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1 – 10 of over 1000Jonathan W. Vogt and Tracie J. Barber
Investigations into ground effect phenomena about aerofoils are typically conducted on either an upright (liftâproducing) or inverted (downforceâproducing) configuration, in…
Abstract
Purpose
Investigations into ground effect phenomena about aerofoils are typically conducted on either an upright (liftâproducing) or inverted (downforceâproducing) configuration, in isolation. This limited approach does not promote a holistic understanding of how ground effect influences aerofoils. This paper aims to address this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
A twoâdimensional computational fluid dynamics investigation was conducted on the highly cambered Tyrrell aerofoil, in both its upright and inverted configurations, in order to better understand ground effect phenomena by observing how it influences each configuration differently. The trends in force and flow field behaviour were observed at various ground clearances through observation of the normal and drag forces and pressure coefficient plots. The aerofoil was held stationary and at a constant angle of attack of 6 degrees, with a moving ground plane to simulate the correct relative motion.
Findings
The different ground effect mechanisms that occur on each configuration are highlighted and explained. It is shown how ground effect manifests through these different phenomena and that there are general or overarching mechanisms that influence both configurations. These general mechanisms allow unintuitive phenomena, such as the downward movement of the stagnation point on both configurations, to be explained.
Originality/value
Overarching mechanisms of ground effect are discovered which are of value in any situation in which ground effect aerodynamics is to be exploited.
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Rajesh Sahu and B.S.V. Patnaik
The purpose of this paper is to achieve highâperformance aerofoils that enable delayed stall conditions and achieve high lift to drag ratios.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to achieve highâperformance aerofoils that enable delayed stall conditions and achieve high lift to drag ratios.
Design/methodology/approach
The unsteady Reynolds averaged NavierâStokes equations are employed in conjunction with a shear stress transport (ÎşâĎ) turbulence model. A control equation is designed and implemented to determine the temporal response of the actuator. A rotating element, in the form of an actuator disc, is embedded on the leading edge of NACA 0012 aerofoil, to inject momentum into the wake region. The actuator disc is rotated at different angular speeds, for angles of attack (Îą) between 00 and 240.
Findings
Phenomena such as flow separation, wake vortices, delayed stall, wake control, etc. are numerically investigated by means of streamlines, streaklines, isobars, etc. Streamwise and crossâstream forces on the aerofoil are obtained. The influence of momentum injection parameter (Ξ) on the fluid flow patterns, and hence on the forces acting on the streamlined body are determined. A synchronizationâbased coupling scheme is designed and implemented to achieve annihilation of wake vortices. A delayed stall angle resulted with an attendant increase in maximum lift coefficient. Due to delay and/or prevention of separation, drag coefficient is also reduced considerably, resulting in a highâperformance lifting surface.
Research limitations/implications
The practicality of momentum injection principle requires both wide ranging and intensive further studies to move forward beyond the proof of concept stage.
Practical implications
Determination of forces and moments on an aerofoil is of vital interest in aeroâdynamic design. Perhaps, runways of the future can be shorter and/or more pay load can be carried by an aircraft, for the same stall speed.
Originality/value
The paper describes how a synchronizationâbased coupling scheme is designed and implemented along with the RANS solver. Furthermore, it is tested to verify the dynamic adaptability of the wake vortex annihilation for NACA 0012 aerofoils.
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In this paper, the effectiveness of a number of active devices for the control of shock waves on transonic aerofoils is investigated using numerical solutions of the…
Abstract
In this paper, the effectiveness of a number of active devices for the control of shock waves on transonic aerofoils is investigated using numerical solutions of the Reynoldsâaveraged NavierâStokes equations. A brief description of the flow model and the numerical method is presented including, in particular, the boundary condition modelling and the numerical treatment for surface mass transfer. Comparisons with experimental data have been made where possible to validate the numerical study before some systematic numerical simulations for a parametric study. The effects of surface suction, blowing, and local modification of the surface contour (bump) on aerofoil aerodynamic performance have been studied extensively regarding the control location, the mass flow strength and the bump height. The numerical simulations highlight the benefits and drawbacks of the various control devices for transonic aerodynamic performance and identify the key design parameters for optimisation.
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Vasishta Bhargava, Satya Prasad Maddula, Swamy Naidu Venkata Neigapula, Md. Akhtar Khan, Chinmaya Prasad Padhy and Dwivedi Yagya Dutta
This paper aims to model the aerodynamic flow characteristics of NACA0010 for various angle of attacks including stall for incompressible flows using panel methods. This paper…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to model the aerodynamic flow characteristics of NACA0010 for various angle of attacks including stall for incompressible flows using panel methods. This paper also aims to quantify the surface pressure distribution on streamlined bodies and validate the results with analytical Jukouwski method and inverse panel methods that can predict the aerodynamic flow behaviour using the geometric iteration approach.
