wing with NACA0021 (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) airfoil has been conducted with the large eddy simulation model. Then, flow mechanisms have been analyzed based on the aerodynamic performances and flow structure descriptions. Meanwhile, proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis has been carried out at both trough and peak sections to reveal the flow dynamics. It turns out that the dynamic stall process vanishes, and performances would be obviously impacted by the incoming cylinder wake in the case of αA=5° due to the enforced resistance of adverse pressure gradient. Furthermore, the first leading POD mode corresponds to the pitching movement at both trough and peak sections, while the high-order modes represent the influence of cylinder wake. Eventually, the influence of pitching amplitude has also been discussed in the case of αA=15°. Different from the case of αA=5°, dynamic stall phenomenon emerges, and the influence of wake impingement could be barely detected from the mode information except for the third mode at the trough section. The detachment of the dynamic stall vortex takes place corresponding to the dynamic stall onset, which is driven by the streamwise pressure gradient near the trough leading-edge.

Effect of uniformly varying width leading-edge slots on the aerodynamic performance of wind turbine blade

According to the Betz limit, the maximum wind power that can be extracted from wind is limited to 59 %. Practically it stands at a 30–40 % level. Therefore, current research targets to increase the aerodynamic performance of wind turbines by introducing uniformly varying width (UVW) leading-edge slots. In present work, a UVW narrow channel is deployed using NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) 4412 aerofoil, which starts from the leading-edge region and goes away to the pressure side of the aerofoil after a slight bending. NACA 4412 aerofoil is chosen as it has the highest lift to drag ratio. Six wind turbine blades of different dimensions (Gradually increasing Wi/Wo ratio) are proposed. Six proposed wind turbine blades are designed and analysed using CFD (computational fluid dynamics) with 0° to 16° at a 2° increment. Wind speed is taken at 7 m/s as per Indian conditions. Out of six proposed blade designs, NACA 4412 aerofoil (Wi/Wo = 2) gives 12 % spike lift to drag ration than the uniform slotted one. Again NACA 4412 aerofoil (Wi/Wo = 2) performs at its peak at angle of attack (AOA) 6°. It is observed that interaction of fluid separation zone and slot inlet results in a down grade of the aerodynamic performance of wind turbine blade. A scaled-down (one-fifth) model of the superior blade (made up of wood) and Solid blade have been made for the wind tunnel test and comparison. The computational results were compared from a series of wind tunnel tests.

Energy Harvesting Performance of Thick Oscillating Airfoils Using a Discrete Vortex Model

Abstract The energy harvesting performance of thick oscillating airfoils is predicted using an inviscid discrete vortex model (DVM). National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) airfoils with different leading-edge geometries are modeled that undergo sinusoidal heaving and pitching with reduced frequencies, k=fc/U∞, in the range 0.06−0.14, where f is the heaving frequency of the foil, c is the chord length, and U∞ is the freestream velocity. The airfoil pitches about the midchord with heaving and pitching amplitudes of h0=0.5c and θ0=70 deg, respectively, known to be in the range of peak energy harvesting efficiencies. A vortex shedding initiation criteria is proposed based on the transient local wall stress distribution determined from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and incorporates both timing and location of leading-edge separation. The scaled shedding times are shown to be predicted over the range of reduced frequencies using a timescale based on the leading-edge shear velocity and radius of curvature. The convection velocity of the shed vortices is also modeled based on the reduced frequency to better capture the dynamics of the leading-edge vortex. An empirical trailing-edge separation correction is applied to the transient force results using the effective angle of attack modified to include the pitching component. Impulse theory is applied to the DVM to calculate the transient lift force and compares well with the CFD simulations. Results show that the power output increases with increasing airfoil thickness and is most notable at higher reduced frequencies where the power output efficiency is highest.

