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This paper aims to achieve an optimum flow separation control over the airfoil using a passive flow control method by introducing a bio-inspired nose near the leading edge of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) 4 and 6 series airfoil. In addition, to find the optimised leading edge nose design for NACA 4 and 6 series airfoils for flow separation control.

Different bio-inspired noses that are inspired by the cetacean species have been analysed for different NACA 4 and 6 series airfoils. Bio-inspired nose with different nose length, nose depth and nose circle diameter have been analysed on airfoils with different thicknesses, camber and camber locations to understand the aerodynamic flow properties such as vortex formation, flow separation, aerodynamic efficiency and moment.

The porpoise nose design that has a leading edge with depth = 2.25% of chord, length = 0.75% of chord and nose diameter = 2% of chord, delays the flow separation and improves the aerodynamic efficiency. Average increments of 5.5% to 6° in the lift values and decrements in parasitic drag (without affecting the pitching moment) for all the NACA 4 and 6 series airfoils were observed irrespective of airfoil geometry such as different thicknesses, camber and camber location.

The two-dimensional computational analysis is done for different NACA 4 and 6 series airfoils at low subsonic speed.

This design improves aerodynamic performance and increases the structural strength of the aircraft wing compared to other conventional high lift devices and flow control devices. This universal leading edge flow control device can be adapted to aircraft wings incorporated with any NACA 4 and 6 series airfoil.

The results would be of significant interest in the fields of aircraft design and wind turbine design, lowering the cost of energy and air travel for social benefits.

Different bio-inspired nose designs that are inspired by the cetacean species have been analysed for NACA 4 and 6 series airfoils and universal optimum nose design (porpoise airfoil) is found for NACA 4 and 6 series airfoils.

The purpose of this paper is to achieve an optimum flow separation control over the airfoil using passive flow control method by introducing bio-inspired nose near the leading edge of the NACA 2412 airfoil.

Two distinguished methods have been implemented on the leading edge of the airfoil: forward facing step, which induces multiple accelerations at low angle of attack, and cavity/backward facing step, which creates recirculating region (axial vortices) at high angle of attack.

The porpoise airfoil (optimum bio-inspired nose airfoil) delays the flow separation and improves the aerodynamic efficiency by increasing the lift and decreasing the parasitic drag. The maximum increase in aerodynamic efficiency is 22.4 per cent, with an average increase of 8.6 per cent at all angles of attack.

The computational analysis has been done for NACA 2412 airfoil at low subsonic speed.

This design improves the aerodynamic performance and increases structural strength of the aircraft wing compared to other conventional high-lift devices and flow-control devices.

Different bio-inspired nose designs which are inspired by the cetacean species have been analysed for NACA 2412 airfoil, and optimum nose design (porpoise airfoil) has been found.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate airfoil’s tonal noise reduction mechanism when deploying surface irregularities, such as surface waviness by means of spatial stability analyses.

Flow field calculations over smooth and wavy-surface NACA 0012 airfoils at 2° angle of attack and at Reynolds number of 200,000 are performed using the large eddy simulation (LES) approach. Three geometrical configurations are considered: a smooth NACA 0012 airfoil, wavy surface on the suction side (SS) and wavy surface on the pressure side (PS). The spatial stability analyses using the LES-generated flow fields are conducted and validated against the Orr-Sommerfeld stability analysis for the smooth airfoil configuration.

The spatial stability analyses show that inclusion of the wavy-type modification on the SS of the airfoil does not lead to altering of the acoustic feedback loop mechanism, with respect to the mechanism observed for the smooth airfoil configuration. In contrast, applying the surface modifications to the airfoil PS leads to a significant reduction of the amplification range of disturbances in the vicinity of the trailing edge for the frequency of the acoustic feedback loop mechanism.

The spatial analyses using, for example, LES-generated flow fields can be widely used to determine acoustic sources and associated distributions of amplifications for a wide range of applications in the aeroacoustics.

The spatial stability analysis approach based on flow fields computed a priori using the LES method has been introduced, validated and used to determine behaviour of the acoustic feedback loop when accurate reconstruction of geometry effects is required.

This paper seeks to develop an approach for the unsteady inverse problem of two‐dimensional oscillating airfoils based on the finite difference method (FDM) solution of the transient Euler equations.

The solution strategies are determined according to the mathematical model for the inverse‐problem of oscillating airfoils. Then the unsteady nonreflecting far field boundary condition and the permeable wall boundary condition are employed to treat the boundary conditions. The applications are carried out for the modification of an oscillating airfoil according to the design targets of the unsteady pressure distribution in an oscillating period.