Design/methodology/approach
The 2âD panel method was implemented in Qblade software v.06 which uses the fundamental panel method which rely on source strengths and influence coefficients to determine the velocity and pressure fields on the surface. The software implements the boundary layer or viscous effects to determine the influence on aerodynamic performance at various angles of attack. Jukouwski method is also evaluated for predicting aerodynamic characteristics and is based on the geometric iteration approach. Then complex aerodynamic flow potentials are determined based on the source strengths which are used to predict the pressure and velocity fields.
Findings
At low to moderate angles of attack, panel and Jukouwski methods predict similar results for surface pressure coefficients comparable to Hess and Smith inverse method. In comparison to panel method, results from the Jukouwski mapping method predicted the pressure coefficient conservatively for the same free stream conditions. With increase in Reynolds number, lift coefficient and aerodynamic performance improved significantly for un-tripped aerofoil when stall angle is approached when compared to tripped aerofoil.
Practical implications
This study demonstrated that panel methods have higher efficacy in terms of computational time or resources and thus can provide benefits to many real-world aircraft or aerospace design applications.
Originality/value
Even though panel and Jukouwski methods have been studied extensively in the past, this paper demonstrates the efficacy of both methods for modelling aerodynamic flows that range between moderate to high Reynolds number which are critical for many aircraft applications. Both methods have been validated with analytical and inverse design methods which are able to predict aerodynamic flow characteristics for simple bluff bodies, streamlined aerofoils as well as bio-inspired corrugated aerofoils.
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Siva Marimuthu and Dhavamani Chinnathambi
Since the inception of aerospace engineering, reducing drag is of eternal importance. Over the years, researchers have been trying to improve the aerodynamics of National Advisory…
Abstract
Purpose
Since the inception of aerospace engineering, reducing drag is of eternal importance. Over the years, researchers have been trying to improve the aerodynamics of National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) aerofoils in many ways. It is proved that smooth-surfaced NACA 0012 aerofoil produces more drag in compressible flow. Recent research on shark-skin pattern warrants a feasible solution to many fluid-engineering problems. Several attempts were made by many researchers to implement the idea of shark skin in the form of coatings, texture and more. However, those ideas are at greater risk when it comes to wing maintenance. The purpose of this paper is to implement a relatively larger biomimetic pattern which would make way for easy maintenance of patterned wings with improved performance.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, two biomimetic aerofoils are designed by optimizing the surface pattern of shark skin and are tested at different angles of attack in the computational flow domain.
Findings
The results of the biomimetic aerofoils prove that viscous and total drag can be reduced up to 33.08% and 3.68%, respectively, at high subsonic speed when validated against a NACA 0012 aerofoil. With the ample effectiveness of patched shark-skin pattern, biomimetic aerofoil generates as high as 10.42% lift than NACA 0012.
Originality/value
In this study, a feasible shark-skin pattern is constructed for NACA 0012 in a transonic flow regime. Computational results achieved using the theoretical model agree with experimental data.
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Xiang Shen, Eldad Avital, Zaheer Ikram, Liming Yang, Theodosios Korakianitis and Laurent Dala
This paper aims to investigate the influence of smooth curvature distributions on the self-noise of a low Reynolds number aerofoil and to unveil the flow mechanisms in the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the influence of smooth curvature distributions on the self-noise of a low Reynolds number aerofoil and to unveil the flow mechanisms in the phenomenon.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, large Eddy simulation (LES) approach was performed to investigate the unsteady aerodynamic performance of both the original aerofoil E387 and the redesigned aerofoil A7 in a time-dependent study of boundary layer characteristics at Reynolds number 100,000 and angle of attack (AoA) 4-degree. The aerofoil A7 is redesigned from E387 by removing the irregularities in the surface curvature distributions and keeping a nearly identical geometry. Flow vorticity magnitude of both aerofoils, along with the spectra of the vertical fluctuating velocity component and noise level, are analysed to demonstrate the bubble flapping process near the trailing edge (TE) and the vortex shedding phenomenon.
Findings
This paper provides quantitative insights about how the flapping process of the laminar separation bubble (LSB) within the boundary layer near the TE affects the aerofoil self-noise. It is found that the aerofoil A7 with smooth curvature distributions presents a 10% smaller LSB compared to the aerofoil E387 at Reynolds number 100,000 and AoA 4-degree. The LES results also suggest that curvature distribution smoothing leads to a 6.5% reduction in overall broadband noise level.
