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Article
Publication date: 28 June 2013

Yihua Cao and Xu Zhu

The purpose of this paper is to describe the effects of characteristic geometric parameters on parafoil aerodynamic performance by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the effects of characteristic geometric parameters on parafoil aerodynamic performance by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique.

Design/methodology/approach

The main characteristic geometric parameters cover the planform geometry, arc‐anhedral angle, basic airfoil and leading‐edge cut. By using the CFD technique, a large number of numerical parafoil models with different geometric parameters are developed to study the correlations between these parameters and parafoil aerodynamic performance.

Findings

The CFD technique is feasible and effective to study the effects of characteristic geometric parameters on parafoil aerodynamic performance in three‐dimensional (3‐D) flowfield condition. The planform geometry can affect the aerodynamic performance obviously. An increase in arc‐anhedral angle decreases the lift of a parafoil but has little effect on liftdrag ratio. The model with smaller leading‐edge radius and thinner thickness of parafoil section achieves larger liftdrag ratio. The leading‐edge cut has little effect on lift but increase drag dramatically; meanwhile, its effect on flowfield is confined to the nearby region of leading edge.

Practical implications

The presented 3‐D numerical simulation results of parafoil models are shown to have good agreement with the tunnel test data in general trend; meanwhile, considering its relatively low‐cost, the CFD method could be further used to predict coefficients in pre‐research or at non‐experimental conditions.

Originality/value

The paper can form the foundation of further studies on parafoil aerodynamic performance with different geometric parameters.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 85 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 October 2017

M. Tahani, M. Masdari and M. Kazemi

This paper aims to analyze the influence of the changings in geometrical parameters on the aerodynamic performance of the control canard projectiles.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to analyze the influence of the changings in geometrical parameters on the aerodynamic performance of the control canard projectiles.

Design/methodology/approach

Because of the mentioned point, the range of projectiles increment has a considerable importance, and the design algorithm of a control canard projectile was first written. Then, were studied the effects of canard geometric parameters such as aspect ratio, taper ratio and deflectable nose on lift to drag coefficient ratio, static margin based on the slender body theory and cross section flow.

Findings

The code results show that aspect ratio increment, results in an increase in lift-to-drag ratio of the missile, but increase in canard taper ratio results in increasing of lift-to-drag ratio at 1° angle of attack, while during increasing the canard taper ratio up to 0.67 at 4° angle of attack, lift to drag first reaches to maximum and then decreases. Also, static margin decreases with canard taper ratio and aspect ratio increment. The developed results for this type of missile were compared with same experimental and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) results and appreciated agreement with other results at angles of attack between 0° and 6°.

Practical implications

To design a control canard missile, the effect of each geometric parameter of canard needs to be estimated. For this purpose, the suitable algorithm is used. In this paper, the effects of canard geometric parameters, such as aspect ratio, taper ratio and deflectable nose on lift-to-drag coefficient ratio and static margin, were studied with help of the slender body theory and cross-section flow.

Originality/value

The contribution of this paper is to predict the aerodynamic characteristics for the control canard missile. In this study, the effect of the design parameter on aerodynamic characteristics can be estimated, and the effect of geometrical characteristics has been analyzed with a suitable algorithm. Also, the best lift-to-drag coefficient for the NASA Tandem Control Missile at Mach 1.75 was selected at various angles of attack. The developed results for this type of missile were compared with same experimental and CFD results.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 89 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 January 2016

Mohammad Saeed Seif and Mohammad Tavakoli Dakhrabadi

The purpose of this paper is to present a fast, economical and practical method for mathematical modeling of aerodynamic characteristics of rectangular wing in ground (WIG…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a fast, economical and practical method for mathematical modeling of aerodynamic characteristics of rectangular wing in ground (WIG) effect.

Design/methodology/approach

Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations were converted to Bernoulli equation by reasonable assumptions. Also, Helmbold’s equation has been developed for calculation of the slope of wing lift coefficient in ground effect by defining equivalent aspect ratio (ARe). Comparison of present work results against the experimental results has shown good agreement.

Findings

A practical mathematical modeling with lower computational time and higher accuracy was presented for calculating aerodynamic characteristics of rectangular WIG effect. The relative error between the present work results and the experimental results was less than 8 per cent. Also, the accuracy of the proposed method was checked by comparing with the numerical methods. The comparison showed fairly good accuracy.

Research limitations/implications

Aerodynamic surfaces in ground effect were used for reducing wetted surface and increasing speed in high-speed marine and novel aeronautical vehicles.

Practical implications

The proposed method is useful for investigation of aerodynamic performance of WIG vehicles and racing boats with aerodynamic surfaces in ground effect.

