Experiments on an elliptic circulation control aerofoil

2013 ◽  
Vol 730 ◽  
pp. 99-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Drew A. Wetzel ◽  
John Griffin ◽  
Louis N. Cattafesta

AbstractExperiments are performed on an elliptic circulation control aerofoil in an open-jet wind tunnel facility. The influence of blowing from a single trailing-edge slot on the external flow is assessed using two-component particle image velocimetry (PIV) and steady surface pressure measurements. The test section configuration (open jet or closed wall) significantly affects the leading-edge region of the flow field. PIV is also used to measure the curved wall jet and its interaction with the external flow near the trailing edge. PIV measurements of the curved wall jet reveal mean tangential velocity similarity in the outer region of the flow above the location where the tangential velocity reaches a local maximum. The length and velocity parameters required for similarity scale with the product of the chord Reynolds number and the momentum coefficient in accordance with the recent publication by Stalnov, Kribus & Seifert (J. Renew. Sustain. Energy, vol. 2, 2010, p. 063101). The separation location is also a function of the product of these parameters. The dataset is used to assemble equations to predict the similarity length scales, velocity scales and separation location. These equations compare well with the present measurements.

Author(s):  
Jonathan Kweder ◽  
Mary Ann Clarke ◽  
James E. Smith

Circulation control (CC) is a high-lift methodology that can be used on a variety of aerodynamic applications. This technology has been in the research and development phase for over sixty years primarily for fixed wing aircraft where the early models were referred to as “blown flaps”. Circulation control works by increasing the near surface velocity of the airflow over the leading edge and/or trailing edge of a lifting surface This phenomenon keeps the boundary layer jet attached to the wing surface thus increasing the lift generated on the surface. The circulation control airflow adds energy to the lift force through conventional airfoil lift production and by altering the circulation of stream lines around the airfoil. For this study, a 10:1 aspect ratio elliptical airfoil with a chord length of 11.8 inches and a span of 31.5 inches was inserted into the West Virginia University Closed Loop Wind Tunnel and was tested at varying wind speeds (80, 100, and 120 feet per second), angle of attack (zero to sixteen degrees), and blowing coefficients, ranging from 0.0006 to 0.0127 depending on plenum pressure. By comparing the non-circulation controlled wing with the active circulation control data, a trend was found as to the influence of circulation control on the stall characteristics of the wing for trailing edge active control. For this specific case, when the circulation control is in use on the 10:1 elliptical airfoil, the stall angle decreased, from eight degrees to six degrees, while providing a 70% increase in lift coefficient. It should be noted that due to the trailing edge location of the circulation control exit jet, a “virtual” camber is created with the free stream air adding length to the overall airfoil. Due to this phenomena, the actual stall angle measured increased from eight degrees on the un-augmented airfoil, to a maximum of twelve degrees.


Author(s):  
J. W. Kim ◽  
J. S. Lee ◽  
S. J. Song ◽  
T. Kim ◽  
H-. W. Shin

Experimental and numerical studies have been performed to investigate the effects of the leakage flow tangential velocity on the secondary flow and aerodynamic loss in an axial compressor cascade with a labyrinth seal. Six selected leakage flow tangential (vy/Uhub = 0.15, 0.25, 0.35, 0.45, 0.55 and 0.65) have been tested. In addition to the classical “secondary” flow, shroud trailing edge vortex and shroud leading edge vortex are examined. The overall loss decreases with increasing leakage flow tangential velocity. Increased leakage flow tangential velocity underturns the hub endwall flows through the blade passage, weakening the suction side hub corner separation. Due to the suction effect of the downstream cavity, increasing leakage flow tangential velocity weakens the shroud trailing edge vortex. Also, increasing leakage flow tangential velocity strengthens the shroud leading edge vortex, weakening the pressure side leg of the horseshoe vortex, and, in turn, the passage vortex. Thus, the overall loss is reduced with increasing leakage flow tangential velocity.


