Aerodynamic performance enhancement for flapping airfoils by co-flow jet

Introducing active flow control into the design of flapping wing is an effective way to enhance its aerodynamic performance. In this paper, a novel active flow control technology called Co-Flow Jet (CFJ) is applied to flapping airfoils. The effect of CFJ on aerodynamic performance of flapping airfoils at low Reynolds number is numerically investigated using Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) simulation with Spalart-Allmaras (SA) turbulence model. Numerical methods are validated by a NACA6415-based CFJ airfoil case and a S809 pitching airfoil case. Then NACA6415 baseline airfoil and NACA6415-based CFJ airfoil with jet-off and jet-on are simulated in flapping motion, with Reynolds number 70,000 and reduced frequency 0.2. As a result, CFJ airfoils with jet-on generally have better lift and thrust characteristics than baseline airfoils and jet-off airfoil when C_μ is greater than 0.04, which results from the CFJ effect of reducing flow separation by injecting high-energy fluid into boundary layer. Besides, typical kinematic and geometric parameters, including the reduced frequency and the positions of the suction and injection slot, are systematically studied to figure out their influence on aerodynamic performance of the CFJ airfoil. And a variable C_μ jet control strategy is proposed to further improve effective propulsive efficiency. Compared with using constant C_μ, an increase of effective propulsive efficiency by 22.6% has been achieved by using prescribed variable C_μ for NACA6415-based CFJ airfoil at frequency 0.2. This study may provide some guidance to performance enhancement for Flapping wing Micro Air Vehicles (FMAV).     

Aerodynamic performance of owl-like airfoil undergoing bio-inspired flapping kinematics

Natural flyers have extraordinary flight skills and their prominent aerodynamic performance has attracted a lot of attention. However, the aerodynamic mechanism of birds' flapping wing kinematics still lacks in-depth understanding. In this paper, the aerodynamic performance of owl-like airfoil undergoing bio-inspired flapping kinematics extracted from a free-flying owl wing has been numerically investigated. The overset mesh technique is used to deal with the large range movements of flapping airfoils. The bio-inspired kinematics consist of plunging and pitching movement. A pure sinusoidal motion and a defined motion composed of plunging of sinusoidal motion and pitching of the bio-inspired kinematics are selected for comparison. The other two NACA airfoils are also selected to figure out the advantages of the owl-like airfoil. It is found that the cambered owl-like airfoil can enhance lift during the downstroke. The bio-inspired kinematics have an obvious advantage in lift generation with a presence of higher peak lift and positive lift over a wider proportion of the flapping cycle. Meanwhile, the bio-inspired motion is more economical for a lower power consumption compared with the sinusoidal motion. The sinusoidal flapping motion is better for thrust generation for a higher peak thrust value in both upstroke and downstroke, while the bio-inspired kinematics mainly generate thrust during the downstroke but produce more drag during the upstroke. The defined motion has similar lift performance with the bio-inspired kinematics, while it consumes more energy and generates less thrust. The unsteady flow field around airfoils is also analyzed to explain the corresponding phenomenon. The research in this paper is helpful to understand the flight mechanism of birds and to design a micro air vehicle with higher performance.     

扑动翼型的低雷诺数气动特性分析

通过求解引入拟压缩项的不可压Navier-Stokes方程,数值模拟了绕扑动翼型的低雷诺数非定常流动。针对厚度在4%-12%之间的NACA对称翼型,分析了翼型厚度等参数对扑动翼型气动特性的影响。在低雷诺数条件下,对于纯俯仰运动,随着翼型厚度的减小,平均阻力系数也变小。而对于纯沉浮运动,发现翼型厚度对气动特性的影响和俯仰运动有很大的差别,平均阻力系数随着翼型厚度的减小而变大。通过对沉浮运动一个周期流线图的分析,认为这是翼型前缘涡的影响造成的。由于前缘涡的影响,翼型厚度增加,平均压差阻力系数变小,甚至会出现负值。雷诺数的影响研究表明,随着雷诺数的增加,扑动翼型的阻力系数减小的趋势越缓慢。     

微型扑翼飞行器非定常运动对平尾的影响

以西北工业大学自行研制的微型扑翼飞行器ASN211为研究对象,利用其简化的二维扑翼及平尾串列翼模型进行了非定常数值模拟,分析了扑翼俯仰运动及沉浮运动对平尾气动性能的影响。在数值模拟模块中,模型的俯仰运动及沉浮运动由动网格技术实现。通过计算流体力学(CFD)软件Fluent对此非定常流场进行数值计算,重点研究了扑翼非定常运动尾流对平尾气动效率的影响。定常状态与非定常时均条件下平尾升力曲线的对比分析表明,扑翼的非定常运动能够增大平尾的失速迎角及最大升力系数,因而使平尾的失速特性得到改善。     