Leading edge vortex dynamics in airfoils: Effect of pitching motion at large amplitudes

Airfoils pitching in the stalled regime have been of keen interest in recent years due to their desirable aerodynamic force characteristics. This study numerically investigates the unsteady flow past a NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) 0012 airfoil under sinusoidally pitching motion using a sharp interface immersed boundary framework. The flow is investigated in the low Reynolds number regime (Re = 3000) for reduced frequencies of 0.628 and 3.14 at three pivot locations (one-third chord, mid-chord, and two-third chord lengths from the leading edge). The airfoil is subjected to sinusoidal motion, with its incidence angle varying from 15° to 45°. Leading-edge vortices (LEVs) formed during the pitching motion dictate the transient aerodynamic characteristics. The flow field data is used to identify individual LEVs in the flow field. The spatio-temporal evolution of LEVs in terms of their strengths and vorticity weighted centroid is traced throughout the pitching cycle to obtain a quantitative estimate of their evolution. The cycle-to-cycle variation in the vorticity evolution is characterized, and its corresponding influence on the lift/drag characteristics has been explored in detail. At low frequencies, all the pitching cycles evolve in two different patterns; however, at high frequencies, the LEVs from different cycles merge and evolve in the form of a vortex cluster. The effect of pivot location and pitching frequency on the vortex evolution and aerodynamic forces is investigated. An increased pitching frequency delays LEV formation and drastically alters the vortex dynamics. The maximum values of the lift and drag coefficients increase with pitching frequency. Additionally, pivot locations have a stronger influence on the magnitude and phase of aerodynamic coefficients at higher frequencies. However, moving the pivot axis aftward at all studied frequencies delays LEV evolution and causes a phase lag on the aerodynamic forces.

Do we need pre-hospital resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) in the civilian helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS)?

Pre-hospital resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) can be a life-saving procedure for patients with non-compressible torso hemorrhage. We aimed to evaluate the potential eligibility for REBOA in trauma patients of a civilian helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) using a stepwise approach. A retrospective analysis using the electronic database (HEMSDER) of "DRF Luftrettung" HEMS covering the period from January 2015 to June 2021 was performed. Trauma patients aged ≥ 16years and with a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) score of ≥ 4 were assessed for potential REBOA eligibility using two different decision trees based on assumed severe bleeding due to injuries of the abdomen, pelvis, and/or lower extremities and different vital signs on the scene and at hospital handover. Non-parametric statistical methods were used for comparison. A total of 22.426 patients met the inclusion criteria for data analysis. Of these, 0.15-2.24% were possible candidates for pre-hospital REBOA. No significant differences between groups on scene and at hospital handover regarding demographics, assumed injuries, and pre-hospital interventions were found. In the on-scene group, 21.1% of the patients remained unstable even at hospital handover despite pre-hospital care. In the handover group, 42.8% of the patients seemed initially stable but then deteriorated during the pre-hospital course. The number of potential pre-hospital REBOA in severely injured patients with a NACA score of ≥ 4 is < 3% or can be even < 1% if more strict criteria are used. There are some patients who may benefit from pre-hospital REBOA as a life-saving procedure. Further research on earlier diagnosis of life-threatening bleeding and proper indications of REBOA in trauma patients is needed.

Numerical study on cavitation–vortex–noise correlation mechanism and dynamic mode decomposition of a hydrofoil