1995 ◽  
Vol 117 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. Fruman ◽  
P. Cerrutti ◽  
T. Pichon ◽  
P. Dupont

The effect of the planform of hydrofoils on tip vortex roll-up and cavitation has been investigated by testing three foils having the same NACA 16020 cross section but different shapes. One foil has an elliptical shape while the other two are shaped like quarters of ellipses; one with a straight leading edge and the other with a straight trailing edge. Experiments were conducted in the ENSTA, Ecole Navale and IMHEF cavitation tunnels with homologous foils of different sizes to investigate Reynolds number effects. Hydrodynamic forces as well as cavitation inception and desinence performance were measured as a function of Reynolds number and foil incidence angle. Laser Doppler measurements of the tangential and axial velocity profiles in the region immediately downstream of the tip were also performed. At equal incidence angle and Reynolds number, the three foils show different critical cavitation conditions and the maximum tangential velocity near the tip increases as the hydrofoil tip is moved from a forward to a rear position. However, the velocity profiles become more similar with increasing downstream distance, and at downstream distances greater than one chord aft of the tip, the differences between the foils disappear. The rate of tip vortex roll-up is much faster for the straight leading edge than for the straight trailing edge foil and, in the latter case, a significant portion of the roll-up occurs along the foil curved leading edge. The minimum of the pressure coefficient on the axis of the vortex was estimated from the velocity measurements and correlated with the desinent cavitation number for the largest free stream velocities. The correlation of data is very satisfactory. At the highest Reynolds number tested and at equal lift coefficients, the straight leading edge foil displays the most favorable cavitation desinent numbers.


2009 ◽  
Vol 113 (1139) ◽  
pp. 53-63
Author(s):  
C. Wong ◽  
K. Kontis

Abstract Experimental studies have been conducted on a NASA 17-percent thick supercritical aerofoil with a Coanda trailing edge at subsonic speeds in both the boundary-layer control and circulation control regimes. Detailed boundary-layer surveys were performed along the mid span on the suction surface and around the Coanda trailing edge. The wake located at 43% chord-length behind the aerofoil was measured with a single-component hotwire anemometer, and the profile drag coefficients were calculated from the integration of wake momentum deficit. Lift forces and pitching moments were recorded from –20deg to +20deg incidence using a 3-component force balance. In the circulation control regime, the boundary-layer results indicated that separation bubbles are not present at high incidences compared to the boundary-layer control regime, and that minimised the potential for flow separation delay around the Coanda trailing edge. The spectral analysis of the wake showed a significant reduction of wake fluctuations at high incidences and improvement of the stability at the edge of the wake. The study of aerodynamic forces suggested the need to increase the blowing momentum coefficient if the circulation control is used near the stalling angle-of-attack.


Author(s):  
Jonathan Kweder ◽  
Mary Ann Clarke ◽  
James E. Smith

Traditional uses of circulation control have been studied since the early 1960’s and have been developed primarily using trailing edge slots over a rounded trailing edge in order to take advantage of the Coanda˘ effect. The leading edge activated slots allow jets of air to enter the freestream flowing around the airfoil thus enhancing the energy of the lift force. The main purpose of circulation control for fixed wing aircraft is to increase the lifting force when large lifting forces and/or slow speeds are required, such as at take-off and landing. While there is a significant increase in the lifting forces achievable through the use of circulation control, there is also an inherent increase in the drag force on the airfoil (Abramson, 2004, Loth, 1976, 1984). Current effects of circulation control on stall angles of airfoils are not well documented and thus needs to be studied. Stall occurs when a sudden reduction in lift occurs caused by a flow separation between the incoming air flow and the lifting surface. The angle at which this happens is commonly called the critical angle of attack, and is typically between eight and twenty degrees depending on the wing profile, aspect ratio, camber, and planform area. For this study, a 10:1 aspect ratio elliptical airfoil with a chord length of 11.8 inches and a span of 31.5 inches was inserted into the West Virginia University Closed Loop Wind Tunnel and was tested at varying wind speeds (80, 100, and 120 feet per second), angle of attack (zero to sixteen degrees), and blowing coefficients, ranging from 0.0006 to 0.0127 depending on internal plenum pressure. By comparing the non-circulation controlled wing with the active leading edge slot circulation control data, a trend was found as to the influence of the circulation control exit jet on the stall characteristics of the wing. For this specific case, when the circulation control is in use on the 10:1 elliptical airfoil, the stall angle decreases, from eight degrees to six degrees, while providing up to a 46% increase in lift coefficient.


Author(s):  
Matthew Perry ◽  
David Miklosovic

A stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) system was used in a low-speed wind tunnel to measure the external flowfield of a circulation control (CC) wing having an aspect ratio of 1.1. This ongoing project, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, sought to further the knowledge of the jet interactions and the wingtip vortex formation through 3-component, planar velocity surveys. The CC wing tested had a 20% elliptic airfoil section with a trailing edge Coanda surface that was intended to increase circulation control effectiveness through a segmented system that could create spanwise massflow efflux profiles. To date, 1.2 TB of raw SPIV data have been acquired in one of two wake station planes at z/c = 1.25 over the vertical region of 0.13 < y/b < 0.87 (i.e, the tip region). The three-component velocity data revealed the nature of the interaction of the jet with the external flowfield and the temporal variability at an overall momentum coefficient of 0.08 with spanwise variations in the trailing edge efflux. The results from these tests will be used to quantify, for the first time, the effects of spanwise massflow distributions on the 3D velocity field near the trailing edge, the stall modes, jet interactions, and the overall performance of a CC wing of this geometry.