The results show that the pressure distributions over the new airfoils coincide with the design objects indicating that the mathematical model and solution strategy developed in this paper is rational and reliable.

This method is limited to frictionless flow.

The paper provides a new FDM solution of unsteady inverse problem for oscillating airfoils, which can be extended to treat the multipoint problem of airfoil design.

This paper aims to study the extended trailing edge airfoil for a range of angle of attack at different intensities of turbulence.

In this paper, an experimental study on NACA 0020 airfoil with thin extended trailing edge modification of amplitude of h = 0.1c, 0.2c and 0.3c at the Reynolds number of 2.14 × 10⁵ are tested. The research was carried out for an angle of attack ranging from 0° = α = 35° for the turbulence intensity of 0.3%, 3%, 5%, 7% and 12%. From the experimental readings, the surface pressures are scanned using a Scanivalve (MPS2464) pressure scanner for a sampling frequency of 700 Hz. The scanned pressures are converted to aerodynamic force coefficient and the results are combined and discussed.

The airfoil with the extended trailing edge will convert the adverse pressure gradient to a plateau pressure zone, indicating the delayed flow separation. The CL value at higher turbulence intensity (TI = 12%) for the extended trailing edge over perform the base airfoil at the post-stall region. The maintenance of flow stability is observed from the spectral graph.

A thin elongated trailing edge attached to the conventional airfoil serves as a flow control device by delaying the stall and improving the lift characteristics. Additionally, extending the airfoil's trailing edge helps to manage the performance of the airfoil even at a high level of turbulence.

Distinct from existing studies, the presented results reveals how the extended trailing edge attached to the airfoil performs in the turbulence zone ranging from 0.3% to 12% of TI. The displayed pressure distribution explains the need for increasing trailing edge amplitude (h) and its impact on flow behaviour. The observation is that extended trailing edge airfoil bears to maintain the performance even at higher turbulence region.

One of the best methods to improve wind turbine aerodynamic performance is modification of the blade’s airfoil. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of gurney flap geometry and its oscillation parameters on the pitching NACA0012 airfoil.

This numerical solution has been carried out for different cases of gurney flap mounting angles, heights, reduced frequencies and oscillation amplitudes, then the results were compared to each other. The finite volume method was used for the discretization of the governing equations, and the PISO algorithm was used to solve the equations. Also, the “SST” was adopted as the turbulence model in the simulation.

In this paper, the different parameters of gurney flap were investigated. The results showed that the best range of gurney flap height are between 1 and 3.2% of chord and the best ratio of lifting to drag coefficient is achieved in gurney flap with an angle of 90° relative to the chord direction. The dynamic stall angle of the airfoil with gurney flap decreases were compared to without gurney flap. Earlier LEV formation can be one of the main reasons for decreasing the dynamic stall angle of the airfoil with gurney flap. Increasing the reduced frequency and oscillation amplitude causes rising of maximum lift coefficient and consequently lift curve slope. Moreover, gurney flap with mounting angle has a lower hinge moment than the gurney flap without mounting angle but with the same vertical axis length. So, there is more complexity in structural design concerning the gurney flap without mounting angle.

Improving aerodynamic efficiency of airfoils is vital for obtaining more output power in VAWTs. Gurney flaps are one of the best mechanisms to increase the aerodynamic performance of the airfoil and increases the efficiency of VAWTs.

Investigating the hinge moment on the connection point of the airfoil, gurney flap and try to compare the gurney flap with and without angle.

The paper aims to reduce the aerodynamic drag of a rotorcraft stabilizer in forward flight by taking into account downwash effects from the main rotor wake (power-on conditions).

A shape design methodology based on numerical optimization, CAD-in-the-loop (CAD: computer-aided design) approach and high-fidelity Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools was set-up and applied to modify the horizontal empennage of a rotorcraft configuration. This included the integration of both commercial and in-house computer-aided engineering tools for parametric geometry handling, adaptive mesh generation, CFD solution and evolutionary optimization within a robust evaluation chain for the aerodynamic simulation of the different design candidates generated during the automatic design loop. Geometrical modifications addressed both the stabilizer planform and sections, together with its setting angle in cruise configuration, accounting for impacts on the equilibrium, stability and control characteristics of the empennage.

An overall improvement of 11.1 per cent over the rotorcraft drag was estimated at the design condition (cruise flight; power-on) for the stabilizer configuration with optimized planform shape, which is increased to 11.4 per cent when combined with the redesigned airfoil to generate the stabilizer surface.

Critical design considerations are introduced with regard to structural and systems integration issues, and a design candidate alternative is identified and proposed as a compromise solution, achieving 8.3 per cent reduction of the rotorcraft configuration drag in cruise conditions with limited increase in the empennage aspect ratio and leading edge sweep angle when compared to the pure aerodynamic optimal design obtained from genetic algorithm evolution.