Originality/value

The proposed method has reduced the computational time significantly as compared to numerical simulation that allows conceptual design of the WIG crafts and is also economical.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology: An International Journal, vol. 88 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 1956

T. Nonweiler

IS there anything magic about the shape of a wing section? Asked to sketch the profile of a wing on the back of an envelope, one would have no difficulty in representing a shape…

Abstract

IS there anything magic about the shape of a wing section? Asked to sketch the profile of a wing on the back of an envelope, one would have no difficulty in representing a shape which would probably, for most purposes, be adequate. Assuming this generalization to be true—perhaps it is a rather rash one—one might equally well question the need for an article on aerofoil design, or indeed the need for the long and painstaking research which, over the years, has been conducted on this particular subject. But it is this same research which, in the long run, has resulted in the recognition of certain general rules relating to aerofoil geometry, which are now taken so much for granted that they would probably be embodied in one's preconceived notion of what a wing section should look like. Recently, also, rather complicated theoretical techniques have made possible the design of profiles which, if manufactured faithfully and carefully in each detail, can provide a performance which is considerably better than any more arbitrary shaping to general rules would produce. Finally, of course, one must recognize that there are exceptional conditions where the application of conventional ideas is inadvisable, and where theoretical and experimental research is needed to suggest what is more appropriate. This article will be concerned for the most part with amplifying these remarks; but, by and large, it must be admitted at the outset that we cannot point to any revolutionary discontinuities in the progress of aerofoil design such as have characterized advances in the means of aircraft propulsion, or structural design.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 28 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Article
Publication date: 8 May 2018

Masoud Kharati-koopaee and Mahmood Fallahzadeh-abarghooee

This paper aims to study the effect of corrugated skins on the aerodynamic performance of the cambered NACA 0012 airfoils at different corrugations parameters, maximum cambers…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study the effect of corrugated skins on the aerodynamic performance of the cambered NACA 0012 airfoils at different corrugations parameters, maximum cambers, Reynolds numbers and maximum camber locations.

Design/methodology/approach

In this work, numerical approach is concerned, and results are obtained based on the finite volume approach. To characterize the effect of corrugated skins, the NACA 0012-corrugated airfoil section is chosen as the base airfoil, and different cambered corrugated airfoil sections are obtained by inclusion the camber to the base airfoil. In this research, the corrugation shape is a sinusoidal wave and corrugated skins are in the aft 30 per cent of airfoil chord. To investigate the effect of corrugations on the cambered sections, the drag coefficient and averaged lift curve slope for the corrugated airfoils are compared to those of the corresponding smooth sections.

Findings

Results indicate that the effect of increase in the maximum camber and also Reynolds number on the relative zero-incidence drag coefficient is of little importance at low corrugation amplitudes, whereas at high corrugation, amplitude results in different behaviors. It is found that as the maximum camber increases, the deterioration in the relative curve slope introduced by corrugated skins is reduced, and reduction in this deterioration is significant for high corrugation amplitudes airfoils. It is shown that an increase in the maximum camber location has nearly no effect on the relative zero-incidence drag coefficient and also relative lift curve slope.

Originality/value

The outcome of the present research provides the clues for better understanding of the effect of different corrugations parameters on the aerodynamic performance of the unmanned air vehicles to have as high aerodynamic performance as possible in different mission profiles of such vehicles.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 35 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 May 2007

J.L. Lin, C.Y. Wei and C.Y. Lin

This study seeks to explore the aerodynamic performance of wings with different shapes at low Reynolds numbers.

1224

Abstract

Purpose

This study seeks to explore the aerodynamic performance of wings with different shapes at low Reynolds numbers.

Design/methodology/approach

The airfoils of these wings are made from aluminum plates, and the maximum cord length and wingspan are 15 cm. Wings A to D are plates with 6 percent Gottingen camber but different wing planforms. The forward‐half sections of wings E and F are dragonfly‐like, whereas the rear‐half sections of wings E and F are flat and positively cambered, respectively. The aspect ratios of these wings are close to one, and the ratios of plate thickness to the maximum cord length are 1.3 percent. Experimental results indicate that the wings with Gottingen camber have a superior lift and lift‐to‐drag ratio, whereas the wings with dragonfly‐like airfoils perform well in terms of drag and pitch moment.

Findings

The aerodynamic measurements of the wings demonstrate that the wing with the Gottingen camber airfoil, a swept‐back leading edge and a straight trailing edge is suitable for use in micro aerial vehicle (MAV). An MAV is fabricated with this wing and the aerodynamic performance of the MAV is examined and compared with the bare wing data.