2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvaro Gonzalez ◽  
Xabier Munduate

This work undertakes an aerodynamic analysis over the parked and the rotating NREL Phase VI wind turbine blade. The experimental sequences from NASA Ames wind tunnel selected for this study respond to the parked blade and the rotating configuration, both for the upwind, two-bladed wind turbine operating at nonyawed conditions. The objective is to bring some light into the nature of the flow field and especially the type of stall behavior observed when 2D aerofoil steady measurements are compared to the parked blade and the latter to the rotating one. From averaged pressure coefficients together with their standard deviation values, trailing and leading edge separated flow regions have been found, with the limitations of the repeatability of the flow encountered on the blade. Results for the parked blade show the progressive delay from tip to root of the trailing edge separation process, with respect to the 2D profile, and also reveal a local region of leading edge separated flow or bubble at the inner, 30% and 47% of the blade. For the rotating blade, results at inboard 30% and 47% stations show a dramatic suppression of the trailing edge separation, and the development of a leading edge separation structure connected with the extra lift.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pritam Ghosh ◽  
Kathakali Bhattacharyya

&lt;p&gt;We examine how the deformation profile and kinematic evolutionary paths of two major shear zones with prolonged deformation history and large translations differ with varying structural positions along its transport direction in an orogenic wedge. We conduct this analysis on multiple exposures of the internal thrusts from the Sikkim Himalayan fold thrust belt, the Pelling-Munsiari thrust (PT), the roof thrust of the Lesser Himalayan duplex (LHD), and the overlying Main Central thrust (MCT). These two thrusts are regionally folded due to growth of the LHD and are exposed at different structural positions. The hinterlandmost exposures of the MCT and PT zones lie in the trailing parts of the duplex, while the foreland-most exposures of the same studied shear zones lie in the leading part of the duplex, and thus have recorded a greater connectivity with the duplex. The thicknesses of the shear zones progressively decrease toward the leading edge indicating variation in deformation conditions. Thickness-displacement plot reveals strain-softening from all the five studied MCT and the PT mylonite zones. However, the strain-softening mechanisms varied along its transport direction with the hinterland exposures recording dominantly dislocation-creep, while dissolution-creep and reaction-softening are dominant in the forelandmost exposures. Based on overburden estimation, the loss of overburden on the MCT and the PT zones is more in the leading edge (~26km and ~15km, respectively) than in the trailing edge (~10km and ~17km, respectively), during progressive deformation. Based on recalibrated recrystallized quartz grain thermometer (Law, 2014), the estimated deformation temperatures in the trailing edge are higher (~450-650&amp;#176;C) than in the leading edge (350-550&amp;#176;C) of the shear zones. This variation in the deformation conditions is also reflected in the shallow-crustal deformation structures with higher fracture intensity and lower spacing in the leading edge exposures of the shear zones as compared to the trailing edge exposures.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The proportion of mylonitic domains and micaceous minerals within the exposed shear zones increase and grain-size of the constituent minerals decreases progressively along the transport direction. This is also consistent with progressive increase in mean R&lt;sub&gt;s&lt;/sub&gt;-values toward leading edge exposures of the same shear zones. Additionally, the &amp;#945;-value (stretch ratio) gradually increases toward the foreland-most exposures along with increasing angular shear strain. Vorticity estimates from multiple incremental strain markers indicate that the MCT and PT zones generally record a decelerating strain path. Therefore, the results from this study are counterintuitive to the general observation of a direct relationship between higher Rs-value and higher pure-shear component. We explain this observation in the context of the larger kinematics of the orogen, where the leading edge exposures have passed through the duplex structure, recording the greatest connectivity and most complete deformation history, resulting in the weakest shear zone that is also reflected in the deformation profiles and strain attributes. This study demonstrates that the same shear zone records varying deformation profile, strain and kinematic evolutionary paths due to varying deformation conditions and varying connectivity to the underlying footwall structures during progressive deformation of an orogenic wedge.&lt;/p&gt;


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