The large eddy simulation model coupled with the modified Schnerr–Sauer cavitation model has been used to numerically simulate the unsteady cavitation and noncavitation flow of the three-dimensional NACA66 (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) hydrofoil under different operating conditions. The results show that the magnitude of the cavitation number plays a decisive role in the hydrofoil cavitation quasiperiodic phenomenon. The cavitation number of 1.25 is used as a typical working condition for analysis. Using the Ffowcs Williams–Hawkings acoustic analogy approach accompanied by the vorticity transport equation splitting, the growth and shedding of cavitation also lead to the growth and shedding of the vortex structure. The cavitation–vortex interaction is mainly influenced by the vortex stretching term and vortex dilatation term and amplitude of them are larger than 500. The baroclinic torque term may be responsible for generating vorticity during the cloud cavitation collapse and has a lower amplitude about 200. The cavity volume acceleration is the main influencing factor of the low-frequency pressure fluctuation around the cavitating hydrofoil. Moreover, the NACA66 hydrofoil surface-pressure data are collected for dynamic mode decomposition to locate the hydrofoil surface noise sources. The alternate high and low amplitude regions in the mode results overlap highly with the cavitation transformation regions. The cavity transformation and pressure fluctuations are the main reason for the generation of periodic low-frequency noise source regions on the hydrofoil surface. Moreover, the corresponding frequencies of each order mode are linearly correlated with the cavitation shedding frequency of 5.70 Hz. Combined with the results of the multiple mode comparisons, it can be inferred that the hydrofoil suction surface under the cavitation effect will generate quasiperiodic waves starting from upstream and moving downstream.

On the transient cavitation characteristics of viscous fluids around a hydrofoil

Cavitation is a transient phase transition process between liquid and vapour, and it often occurs in machines using viscous fluids as working media owing to complex operating environments and the trend toward high temperature, high velocity, and high power density. To investigate the cavitation properties of viscous fluids, a visualization experimental system was proposed and developed in this study. In addition, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model considering cavitation was developed based on the finite volume method (FVM) to study the cavitation characteristics and unsteady cavitation behaviors of the cavitating flow in viscous oil around a NACA0012 (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) hydrofoil under various conditions. The results showed that cavitation started on the suction surface of the hydrofoil near the head, and the critical cavitation number and the critical velocity were 5.2 and 10 m/s at an operating pressure of zero. Smaller cavitation numbers and higher fluid velocity induced and intensified the cavitation. Additionally, the cavitation process of the viscous oil around the hydrofoil was highly unstable and periodic, and its development included birth, growth, separation, and disintegration, with an evolution frequency of 47 Hz. This study provides a theoretical basis, experimental means, and data support for cavitation of viscous fluids, especially oil. It has significant engineering applications for the development of fluid machinery.

Fast Prediction of Flow Field around Airfoils Based on Deep Convolutional Neural Network

We propose a steady-state aerodynamic data-driven method to predict the incompressible flow around airfoils of NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) 0012-series. Using the Signed Distance Function (SDF) to parameterize the geometric and flow condition setups, the prediction core of the method is constructed essentially by a consecutive framework of a convolutional neural network (CNN) and a deconvolutional neural network (DCNN). Impact of training parameters on the behavior of the proposed CNN-DCNN model is studied, so that appropriate learning rate, mini-batch size, and random deactivation rate are specified. Tested by “unseen” airfoil geometries and far-field velocities, it is found that the prediction process is three orders of magnitudes faster than a corresponding Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation, while relative errors are maintained lower than 1% on most of the sample points. The proposed model manages to capture the essential dynamics of the flow field, as its predictions correspond reasonably with the reconstructed field by proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). The performance and accuracy of the proposed model indicate that the deep learning-based approach has great potential as a robust predictive tool for aerodynamic design and optimization.

REKONSTRUKSI SUDU PRIMARY AIR FAN PLTU MENGGUNAKAN STANDAR NACA

This PA Fan is one of the vital components in the generating system that functions to drain air and carry fuel (coal) from the pulverizer to the boiler burner. The research has a focus on designing methods to reconstruct the blades in order to increase independence to maintain the reliability of turbo engine equipment. Damage to axial turbo engine equipment generally occurs as a defect in the blades. The method of self-constructing blades needs to be carried out to increase the speed of the repair process. The limitation in this study is that the blade airfoil profile is adjusted to the standards of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The benefit of the PA Fan blade reconstruction process is to find the technology of the PA Fan blade product and the basic concepts of the product design process as desired by the initial maker (design intent). The research methods used include: Measurement and geometric modeling of the PA Fan blade using the Mitutoyo Cyrsta-Apex S9106 Coordinate Measuring Machine which is connected to a non-contact laser scanner Mitutoyo Surface Measure 606 to obtain a collection of many coordinates of the measurement results (point clouds), then process point clouds processing to obtain a 3D model of the measurement results, after that identify the airfoil with the NACA standard, and the final stage is to process machine drawings of complete components with geometry specifications.

