Modification of the NACA 632-415 Leading Edge for Better Aerodynamic Performance

2002 ◽  
Vol 124 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Bak ◽  
Peter Fuglsang

Double stall causes more than one power level when stall-regulated wind turbines operate in stall. This involves significant uncertainty on power production and loads. To avoid double stall, a new leading edge was designed for the NACA 632-415 airfoil, an airfoil that is often used in the tip region of wind turbines. A numerical optimization tool incorporating XFOIL was used with a special formulation for the airfoil leading edge shape. The EllipSys2D CFD code was used to analyze the modified airfoil. In theory and in wind tunnel tests, the modified airfoil showed smooth and stable stall characteristics with no tendency to double stall. Also, both theory and wind tunnel tests showed that the overall aerodynamic characteristics were similar to NACA 632-415 except for an increase in the lift-drag ratio below maximum lift and an increase in maximum lift. The wind tunnel tests showed that dynamic stall and aerodynamic damping characteristics for the modified airfoil and the NACA 632-415 airfoil were the same. The modified airfoil with leading edge roughness in general had better characteristics compared with the NACA 632-415 airfoil.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lourelay Moreira dos Santos ◽  
Guilherme Ferreira Gomes ◽  
Rogerio F. Coimbra

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of a low-to-moderate-aspect-ratio, tapered, untwisted, unswept wing, equipped of sheared wing tips. Design/methodology/approach In this work, wind tunnel tests were made to study the influence in aerodynamic characteristics over a typical low-to-moderate-aspect-ratio wing of a general aviation aircraft, equipped with sheared – swept and tapered planar – wing tips. An experimental parametric study of different wing tips was tested. Variations in its leading and trailing edge sweep angle as well as variations in wing tip taper ratio were considered. Sheared wing tips modify the flow pattern in the outboard region of the wing producing a vortex flow at the wing tip leading edge, enhancing lift at high angles of attack. Findings The induced drag is responsible for nearly 50% of aircraft total drag and can be reduced through modifications to the wing tip. Some wing tip models present complex geometries and many of them present benefits in particular flight conditions. Results have demonstrated that sweeping the wing tip leading edge between 60 and 65 degrees offers an increment in wing aerodynamic efficiency, especially at high lift conditions. However, results have demonstrated that moderate wing tip taper ratio (0.50) has better aerodynamic benefits than highly tapered wing tips (from 0.25 to 0.15), even with little less wing tip leading edge sweep angle (from 57 to 62 degrees). The moderate wing tip taper ratio (0.50) offers more wing area and wing span than the wings with highly tapered wing tips, for the same aspect ratio wing. Originality/value Although many studies have been reported on the aerodynamics of wing tips, most of them presented complex non-planar geometries and were developed for cruise flight in high subsonic regime (low lift coefficient). In this work, an exploration and parametric study through wind tunnel tests were made, to evaluate the influence in aerodynamic characteristics of a low-to-moderate-aspect-ratio, tapered, untwisted, unswept wing, equipped of sheared wing tips (wing tips highly swept and tapered).


2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 1002-1010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Fuglsang ◽  
Christian Bak ◽  
Mac Gaunaa ◽  
Ioannis Antoniou

This paper presents the design and experimental verification of the Risø-B1 airfoil family for MW-size wind turbines with variable speed and pitch control. Seven airfoils were designed with thickness-to-chord ratios between 15% and 53% to cover the entire span of a wind turbine blade. The airfoils were designed to have high maximum lift and high design lift to allow a slender flexible blade while maintaining high aerodynamic efficiency. The design was carried out with a Risø in-house multi disciplinary optimization tool. Wind tunnel testing was done for Risø-B1-18 and Risø-B1-24 in the VELUX wind tunnel, Denmark, at a Reynolds number of 1.6×106. For both airfoils the predicted target characteristics were met. Results for Risø-B1-18 showed a maximum lift coefficient of 1.64. A standard case of zigzag tape leading edge roughness caused a drop in maximum lift of only 3.7%. Cases of more severe roughness caused reductions in maximum lift between 12% and 27%. Results for the Risø-B1-24 airfoil showed a maximum lift coefficient of 1.62. The standard case leading edge roughness caused a drop in maximum lift of 7.4%. Vortex generators and Gurney flaps in combination could increase maximum lift up to 2.2 (32%).