翼型前缘变形对动态失速效应影响的数值计算

翼型或机翼的动态失速效应所引起的低头力矩和正气动阻尼限制了飞行器气动性能的提高,甚至可能诱导发生不稳定运动。应用于小尺寸机翼的前缘动态变形（DDLE）技术,通过实时改变前缘形状,能够改善翼型前缘区域的速度梯度,进而抑制动态失速效应。采用转捩剪切应力输运（SST）黏性模型结合分区混合动态网格技术,研究了这种前缘变形对机翼俯仰运动所引起的非定常流动的影响,得到通过小幅度前缘变形抑制和延迟动态失速的方法,从而提高翼型的气动性能。翼型NAC A0012的数值模拟结果与动态失速风洞试验结果比较表明：所使用的数值计算方法能够较为准确地模拟翼型在动态失速过程中升力系数与俯仰力矩系数的变化情况,可用于研究前缘变形对翼型俯仰运动所引起的非定常流动的影响。前缘动态变形翼型俯仰运动过程的非定常流场的数值模拟表明：在大迎角下不同幅度的前缘下垂运动能够抑制流动分离的发生,从而抑制动态失速,但在大迎角下小幅度高频率的前缘下垂变形能更高效地抑制动态失速;前缘变形幅度以及变形沿中弧线的分布对升力系数和俯仰力矩系数的影响并不明显。     

Effect of flexibility on unsteady aerodynamics forces of a purely plunging airfoil

Introducing flexibility into the design of a vertically flapping wing is an effective way to enhance its aerodynamic performance. As less previous studies on the aerodynamics of vertically flapping flexible wings focused on the lift generated in a wide range of angle of attack·a 2D numerical simulation of a purely plunging flexible airfoil is employed using a loose fluid–structure interaction method. The aerodynamics of a fully flexible airfoil are firstly studied with the flexibility and angle of attack. To verify whether an airfoil could get aerodynamic benefit from the change in structure, partially flexible airfoil with rigid leading edge and flexible trailing edge were further considered. Results show that flexibility could always reduce airfoil drag while lift and lift efficiency both peak at moderate flexibility. When freestream velocity is constant, lift is maximized at a high angle of attack about 40° while this optimal angle of attack reduces to 15° in drag-balanced status. The airfoil drag reduction, lift augmentation as well as efficiency enhancement mainly attribute to the passive pitching other than the camber deformation. Partially deformed airfoil with the longest length of moderate flexible trailing edge can achieve the highest lift. This study may provide some guidance in the wing design of Micro Air Vehicle (MAV).     

翼型大迎角振动对气动性能影响的实验研究与初步分析

通过在NF-3低速风洞专门研制的翼型模型及相应的俯仰和沉浮振动机构,选用NACA0012翼型进行大迎角下不同频率的振动实验,研究了模型振动平均状态下对其气动力特性的影响情况,并在N-S方程基础上对振动流场进行了初步分析。实验与计算研究的结果表明：在临近定常失速迎角的大迎角条件下,翼型的振动可以引起旋涡分离,导致翼型升力减小和失速迎角的提前。就所涉及的两种振动模式而言,俯仰振动的影响大于沉浮振动,所以,模型设计和加工时要特别注意加强机翼弦向的扭转刚度。     

Aerodynamic periodicity of transient aerodynamic forces of flexible plunging airfoils

For flapping micro-air vehicles, periodical aerodynamics in every plunging period is always desired in the design of aircraft controlling system. During the periodic plunges of rigid airfoil, either periodical or non-periodical aerodynamic forces can be generated. Real airfoils are usually flexible so that the effect of flexibility on unsteady characteristics of aerodynamic periodicity should be considered. In this study, a fluid structure interaction analysis is employed to systematically investigate the aerodynamic periodicity of a periodically plunging flexible airfoil. The influences of several dimensionless kinematic and structural parameters on aerodynamic periodicity are investigated. The results show that the aerodynamic periodicity of plunging flexible airfoil qualitatively resembles that of rigid airfoil as the mechanisms contributing to aerodynamic periodicity are kept for airfoil with various flexibilities. However, aerodynamic periodicity at small plunging amplitude and high Reynolds number can be improved as airfoil becomes medium flexible but worsened as airfoil is very flexible. The reason is that the deformation of the airfoil changes the strength and structure of the nearby vortices, thereby leading to weak vortex–vortex and vortex–airfoil interactions. The extent of improvement in aerodynamic periodicity is also found significantly influenced by incoming velocity.     