Originality/value

This study develops several criteria to the design of MAV‐sized wings. For example, the thickness ratio of airfoil must be small, usually less than 2 percent. Besides, the airfoil must be cambered adequately. Furthermore, a wing planform with a swept‐back leading edge and a straight trailing edge would be contributive to the successful flights of MAVs.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 79 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 October 2021

Ali Hussain Kazim, Abdullah Hamid Malik, Hammad Ali, Muhammad Usman Raza, Awais Ahmad Khan, Tauseef Aized and Aqsa Shabbir

Winglets play a major role in saving fuel costs because they reduce the lift-induced drag formed at the wingtips. The purpose of this paper is to obtain the best orientation of…

Abstract

Purpose

Winglets play a major role in saving fuel costs because they reduce the lift-induced drag formed at the wingtips. The purpose of this paper is to obtain the best orientation of the winglet for the Office National d’Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales (ONERA) M6 wing at Mach number 0.84 in terms of lift to drag ratio.

Design/methodology/approach

A computational fluid dynamics analysis of the wing-winglet configuration based on the ONERA M6 airfoil on drag reduction for different attack angles at Mach 0.84 was performed using analysis of systems Fluent. First, the best values of cant and sweep angles in terms of aerodynamic performance were selected by performing simulations. The analysis included cant angle values of 30°, 40°, 45°, 55°, 60°, 70° and 75°, while for the sweep angles 35°, 45°, 55°, 65° and 75° angles were used. The aerodynamic performance was measured in terms of the obtained lift to drag ratios.

Findings

The results showed that slight alternations in the winglet configuration can improve aerodynamic performance for various attack angles. The best lift to drag ratio for the winglet was achieved at a cant angle of 30° and a sweep angle of 65°, which caused a 5.33% increase in the lift to drag ratio. The toe-out angle winglets as compared to the toe-in angles caused the lift to drag ratio to increase because of more attached flow at its surface. The maximum value of the lift to drag ratio was obtained with a toe-out angle (−5°) at an angle of attack 3° which was 2.53% greater than the zero-toed angle winglet.

Originality/value

This work is relatively unique because the cant, sweep and toe angles were analyzed altogether and led to a significant reduction in drag as compared to wing without winglet. The wing model was compared with the results provided by National Aeronautics and Space Administration so this validated the simulation for different wing-winglet configurations.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 94 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 October 2023

Shengxian Huang, Huihe Qiu and Ying Wang

Since most of the existing literature do not disclose the node coordinate data of its fixed-wing aircraft airfoil, in order to develop and obtain a practical and suitable…

Abstract

Purpose

Since most of the existing literature do not disclose the node coordinate data of its fixed-wing aircraft airfoil, in order to develop and obtain a practical and suitable deformation airfoil for fixed-wing micro air vehicle (MAV), this paper proposes an improved airfoil design method of fixed-wing MAV based on the profile data of S5010 airfoil.

Design/methodology/approach

Combined with the body shape variation of the stingray in the propulsion process, the parametric study of the aerodynamic shape of the original design airfoil is carried out to explore the influence of a single parameter change on the aerodynamic performance of the airfoil. Then, according to the influence law of single parameter variation on the aerodynamic performance of the airfoil, the original airfoil is synthetically deformed by changing multiple parameters.

Findings

By comparing the aerodynamic performance of the multi-parameter deformed airfoil with the original airfoil, it is found that the lift coefficient of the multi-parameter deformed airfoil changes from negative to positive value when AOA = 0°. When AOA = 2°, the lift coefficient growth rate is the largest, which is 47.27%, and the lift-to-drag ratio is increased by 50.00%. At other angles of attack, the lift, drag, and torque coefficients of the multi-parameter deformed airfoil are optimized to some extent.

Originality/value

Combined the body shape variation of the stingray in the propulsion process, the parametric study of the aerodynamic shape of the original design airfoil is carried out to explore the influence of a single parameter change on the aerodynamic performance of the airfoil.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 40 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 September 2009

S. Askari and M.H. Shojaeefard

Fanwing airfoil is a new lift‐generating section invented in 1997 by Patrick Peebles. The early shape of the airfoil has not changed until now. So far, no research has been done…

1291

Abstract

Purpose

Fanwing airfoil is a new lift‐generating section invented in 1997 by Patrick Peebles. The early shape of the airfoil has not changed until now. So far, no research has been done to change or modify the airfoil shape in order to improve its aerodynamic performance. In this paper, possibility of changing the airfoil shape to improve its aerodynamic performance is studied. For this purpose, six different geometric shapes of the airfoil are investigated numerically to determine the best airfoil on the basis of lift and drag coefficients. Flow over the airfoil is solved by developing a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. The purpose of this paper is to find a more efficient configuration for the Fanwing airfoil with lower power consumption and better performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Flow over the airfoil is investigated by CFD. At the airfoil solid walls, the no slip condition is applied. Re‐Normalization Group kε model is used for turbulence modeling. The pressure‐velocity coupling is calculated by the SIMPLEC algorithm. Second‐order upwind discretization is considered for the convection terms. Finite volume method with rectangular computational cells is used for the entire solution domain.

