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Numerical and experimental study of the laminar separation bubble over SS007 airfoil for micro aerial vehicles

Somashekar V. (School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) University, Vellore, India)
Immanuel Selwyn Raj A. (School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) University, Vellore, India)

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology

ISSN: 0002-2667

Article publication date: 13 June 2020

Issue publication date: 21 August 2020

214

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to deal with the numerical investigation of laminar separation bubble (LSB) characteristics (length and height of the bubble) of SS007 airfoil at the chord Reynolds number of Rec = 0.68 × 105 to 10.28 × 105.

Design/methodology/approach

The numerical simulations of the flow around SS007 airfoil were carried out by using the commercial fluid dynamics (CFD) software, ANalysis system (ANSYS) 15. To solve the governing equations of the flow, a cell-centred control volume space discretisation approach is used. Wind tunnel experiments were conducted at the chord-based Reynolds number of Rec = 1.6 × 105 to validate the aerodynamic characteristics over SS007 airfoil.

Findings

The numerical results revealed that the LSB characteristics of a SS007 airfoil, and the aerodynamic performances are validated with experimental results. The lift and drag coefficients for both numerical and experimental results show very good correlation at Reynolds number 1.6 × 105. The lift coefficient linearly increases with the increasing angle of attack (AOA) is relatively small. The corresponding drag coefficient was found to be very small. After the formation of LSB which leads to burst to cause airfoil stall, the lift coefficient decreases and increases the drag coefficient.

Practical implications

Low Reynolds number and LSB characteristics concept in aerodynamics is predominant for both civilian and military applications. These include high altitude devices, wind turbines, human powered vehicles, remotely piloted vehicles, sailplanes, unmanned aerial vehicle and micro aerial vehicle. In this paper, the micro aerial vehicle flight conditions considered and investigated the LSB characteristics for different Reynolds number. To have better aerodynamic performances, it is strongly recommended to micro aerial vehicle (MAV) design engineers that the MAV is to fly at 12 m/s (cruise speed).

Social implications

MAVs and unmanned aerial vehicles seem to give some of the technical challenges of nature conservation monitoring and law enforcement a versatile, reliable and inexpensive solution.

Originality/value

The SS007 airfoil delays the flow separation and improves the aerodynamic efficiency by increasing the lift and decreasing the drag. The maximum increase in aerodynamic efficiency is 12.5% at stall angle of attack compared to the reference airfoil at Re = 2 × 105. The results are encouraging and this airfoil could have better aerodynamic performance for the development of MAV.

Keywords

Citation

V., S. and A., I.S.R. (2020), "Numerical and experimental study of the laminar separation bubble over SS007 airfoil for micro aerial vehicles", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 92 No. 8, pp. 1125-1131. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEAT-12-2019-0252

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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