Numerical Study of Transonic Drag Reduction for Flow Past Airfoils Using Active Flow Control

Author(s):  
Jose Vadillo ◽  
Ramesh Agarwal
2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (42) ◽  
pp. 26091-26098
Author(s):  
Dixia Fan ◽  
Liu Yang ◽  
Zhicheng Wang ◽  
Michael S. Triantafyllou ◽  
George Em Karniadakis

We have demonstrated the effectiveness of reinforcement learning (RL) in bluff body flow control problems both in experiments and simulations by automatically discovering active control strategies for drag reduction in turbulent flow. Specifically, we aimed to maximize the power gain efficiency by properly selecting the rotational speed of two small cylinders, located parallel to and downstream of the main cylinder. By properly defining rewards and designing noise reduction techniques, and after an automatic sequence of tens of towing experiments, the RL agent was shown to discover a control strategy that is comparable to the optimal strategy found through lengthy systematically planned control experiments. Subsequently, these results were verified by simulations that enabled us to gain insight into the physical mechanisms of the drag reduction process. While RL has been used effectively previously in idealized computer flow simulation studies, this study demonstrates its effectiveness in experimental fluid mechanics and verifies it by simulations, potentially paving the way for efficient exploration of additional active flow control strategies in other complex fluid mechanics applications.


Author(s):  
Xiaoxu Du ◽  
Lianying Zhang

The hydrodynamic performance of the blended-wing-body underwater glider can be improved by opening a hole on the surface and applying the steady suction active flow control. In order to explore the influence law and mechanism of the steady suction active flow control on the lift and drag performance of the hydrofoil, which is the profile of the blended-wing-body underwater glider, based on the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method and SST k-ω turbulence model, the steady suction active flow control of hydrofoil under different conditions is studied, which include three suction factors: suction angle, suction position and suction ratio, as well as three different flow states: no stall, critical stall and over stall. Then the influence mechanism in over stall flow state is further analyzed. The results show that the flow separation state of NACA0015 hydrofoil can be effectively restrained and the flow field distribution around it can be improved by a reasonable steady suction, so as to the lift-drag performance of NACA0015 hydrofoil is improved. The effect of increasing lift and reducing drag of steady suction is best at 90° suction angle and symmetrical about 90° suction angle, and it is better when the steady suction position is closer to the leading edge of the hydrofoil. In addition, with the increase of the suction ratio, the influence of steady suction on the lift coefficient and drag coefficient of hydrofoil is greater.


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