Findings

It is observed that the airfoil with curved bottom wall and a slot in upper wall has the maximum lift coefficient. Also, the airfoil with curved bottom wall and no slot has the minimum drag or maximum thrust (negative drag) coefficient. Therefore, instead of increasing the airfoil lift or decreasing its drag by enhancing driving motor speed with larger energy consumption, this can be done only by changing the airfoil shape. It is perceived that the airfoil lift coefficient can be augmented at least 10 percent and its drag can be reduced more than 2.8 percent only by changing its shape and no excessive power consumption. Since the airfoil shape is modified, these advantages are permanent and its benefits are cumulative through time. Eccentric vortex inside the cross flow fan that is reported earlier in the research paper is found in this airfoil, too. In addition, velocity vectors, contours of static pressure and distribution of the static pressure over the airfoils surfaces are illustrated for better understanding of the flow details.

Research limitations/implications

Since the airfoil shape is very complicated for numerical study, two‐dimensional simulation has been carried out. Also, flow over the airfoil is considered steady‐state and incompressible.

Practical implications

In this paper, some modifications for the Fanwing airfoil are suggested in order to improve its aerodynamic performance. This is the first research for changing the configuration of the Fanwing airfoil and can be very helpful for the researchers involved in this topic as well as aerospace industries.

Originality/value

This paper is valuable for researchers in the new and up to date concept of the Fanwing airfoil. This work is original.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 81 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 May 2022

Ahmed Benamor, Aissa Abidi-Saad, Ridha Mebrouk and Sarra Fatnassi

This study aims at investigating two-dimensional laminar flow of power-law fluids around three unconfined side-by-side cylinders.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims at investigating two-dimensional laminar flow of power-law fluids around three unconfined side-by-side cylinders.

Design/methodology/approach

The numerical study is performed by solving the governing (continuity and momentum) equations using a finite volume-based code ANSYS Fluent. The numerical results have been presented for different combinations of the governing dimensionless parameters (dimensionless spacing, 1.2 = L = 4; Reynolds number, 0.1 = Re = 100; power-law index, 0.2 = n = 1.8). The dependence of the kinematic and macroscopic characteristics of the flow such as streamline patterns, distribution of the surface pressure coefficient, total drag coefficient with its components (pressure and friction) and total lift coefficient on these dimensionless parameters has been discussed in detail.

Findings

It is found that the separation of the flow and the apparition of the wake region accelerate as the dimensionless spacing decreases, the number of the cylinder increases and/or the fluid behavior moves from shear-thinning to Newtonian then to shear-thickening behavior. In addition, the distribution of the pressure coefficient on the surface of the cylinders presents a complex dependence on the fluid behavior index and Reynolds number when the dimensionless spacing between two adjacent cylinders is varied. At low Reynolds numbers, the drag coefficient of shear-thinning fluids is stronger than that of Newtonian fluids; this tendency decreases progressively with increasing of Re until a critical value; beyond the critical Re, the opposite trend is observed. The lift coefficient of the middle cylinder is null, whereas, the exterior cylinders experience opposite lift coefficients, which show a complex dependence on the dimensionless spacing, the Reynolds number and the power-law index.

Originality/value

The flow over bluff bodies is a practical engineering problem. In the literature, it can be seen that the previous studies on non-Newtonian fluids are limited to the flow over one or two cylinders (effect of an odd number of cylinders on each other). Besides that, the available results concerning the flow of Newtonian fluids over three cylinders are limited to the high Reynolds numbers region only. However, this work treats the flow of non-Newtonian power-law fluids past three circular cylinders in side-by-side arrangements under a wide range of Re. The outcome of the present study demonstrates that the augmentation of the geometry complexity to three cylinders (effect of pair surrounding cylinders on the surrounded ones in what concerns Von Karman Street phenomenon) causes a drastic change in the flow patterns and in the macroscopic characteristics. The present results may be used to predict the flow behavior around multiple side-by-side cylinders.

Details

World Journal of Engineering, vol. 20 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1708-5284

Keywords

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