Originality/value
This paper fulfils an identified need to reveal the unknown flow structure and the boundary layer characteristics that resulted in the self-noise reduction phenomenon yielded by curvature distribution smoothing.
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WE found, on experimental grounds in Article I, that the field of airâflow past a short body of low resistance shape, such as an aerofoil, comprises two dissimilar parts: (a) a…
Abstract
WE found, on experimental grounds in Article I, that the field of airâflow past a short body of low resistance shape, such as an aerofoil, comprises two dissimilar parts: (a) a thin boundary layer enveloping the body and dominated by viscous effects, and (b) a motion outside the boundary layer in which viscosity is much less important. It will be remembered that in the external motion occur the large pressure changes, which, transmitted through the boundary layer, account for nearly all the lift and for part of the drag. These pressures we observed to be calculable from the velocities without appreciable error by Bernoulli's equation. In the present Article we confine attention to this external flow, assuming it to be steady, incompressible, and inviscid. Its dependence upon (a), already discussed to some extent, we ignore; the boundary layer is conceived to be everywhere very thin, so that the only role it plays is to allow of relative velocity at the surface of the body. The assumptions made, excepting that of incompressibility, will appear drastic, and it will not be surprising if some of our deductions prove discordant with experimental fact. Nevertheless, they lead to a theory which finds many applications and uses in real fluid motion, and, in particular, gives an intimate view of aerofoil flow that is very close to the truth. It is convenient to develop our reasoning in analytical terms and for simplicity to restrict the flow to two dimensions (Article 1, §5). But the engineer will find special scope in this part of aerodynamics for graphical methods in the solution of particular problems.
K.J. Badcock, I.C. Glover and B.E. Richards
The approximate factorisationâconjugate gradient squared (AFâCGS) methodhas been successfully demonstrated for unsteady turbulent aerofoil flows andtransonic inviscid flows in two…
Abstract
The approximate factorisationâconjugate gradient squared (AFâCGS) method has been successfully demonstrated for unsteady turbulent aerofoil flows and transonic inviscid flows in two and three dimensions. The method consists of a conjugate gradient solution of the linear system at each step with the ADI approximate factorisation as a preconditioner. In the present paper the method is adapted to obtain rapid convergence for steady aerofoil flows when compared to the basic explicit method. Modifications to the original method are described, convergence criteria are examined and the method is demonstrated for transonic flow including AGARD test case 9 for the RAE2822 aerofoil.
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The circulation which is established around an aerofoil section which has i trailing edge jet, and thus also the lift, is directly dependent on a trailing edge condition similar…
Abstract
The circulation which is established around an aerofoil section which has i trailing edge jet, and thus also the lift, is directly dependent on a trailing edge condition similar to the Joukowski condition in conventional steady and unsteady flow. There is a downwash made up of elementary vortices but in this case the vortex density is not zero when the sheet extends to infinity. The problem is govcrnec by an equation similar to the Wagner equation, into which is introduced the curvature of the downwash at the trailing edge. Certain precautions have to be taker when calculating this. The law governing the movement of the elementary vortices in the downwash plays a very important part. It is directly dependent on the viscous damping of the vorticity. This effect has also had to be taken into consideration, and the drag law of the jet behind the nozzle established. Other results follow concerning the solution of the transient case, and the determination of the circulation up to the moment of reaching its steady limit value, which is achieved in finite time. The velocity distribution on the aerofoil can be found at any instant, and thus also all the properties concerning the aerodynamic forces. The method has been applied to two cases, and a comparison is made with experimental results. An extension to the case of a conventional aerofoil (without jet) is possible; in this case the circulation must have a slightly lower value than in the Joukowski case, the difference depending on the Reynolds number. There is a potential drag resulting from the existence of the downwash and its loss of momentum. In Part II the finite span case is considered. The basic equations are established, and an approximate solution of the steady How case found, where the distribution of circulation is elliptical. A wing interrupted by a fuselage is also considered, and comparison with experimental results given.
IN the first of these articles it was pointed out that normal supersonic flow can be described theoretically, to a first approximation, by the linearized equation of motion. This…
Abstract
IN the first of these articles it was pointed out that normal supersonic flow can be described theoretically, to a first approximation, by the linearized equation of motion. This has the form of the wave equation and governs first order disturbances to fields of uniform flow; for example, flow past thin wings or slender bodies at small angles of incidence, and flow through ducts of varying crossâsection. In the same way small disturbances in a purely subsonic stream can be described by a linearized equation of motion, which can be reduced to Laplace's equation by contracting the coâordinate normal to the direction of flow. Transonic flow, in which regions of both supersonic and subsonic flow occur, is not so easily represented.