The proposed methodology faces the empennage design problem by explicitly taking into account the effects of main rotor wake impinging the stabilizer surface in forward flight conditions and using an automated optimization approach which directly incorporates professional CAD tools in the design loop.

The simulations of grid-resolved rod vortex generators (RVGs) require high computational cost and time. Additionally, the computational mesh topology must be adjusted to rods geometries. The purpose of this study is to propose the new source term model for RVG.

The model was proposed by modification of Bender, Anderson, Yagle (BAY) model used to predict flows around different type of vortex generators (VGs) – vanes. Original BAY model was built on lifting line theory. The proposed model was implemented in ANSYS Fluent by means of the user-defined function technique. Additional momentum and energy sources are imposed to transport equations.

The computational results of source term model were validated against experimental data and numerical simulation results for grid-resolved rod. It was shown that modified BAY model can be successfully used for RVG in complex cases. An example of BAY model application for RVG on transonic V2C airfoil with strongly oscillating shock waves is presented. Aerodynamic performance predicted numerically by means of both approaches (grid resolved RVG and modeled) is in good agreement, what indicates application opportunity of the proposed model to complex cases.

Modified BAY model can be used to simulate the influence of RVGs in complex real cases. It allows for time/cost reduction if the location or distribution of RVG has to be optimized on a profile, wing or in the channel.

In the paper, the new modification of BAY model was proposed to simulate RVGs. The presented results are innovative because of original approach to model RVGs.

The tubercles at the leading edge of Humpback Whale flippers have been shown to increase aerodynamic efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to compute the flow structures and noise signature of a NACA0012 airfoil with and without leading edge waviness, and located in the wake of a cylinder using the hybrid RANS-LES method.

The mean flow Mach number is 0.2 and the angle of attack used is 2°. After benchmarking the method using existing experimental results, unsteady computations were then carried-out on both airfoil geometries and for a 2° angle of attack.

Results from these computations confirmed the aerodynamic benefits of the leading edge waviness. Moreover, the wavy leading edge airfoil was found to be at least 4 dB quieter than its non-wavy counterpart. In-depth analysis of the computational results revealed that the wavy leading edge airfoil breaks up the large coherent structures which are then convected at higher speeds down the trough region of the waviness in agreement with previous experimental observations. This result is supported by both the two-point and space-time correlations of the wall pressure.

The limitations of the current findings reside in the fact that both the Reynolds number and the flow Mach number are low, therefore not applicable to aircrafts. In order to extend the study to practical aircrafts one needs huge grids and large computational resources.

The results obtained here could have a huge implications on the design of future aircrafts and spacecrafts. More specifically, the biggest benefit from such redesign is the reduction of acoustic signature as well as increased efficiency in fuel consumption.

Reducing acoustic signature from aircrafts has been a major research thrust for NASA and Federal Aviation Administration. The social impact of such reduction would be improved quality of life in airport communities. For military aircrafts, this could results in reduced detectability and hence saving lives.

Humpback Whales have been studied by various researchers to understand the effects of leading edge “tubercles” on flow structures. What is new in this study is the numerical confirmation of the effects of the tubercles on the flow structures and the resulting noise radiations. It is shown through the use of two-point correlations and space-time correlations that the flow structures in the trough area are indeed vortex tubes.

The transonic buffet is a complex aerodynamics phenomenon that imposes severe constraints on the design of high-speed vehicles, including for aircraft and space launchers. The origin of buffet is still debated in the literature, and the control of this phenomenon remains difficult. This paper aims to propose an original scenario to explain the origin of buffet, which in turn opens promising perspectives for its alleviation and attenuation.

This work relies on the use of numerical simulations, with the idea to reproduce the buffet phenomenon in a transonic aileron designed for small space launchers. Two numerical approaches are tested: unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) and large-eddy simulation (LES). The numerical predictions are first validated against available experimental data, before to be analysed in detail to identify the origin of buffet on the studied configuration. A complementary numerical study is then conducted to assess the possibility to delay the onset of buffet.

The buffet control strategy is based on wall cooling. By adequately choosing the wall temperature, this work shows that it is feasible to delay the emergence of buffet. More precisely, this paper highlights the crucial role of the subsonic flow inside the boundary layer, showing the existence of upstream travelling pressure waves that are responsible for the flow coupling between both sides of the airfoil, at the origin of the buffet phenomenon.

This paper proposes a new scenario to explain the origin of buffet, based on the use of a Fanno and Rayleigh flow analogies. This approach is used to design a control solution based on a modification of the wall temperature, showing very promising results.