Numerical Simulations of Fan/Airframe Interaction with Active Flow-Control

Author(s):  
Fulvio Sartor ◽  
Alan Burlot ◽  
Michaël Méheut
2018 ◽  
Vol 850 ◽  
pp. 954-983 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirzad Hosseinverdi ◽  
Hermann F. Fasel

Our previous research has shown that an active flow control strategy using two-dimensional (2-D) harmonic blowing and suction with properly chosen frequency and amplitude can significantly reduce the separation region, delay transition to turbulence and can even relaminarize the flow. How such effective flow control for transition delay and relaminarization is affected by free-stream turbulence (FST) remains an open question. In order to answer this question, highly resolved direct numerical simulations (DNS) are carried out where very low-amplitude isotropic FST fluctuations are introduced at the inflow boundary of the computational domain. With FST the effectiveness of the flow control is not diminished, and the extent of the separated flow region is reduced by the same amount as for the zero FST case. However, a striking difference observed in the DNS is the fact that in the presence of even very low levels of FST, the flow transitions shortly downstream of the reattachment location of the bubble, contrary to the case without FST. It appears that this different behaviour for even very small levels of FST is caused by an interaction between the high-amplitude 2-D disturbances introduced by the flow control forcing and 3-D Klebanoff modes (K-modes) that are generated by the FST. The streamwise elongated streaks due to the K-modes cause a spanwise-periodic modulation of the basic flow and subsequently of the primary 2-D wave. The disturbances associated with this modulation exhibit strong growth and initiate the breakdown process to turbulence. Linear secondary instability investigations with respect to low-frequency 3-D disturbances are carried out based on the linearized Navier–Stokes equations. The response of the forced flow to the low-frequency 3-D disturbances reveals that the time-periodic base flow is unstable with respect to a wide range of 3-D modes. In particular, the wavelength associated with the spanwise spacing of the K-mode falls into the range of, and is in fact very close to, the most unstable 3-D disturbances. Results from the secondary instability analysis and the comparison with DNS results, support the conjecture that the forcing amplitude has a major impact on the onset and amplification rate of the K-modes: lowering the forcing amplitude postpones the onset of the growth of the K-modes and reduces the growth rate of the K-modes for a given FST intensity. The net effect of these two events is a delay of the transition onset. Nevertheless, the instability mechanism that governs the transition process is the same as previously identified, i.e. interaction of the K-mode and 2-D primary wave. Furthermore, for low levels of FST, the amplitude of the low-frequency K-modes scales linearly with the FST intensity in the approach boundary layer up to the secondary instability regime.


Author(s):  
Miles Bellman ◽  
Ramesh Agarwal ◽  
Jonathan Naber ◽  
Lee Chusak

In U.S, the ground vehicles consume about 77% of all (domestic and imported) petroleum; 34% is consumed by automobiles, 25% by light trucks and 18% by large heavy duty trucks and trailers. It has been estimated that 1% increase in fuel economy can save 245 million gallons of fuel/year. Additionally, the fuel consumption by ground vehicles accounts for over 30% of CO2 and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Moreover, most of the usable energy from the engine goes into overcoming the aerodynamic drag (53%) and rolling resistance (32%); only 9% is required for auxiliary equipment and 6% is used by the drive-train. 15% reduction in aerodynamic drag at highway speed of 55mph can result in about 5–7% in fuel saving. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate by numerical simulations that the active flow control (AFC) technology can be easily deployed /retrofitted to reduce the aerodynamic drag of ground vehicles by 15–20% at highway speed. For AFC, we employ a few oscillatory jet actuators (also known as synthetic jet actuators) at the rear face of the ground vehicle. These devices are easy to incorporate into the existing vehicles with very modest cost. The cost may come down significantly for a large volume — in hundreds of millions, especially for ground vehicles. Numerical simulations are performed using the Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) equations on solution adaptive structured grids in conjunction with a two-equation realizable k-ε turbulence model. The commercially available grid generator “GAMBIT” and the CFD solver “FLUENT” are employed in the simulations. Three generic ground vehicle configurations are considered in the simulations; the experimental data has been available for these configurations without and with AFC. The numerical simulations are in good agreement with the experimental data. These studies clearly demonstrate that the AFC techniques can be effectively employed to achieve significant reduction (10–15%) in aerodynamic drag of ground vehicles thereby reducing the fuel consumption by 5–7%.


Author(s):  
Arash Naghib Lahouti ◽  
Horia Hangan

Vortex shedding from the base of two dimensional bluff bodies is accompanied by three dimensional wake instabilities. These instabilities manifest as streamwise and vertical vorticity components which occur at a certain spanwise wavelength. The spanwise wavelength of the instabilities (λz) depends on several parameters, including profile geometry and Reynolds number. The present study aims to determine λz for a blunt trailing edge airfoil, which is comprised of an elliptical leading edge, followed by a rectangular section. Results of numerical simulations of flow around the airfoil at Re(d) = 500, 800, 1200, and 17,000, and flow visualization at Re(d) = 2200 indicate that λz has an average value of 2.2d. An active flow control mechanism based on the three dimensional wake instabilities is proposed, to attenuate the fluctuating aerodynamic forces of the airfoil. The mechanism is comprised of trailing edge injection ports distributed across the span, with a spacing equal to λz. Injection of a secondary flow leads to excitation of the three dimensional instabilities and disorganization of the von Ka´rma´n vortex street. Numerical simulations at Re(d) = 500 and 17,000 indicate that the flow control mechanism can attenuate the fluctuating aerodynamic forces significantly, and reduce mean drag using a relatively small injection mass flow rate.


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