The effects of surface modification on aerodynamic characteristics of airfoil DU 06 W 200 at low Reynolds numbers,

In this paper the flow characteristics and velocity fields over the vertical axis wind turbines DU 06 W 200 airfoil developed by Delft University of Technology and some other innovative designs are examined by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation and particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements. In these case studies a modification of the plain airfoil upper and/or lower surfaces was applied with the assistance of different techniques. CFD was conducted using the turbulent model of RANS k- ω SST. The PIV experiments were performed using a wind tunnel test and smoke flow visualization. Different practical cases, namely riblet under surface, riblet above surface, cavity front, cavity back, double cavity, single riblet, and spoiler, were designed and examined. Moreover, two hybrid blade airfoils designed and inspired by combining the DU 06 W 200 and NACA 63215 developed by National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) were also tested. The results show that the new design hybrid blade airfoil can significantly modify the flow pattern over the airfoil and improve aerodynamic performance. The new design hybrid blade airfoil could deliver improved efficiency for industrial applications, specifically for the design and development of vertical axis wind turbines.

A Lagrangian analysis of partial cavitation growth and cavitation control mechanism

Partial cavitation has a strong unsteadiness, which will cause serious damage to the hydraulic machinery. The spanwise obstacle is nearly the most efficient method for controlling unsteady cavitation. In this study, numerical simulations of partial cavitating flows around NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) 66 hydrofoils in two dimensions (2D) were carried out both with and without obstruction. The obstruction is placed at 0.37c, and its height is 0.1c. Utilizing the finite-time Lyapunov exponent, the Lagrangian coherent structures (LCSs) were developed to investigate the dynamic characteristics of the unsteady flow. By showing the dynamic evolution of the Lagrangian behaviors, the time-dependent LCSs over the two different flows demonstrate the effectiveness of LCSs in explaining the evolution of the vortex during the partial cavitation process. With the use of LCSs, the vortex boundary and reentrant jet can be easily located, and the link between the vortexes can be readily seen. In the meantime, the vortex's origin and destination are shown by the stable and unstable manifolds, respectively. LCSs were then utilized to examine how the obstruction had an impact, and the following conclusions were reached. First, the obstruction can stop a portion of reentrant jets from passing through it. Second, the obstruction can curve the pathway of the reentrant jet, which has passed through it. Third, the obstruction prevents the cavity from flowing downstream. Finally, the obstruction continuously obliterates the expanding cavity across it. Simply said, the Lagrangian analysis based on LCSs provides a better understanding of the vortex dynamics than traditional visualization techniques, which is essential to understanding the great performance of the cavitation-induced unsteady flow.

Investigation on corner stall prediction and flow control by blended blade and end wall technology in a compressor cascade based on modified Spalart–Allmaras model

Corner stall has a significant impact on the performance of compressor cascades, but it is difficult to predict precisely using conventional Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes models. In view of this, first, the Spalart–Allmaras (SA) turbulence model modified with helicity is recalibrated to predict corner stall accurately. The internal reasons why the modified SA model does not overestimate the extent and intensity of corner stall as the original SA model is further explored through the analysis of turbulence transport nature. The investigation of corner stall control in a modified National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 65 cascade by the blended blade and end wall (BBEW) technology is then carried out using the recalibrated MSA model. The numerical results indicate that the BBEW technology can eliminate the separation vortex on the end wall and change the flow field from corner stall to corner separation. The best BBEW scheme reduces the total pressure loss coefficient by 14.13%. The BBEW technology can most significantly enhance the aerodynamic performance of the compressor cascade when the maximum BBEW thickness is close to the trailing edge. When the maximum BBEW thickness is in the same position, the control effect rises first and subsequently falls as the maximum BBEW thickness grows. These research results serve as a guide for choosing turbulence models and designing the BBEW schemes.