不可压缩翼型绕流数值研究

使用标准k-ω模型及与色散模型相耦合的k-ω模型分别计算了NACA0012翼型和NACA 4412翼型的低速绕流问题.NACA 0012翼型计算了其来流雷诺数为2.88×106,攻角从0°到15°范围内的流动结构、翼型表面压力分布和升力、阻力特性;NACA 4412翼型计算了临界雷诺数为1.52×106,攻角为13.87°时的流动分离和翼型表面压力系数 ,并与实验数据进行对比.结果表明:在同等条件下,使用与色散模型相耦合的k-ω模型计算得到的NACA 0012翼型的升力和阻力系数比标准k-ω模型提高精度约5%,NACA 4412翼型的表面压力系数精度提高了约3%,进一步验证了其可信性,可将其进一步应用到低速飞行器的气动计算中.      

桨叶结冰对尾桨气动性能的影响

基于某直升机尾桨桨叶地面结冰试验数据,建立了结冰桨叶的气动计算模型。对NACA0012翼型的气动特性计算表明,翼型升力系数和阻力系数的计算结果与试验数据吻合良好。然后根据所建模型,利用Fluent软件分别计算了某尾桨桨叶翼型结冰前后剖面的气动特性,发现结冰使桨叶翼型升力系数降低,阻力系数增大。最后采用动量一叶素理论结合...     

Flapping and flexible wings for biological and micro air vehicles

Micro air vehicles (MAVs) with wing spans of 15 cm or less, and flight speed of 30–60 kph are of interest for military and civilian applications. There are two prominent features of MAV flight: (i) low Reynolds number (10⁴–10⁵), resulting in unfavorable aerodynamic conditions to support controlled flight, and (ii) small physical dimensions, resulting in certain favorable scaling characteristics including structural strength, reduced stall speed, and low inertia. Based on observations of biological flight vehicles, it appears that wing motion and flexible airfoils are two key attributes for flight at low Reynolds number. The small size of MAVs corresponds in nature to small birds, which do not glide like large birds, but instead flap with considerable change of wing shape during a single flapping cycle. With flapping and flexible wings, birds overcome the deteriorating aerodynamic performance under steady flow conditions by employing unsteady mechanisms. In this article, we review both biological and aeronautical literatures to present salient features relevant to MAVs. We first summarize scaling laws of biological and micro air vehicles involving wing span, wing loading, vehicle mass, cruising speed, flapping frequency, and power. Next we discuss kinematics of flapping wings and aerodynamic models for analyzing lift, drag and power. Then we present issues related to low Reynolds number flows and airfoil shape selection. Recent work on flexible structures capable of adjusting the airfoil shape in response to freestream variations is also discussed.     

基于CST参数化方法的翼型快速设计

为弥补传统飞机翼型设计周期长、代价高的缺点,将CST翼型参数化方法,与机器学习中的高斯过程回归方法相结合,通过对已有的翼型数据的学习,实现对未知翼型气动性能或者外形数据的快速准确预测。选取一组NACA四位族翼型,获得其CST参数描述数据,并分别计算其在一定条件下的升力系数、阻力系数和压力分布数据。利用这些数据对高斯过程回归模型进行训练,实现了翼型的快速正设计以及反设计系统。并将实验结果与采用NACA翼型参数表示法得到的预测结果进行了对比。实验结果表明,基于CST参数化方法的翼型快速设计准确度高、速度快,具有很大的应用价值。     

超临界翼型Gurney襟翼增升技术实验研究

通过在二元翼型风洞中进行测力实验,研究了不同高度Gurney襟翼对超临界翼型气动力和力矩的影响规律。实验结果表明：在亚声速条件下,Gurney襟翼同样可以明显增加翼型的升力系数,使整个升力曲线向上平移,并使翼型低头力矩增加。高度为翼型弦长0.5%的Gurney襟翼可以带来超临界翼型的最大升阻比。同Gur-ney襟翼对NACA 0012翼型气动特性改变的对比表明,其在超临界翼型上带来的升力系数增量要大于在NACA0012翼型上的效果,但是带来的低头力矩增量较小。     

Parametric analyses for synthetic jet control on separation and stall over rotor airfoil

Numerical simulations are performed to investigate the effects of synthetic jet control on separation and stall over rotor airfoils. The preconditioned and unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations coupled with a k x shear stream transport turbulence model are employed to accomplish the flowfield simulation of rotor airfoils under jet control. Additionally,a velocity boundary condition modeled by a sinusoidal function is developed to fulfill the perturbation effect of periodic jets. The validity of the present CFD procedure is evaluated by the simulated results of an isolated synthetic jet and the jet control case for airfoil NACA0015. Then, parametric analyses are conducted specifically for an OA213 rotor airfoil to investigate the effects of jet parameters(forcing frequency, jet location and momentum coefficient, jet direction, and distribution of jet arrays) on the control effect of the aerodynamic characteristics of a rotor airfoil. Preliminary results indicate that the efficiency of jet control can be improved with specific frequencies(the best lift-drag ratio at F+= 2.0) and jet angles(40 or 75) when the jets are located near the separation point of the rotor airfoil. Furthermore, as a result of a suitable combination of jet arrays, the lift coefficient of the airfoil can be improved by nearly 100%, and the corresponding drag coefficient decreased by26.5% in comparison with the single point control case.     

