Sailing Downwind: Aerodynamic Performance of the Velella Sail

1991 ◽  
Vol 158 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-132
Author(s):  
LISBETH FRANCIS
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Wind Tunnel ◽  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Hydrodynamic Force ◽  
Center Of Pressure ◽  
Aerodynamic Force ◽  
Aerodynamic Performance ◽  
Polar Plot ◽  
Low Aspect Ratio

Using a wind tunnel built over a shallow pool and methods devised for measuring the performance of yacht sails, I describe aerodynamic performance in situ for the sailor-by-the-wind, Velella velella. By contrast with designers of the modern yacht mainsail, natural selection has apparently favored stability and seaworthiness over performance to windward. The Velella sail is a low aspect ratio airfoil with an unusually flat polar plot. Primarily a drag-based locomotory structure, this thin, leaf-like sail generates maximum force when oriented at attack angles between 50° and 90°. In the wind tunnel, free-sailing animals spontaneously assumed stable orientations at attack angles ranging from 28° to 87° and sailed with their hulls approximately broadside to the apparent flow of oncoming water. At these angles, aerodynamic force on the sail is asymmetrical, with the center of pressure upwind of the sail midline. Since aerodynamic force on the sail is balanced at equilibrium by hydrodynamic force on the hull, this orientation must be caused by asymmetrical forces acting on surface and underwater parts as the wind drags the animal along the surface of the water.

A numerical approach for the assessment of crosswind effects on barrier-protected trains running on bridges

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Porpiglia ◽  
Paolo Schito ◽  
Tommaso Argentini ◽  
Alberto Zasso
Keyword(s):  
Wind Tunnel ◽  
Velocity Profile ◽  
Wind Velocity ◽  
Aerodynamic Force ◽  
Numerical Approach ◽  
Aerodynamic Performance ◽  
Vehicle Speed ◽  
Initial Condition ◽  
Cfd Analyses ◽  
Moving Train

<p>This paper introduces a new methodology to assess the influence of a windscreen on the crosswind performance of trains running on a bridge. Considering the difficulties encountered in both carrying out wind tunnel tests that consider the vehicle speed or complete CFD analyses, a simplified CFD approach is here discussed. Instead of simulating simultaneously the windscreen plus the moving train, the numerical problem is split into two parts: firstly, a simulation of the windshield alone is used to extract the perturbed velocity profile at the railway location; secondly, this profile used as an inlet condition for the wind velocity acting on an isolated train. The method is validated against a complete train plus windshield simulation in terms of pressure distribution and aerodynamic force coefficients on the train, and flow streamlines. This approach opens to the possibility of evaluating the aerodynamic performance of a vehicle on bridges considering bridge and vehicle as separated. Wind velocity profiles measured on the bridge during a wind tunnel campaign could be used as the initial condition for numerical simulations on vehicles.</p>

The development of the winged keel for twelve-metre yachts

1986 ◽  
Vol 173 ◽  
pp. 55-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Van Oossanen ◽  
P. N. Joubert
Keyword(s):  
Wind Tunnel ◽  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Experimental Analysis ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Low Aspect Ratio ◽  
Lifting Surface ◽  
Wind Tunnel Measurements ◽  
America’S Cup

In this paper the authors present a numerical and experimental analysis of the winged keel originally developed for the International twelve-metre class yacht Australia II that won the America's Cup in 1983. After briefly explaining why this keel was evolved in 1981, some basic considerations are presented relating keel performance to various design parameters. The results of numerical flow analyses and wind-tunnel measurements on a model of a winged keel are then presented and compared. The differences between the performance with and without winglets fitted to the keel are discussed. The fitting of winglets appreciably enhances the performance of a low-aspect-ratio lifting surface such as the keel of a twelve-metre yacht.

Three-Dimensional Simulation of Micro Air Vehicles with Low-Aspect-Ratio Wings

2007 ◽  
Vol 339 ◽  
pp. 377-381
Author(s):  
Xiao Quan Zhang ◽  
L. Tian
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulation ◽  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Wind Tunnel ◽  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Low Reynolds Number ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Micro Air Vehicles ◽  
Wind Tunnel Experiments ◽  
Low Aspect Ratio ◽  
Dimensional Simulation

Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) are catching more and more attentions for their broad application in civilian and military fields. Since the theories on the aerodynamics of low Reynolds number are not maturely presented and the wind-tunnel experiments cost long periods and great expenses. The numerical simulation based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a good method to choose. Through three-dimensional simulation of the wings, the aerodynamic characteristics of the flows around MAVs can be easily obtained. The tip vortices produced around low-Reynolds-number and low-aspect-ratio wings can increase the lift and stall angles. The result of numerical simulation can be used as references of theory analysis and wind-tunnel experiments.

Simulation of Three-Dimensional Viscous Flow Within a Multistage Turbine

1990 ◽  
Vol 112 (3) ◽  
pp. 370-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. Adamczyk ◽  
M. L. Celestina ◽  
T. A. Beach ◽  
M. Barnett
Keyword(s):  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Equation System ◽  
Aerodynamic Performance ◽  
Experimental Measurements ◽  
Low Aspect Ratio ◽  
Blade Row ◽  
Multistage Turbine ◽  
Secondary Flow Field

This work outlines a procedure for simulating the flow field within multistage turbomachinery, which includes the effects of unsteadiness, compressibility, and viscosity. The associated modeling equations are the average passage equation system, which governs the time-averaged flow field within a typical passage of a blade row embedded within a multistage configuration. The results from a simulation of a low aspect ratio stage and one-half turbine will be presented and compared with experimental measurements. It will be shown that the secondary flow field generated by the rotor causes the aerodynamic performance of the downstream vane to be significantly different from that of an isolated blade row.

scholarly journals WIND TUNNEL CALIBRATION, CORRECTIONS AND EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION FOR FIXED-WING MICRO AIR VEHICLES MEASUREMENTS

Aviation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 104-113
Author(s):  
Ahmed Aboelezz ◽  
Yunes Elqudsi ◽  
Mostafa Hassanalian ◽  
Ahmed Desoki
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Wind Tunnel ◽  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Low Reynolds Number ◽  
Micro Air Vehicles ◽  
Measured Data ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Low Aspect Ratio ◽  
Low Reynolds ◽  
Air Vehicles

The increase in the number of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs), which are used in a variety of applications has led to a surge in low Reynolds number aerodynamics research. Flow around fixedwing MAVs has an unusual behavior due to its low aspect ratio and operates at low Reynolds number, which demanded to upgrade the used wind tunnel for this study. This upgrade enables measuring the small aerodynamics forces and moment of fixed-wing MAVs. The wind tunnel used in this work is upgraded with a state of art data acquisition system to deal with the different sensors signals in the wind tunnel. For accurate measurements, the sting balance, angle sensor, and airspeed sensor are calibrated. For validation purposes, an experiment is made on a low aspect ratio flat plate wing at low Reynolds number, and the measured data are corrected and compared with published results. The procedure presented in this paper for the first time gave a detailed and complete guide for upgrading and calibrating old wind tunnel, all the required corrections to correct the measured data was presented, the turbulence level correction new technique presented in this paper could be used to estimate the flow turbulence effect on the measured data and correct the measured data against published data.

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