Optimization design of the unsmooth bionic structure of a hydrofoil leading edge based on the Grey–Taguchi method

Hydrofoil sections are broadly used in the field of fluid machinery. The leading edge of a hydrofoil structure is closely related to drag and cavitation performance. In this study, we adopt the concept of a bionic design. The fin structure of a fish is simplified and applied to the traditional National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 0015 hydrofoil. We adopt the Grey–Taguchi method to calculate the best layout. This helps obtain the best drag and cavitation performance. Large eddy simulations are used to verify the scheme. When the ratio of fin depth to length h/L is 0.3, the fin layout length Xn is 7 L, the inclination of fins θ is 7°, and the bionic hydrofoil exhibits the best hydrodynamic performance. Application of the best bionic hydrofoil to the fluid machinery (pump) demonstrates that the hydraulic performance of the pump has been considerably improved.

Two-equation turbulent viscosity model for simulation of transitional flows: An efficient artificial neural network strategy

Laminar-to-turbulent transition phenomena are ubiquitous in natural and industrial flows. As to the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulation method, the workhorse for accurate prediction of such flow regime boils down to the consideration of the transition effect in turbulence modeling. In this paper, an industrial–practical transition–turbulence model with excellent accuracy, robustness, and efficiency is established by the fully connected artificial neural network (ANN), which maps the relation between the RANS mean flow variables and an intermittency factor. A one-equation local correlation-based transition model coupled with Menter's shear stress transport (SST) model is taken as the benchmark. The present two-way coupling ANN model is trained with two National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) airfoils, that is, NACA0012 and NACA2418, at various angles of attack and Mach numbers, while tested with the A-airfoil, NACA0015, and RAE 2822 supercritical airfoils in different flow states. The a posteriori test results manifest that the mean pressure coefficient, skin friction coefficient, size of laminar separation bubble, mean streamwise velocity, Reynolds shear stress, and lift/drag/moment coefficient predicted by the ANN model are all in good agreement with those given by the benchmark transition-based SST model. Furthermore, the ANN model exhibits higher calculation efficiency and convergence speed than the traditional transition-predictive SST model. The present work may pave a new way for machine learning methods to be used in integrated transition–turbulence modeling toward industrial applications.

Direct numerical simulation of transitional flow past an airfoil with partially covered wavy roughness elements

We perform direct numerical simulation of flow past the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) 0012 airfoil with partially covered wavy roughness elements near the leading edge. The Reynolds number Rec based on the freestream velocity (U0) and airfoil chord length (C), and the angle of attack (AoA) is fixed, i.e., Rec=5×104, AoA=10°. The leading edge roughness elements are characterized by streamwise sinusoidal-wave geometry that is uniform in the spanwise direction with fixed height, whereas varying wave numbers (k) from 0 to 12. Based on the validation of the smooth baseline case (k = 0), the roughness effects on the aerodynamic performance are evaluated in terms of the lift and drag coefficients. The drag coefficient decreases monotonically with k, while the variation of the lift coefficient with k is similar to the “drag crisis” phenomenon observed in cylinder flows. The sharp variations of lift and drag coefficients from k = 6 to 8 indicate that k = 8 is a critical case, beyond which massive separation occurs and almost covers the airfoil's suction side and dominates the airfoil aerodynamic performance. To further reveal the underlying mechanism, the flow structures, pressure, skin friction coefficients, shear layer transition onset, and boundary layer separation are quantified to investigate the roughness effects. The roughness elements strongly modify the separation behavior, whereas they have little effect on the transition onset. The unsteady interactions and convections of separation bubbles downward the trailing edge also change the wake evolution. Based on the scaling of the asymmetric wake profiles, we find that the wake defect is gently decreasing with k, but the increase in the wake width is much stronger. This scaling analysis gains a better insight into the roughness effects on the momentum deficit flow rate, which confirms the drag mechanism with different roughness wave numbers.