旋翼翼型非定常动态失速响应的计算

基于旋翼非定常翼型气动模型,给出了计算分离流和深度失速状态下的翼型非定常升力、俯仰力矩的数值计算方法。该方法采用半经验指数响应公式,利用数值离散方法来求解翼型的非定常法向力和俯仰力矩。分别计算了NACA0012和SC-1095翼型上的非定常气动载荷,并与可得到的试验结果进行了对比,验证了方法的有效性。文中还讨论了缩减频率和马赫数对动态失速响应的影响;然后,这个模型被改进以适用于后掠流下的翼型动态失速响应计算,分析了后掠角对翼型动态失速响应的影响。最后,得出了一些结论。     

翼型结冰过程数值模拟验算与分析

应用FENSAP-ICE结冰计算软件,对NACA0012翼型进行了流动特性、水滴撞击特性以及冰型生成过程的计算;同时,对结冰前后的翼型进行气动力特性计算对比分析,其中包括升力特性对比、阻力特性对比、流场细节分析以及压力系数分布对比。计算结果表明：翼型前缘结冰后,导致翼型前缘气流提前分离,最大升力系数、失速攻角大幅减小,...     

大湍流度对超低雷诺数下翼型受力及绕流的影响

实验测量了超低雷诺数(Re=5 300)下 NACA 0012翼型在自由来流下的升力系数和阻力系数,重点研究来流的湍流度对升力系数和阻力系数的影响,并进一步通过对翼犁流场的研究揭示湍流度对翼型受力产生影响的机理.结果显示,低湍流度下升力系数和阻力系数均无失速特征;当湍流度提高,升力系数和阻力系数在12°～15°迎角下表...     

共轴双旋翼非定常流场干扰特性

直升机共轴双旋翼相遇过程的非定常气动干扰在其周期性干扰中最为强烈。为了研究该过程中的干扰特征,建立了一个基于非定常雷诺平均Navier-Stokes方程的气动干扰数值方法,双旋翼的反转运动采用运动嵌套网格进行模拟。为了探究双旋翼相遇时的气动干扰机理,以两个相对运动的双翼型系统来模拟双旋翼特定展向截面的非定常相遇过程。分析了双旋翼和双翼型相遇时的气动特性和流场特征,并对双翼型系统进行了参数影响研究,结果表明:双旋翼上下桨叶相遇时,上下旋翼拉力均会出现先增后减的变化趋势且波动幅值分别为其对应总拉力的30%和22%,双翼型系统的升力波动趋势与之相似;间距增大使上下翼型间的气动干扰减小,且上下翼型升力波动对间距变化的敏感时间不同;翼型相对厚度增大使双翼型升力波动幅值增大,并出现二次波动;有附加来流时,相对来流速度较小的翼型升力波动的幅值与范围更大。      

非定常自由来流对二维翼型气动特性的影响研究

利用计算软件和实验测量方法,研究了非定常自由来流对静态二维翼型气动特性的影响,分析研究了来流速度脉动频率变化对气动特性产生的作用.结果表明,来流速度以短周期脉动时,升力系数随来流速度的减小而增加;来流速度以长周期脉动时,升力系数随来流速度的减小而减小.分析表明这与前缘分离涡在翼面上的传递过程有关.又利用二维翼型动态实验台,研究了非定常自由来流对做动态运动的二维翼型气动特性的影响.结果表明,来流风速的脉动使升力系数的迟滞包线进一步扩大,最大升力系数增加.     

高速风洞等离子体流动控制实验技术研究

针对开展等离子体高速流动控制研究的技术需求,通过专用模型及实验机构设计、绝缘密封走线、多层电磁屏蔽等技术手段,建立了一套适用于高速风洞的等离子体流动控制系统,提出了等离子体高速流动控制风洞实验的技术规范和运行策略,并初步探索了等离子体激励对二元翼型绕流的控制规律。采用该技术后,解决了高压电缆的绝缘、密封走线问题,模型与实验机构的感应电压减小90％以上。风洞实验结果表明：实验系统运行稳定,实验数据可靠,等离子体激励对犕犪＝0．2的流动可实现有效控制;施加等离子体激励后,NACA0012翼型的流动分离明显减弱,升力增大,阻力减小,临界失速迎角增大2＆#176;,最大升力系数增大4％,总体气动性能得到显著提升。