1998 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Gigue`re ◽  
M. S. Selig

In a continuing effort to enhance the performance of small wind energy systems, one root airfoil and three primary airfoils were specifically designed for small horizontal axis wind turbines. These airfoils are intended primarily for 1–5 kW variable-speed wind turbines for both conventional (tapered/twisted) or pultruded blades. The four airfoils were wind-tunnel tested at Reynolds numbers between 100,000 and 500,000. Tests with simulated leading-edge roughness were also conducted. The results indicate that small variable-speed wind turbines should benefit from the use of the new airfoils which provide enhanced lift-to-drag ratio performance as compared with previously existing airfoils.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (06) ◽  
pp. 1340022 ◽  
Author(s):  
WEIJUN TIAN ◽  
FANGYUAN LIU ◽  
QIAN CONG ◽  
YURONG LIU ◽  
LUQUAN REN

This paper demonstrates the design of the airfoil of small wind turbines, the bionic airfoil was inspired by the morphology of the swallow's extended wing. The wind tunnel tests on the bionic and standard airfoils NACA4412 were conducted, and the aerodynamic performances of the airfoils were numerically investigated. The results show that the bionic airfoil has better aerodynamic performance, the lift coefficient and lift-drag ratio are larger than those of the NACA4412; with the angle of attack increases, both the bionic and standard airfoils stall, but the stall characteristics of the bionic airfoil are better.


Author(s):  
Alessandro Bianchini ◽  
Francesco Balduzzi ◽  
John M. Rainbird ◽  
Joaquim Peiro ◽  
J. Michael R. Graham ◽  
...  

Accurate post-stall airfoil data extending to a full range of incidences between −180° to +180° is important to the analysis of Darrieus vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) since the blades experience a wide range of angles of attack, particularly at the low tip-speed ratios encountered during startup. Due to the scarcity of existing data extending much past stall, and the difficulties associated with obtaining post-stall data by experimental or numerical means, wide use is made of simple models of post-stall lift and drag coefficients in wind turbine modeling (through, for example, BEM codes). Most of these models assume post-stall performance to be virtually independent of profile shape. In this study, wind tunnel tests were carried out on a standard NACA0018 airfoil and a NACA 0018 conformally transformed to mimic the “virtual camber” effect imparted on a blade in a VAWT with a chord-to-radius ratio c/R of 0.25. Unsteady CFD results were taken for the same airfoils both at stationary angles of attack and at angles of attack resulting from a slow VAWT-like motion in an oncoming flow, the latter to better replicate the transient conditions experienced by VAWT blades. Excellent agreement was obtained between the wind tunnel tests and the CFD computations for both the symmetrical and cambered airfoils. Results for both airfoils also compare favorably to earlier studies of similar profiles. Finally, the suitability of different models for post-stall airfoil performance extrapolation, including those of Viterna-Corrigan, Montgomerie and Kirke, was analyzed and discussed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasser Shelil

Abstract. The aerodynamic characteristics of DTU-LN221 airfoil is studied. ANSYS Fluent is used to simulate the airfoil performance with seven different turbulence models. The simulation results for the airfoil with different turbulence models are compared with the wind tunnel experimental data performed under the same operating conditions. It is found that there is a good agreement between the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predicted aerodynamic force coefficients with wind tunnel experimental data especially with angle of attack between −5° to 10°. RSM is chosen to investigate the flow field structure and the surface pressure coefficients under different angle of attack between −5° to 10°. Also the effect of changing air temperature, velocity and turbulence intensity on lift and drag coefficients/forces are examined. The results show that it is recommended to operate the wind turbines airfoil at low air temperature and high velocity to enhance the performance of the wind turbines.


2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (4) ◽  
pp. 468-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. P. J. O. M. van Rooij ◽  
W. A. Timmer

In modern wind turbine blades, airfoils of more than 25% thickness can be found at mid-span and inboard locations. At mid-span, aerodynamic requirements dominate, demanding a high lift-to-drag ratio, moderate to high lift and low roughness sensitivity. Towards the root, structural requirements become more important. In this paper, the performance for the airfoil series DU FFA, S8xx, AH, Risø and NACA are reviewed. For the 25% and 30% thick airfoils, the best performing airfoils can be recognized by a restricted upper-surface thickness and an S-shaped lower surface for aft-loading. Differences in performance of the DU 91-W2-250 (25%), S814 (24%) and Risø-A1-24 (24%) airfoils are small. For a 30% thickness, the DU 97-W-300 meets the requirements best. Reduction of roughness sensitivity can be achieved both by proper design and by application of vortex generators on the upper surface of the airfoil. Maximum lift and lift-to-drag ratio are, in general, enhanced for the rough configuration when vortex generators are used. At inboard locations, 2-D wind tunnel tests do not represent the performance characteristics well because the influence of rotation is not included. The RFOIL code is believed to be capable of approximating the rotational effect. Results from this code indicate that rotational effects dramatically reduce roughness sensitivity effects at inboard locations. In particular, the change in lift characteristics in the case of leading edge roughness for the 35% and 40% thick DU airfoils, DU 00-W-350 and DU 00-W-401, respectively, is remarkable. As a result of the strong reduction of roughness sensitivity, the design for inboard airfoils can primarily focus on high lift and structural demands.


Author(s):  
Masayuki ANYOJI ◽  
Masato OKAMOTO ◽  
Hidenori HIDAKA ◽  
Taku NONOMURA ◽  
Akira OYAMA ◽  
...  

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