Lift performance enhancement for flapping airfoils by considering surging motion

The flapping motion has a great impact on the aerodynamic performance of flapping wings. In this paper, a surging motion is added to an airfoil performing pitching-plunging combined motion to figure out how it influences the lift performance and flow pattern of flapping airfoils. Firstly, the numerical methods are validated by a NACA0012 airfoil pitching case and a NACA0012 airfoil plunging case. Then, the E377m airfoil which has typical geometric characteristics of the bird-like airfoil is selected as the calculation model to study how phase differences φ₁ between surging motion and plunging motion affect the aerodynamic performance of flapping airfoils. The results show that the airfoil with surging motion has comprehensively better lift performance and thrust performance than the airfoil without surging motion when 15°< φ₁ < 90°. It is demonstrated that surging motion has a powerful ability to improve the aerodynamic performance of flapping airfoil by adjusting φ₁. Finally, to further explore how flapping airfoil improves lift performance by considering surging motion, the flapping motions of E377m airfoil with the highest lift coefficient and lift efficiency are obtained through trajectory optimization. The surging motion is removed in the highest lift case and highest lift efficiency case respectively, and the mechanism that surging motion adjusts the aerodynamic force is analyzed in detail by comparing the vortex structure and kinematic parameters. The results of this paper help reveal the aerodynamic mechanism of bird flight and guide the design of Flapping wing Micro Air Vehicles (FMAV).     

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.     

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。     

微型扑翼飞行器扑翼/尾翼气动干扰的数值研究

以二维刚性约束条件下的微型扑翼飞行器模型为研究对象,在动网格技术基础上,应用非定常数值分析手段对比分析了单翼/纵列翼布局的气动性能,深入研究了纵列翼缩减频率、扑翼—尾翼无量纲水平间距、来流攻角对其气动性能的影响.结果表明:①纵列翼尾翼对扑翼产生正效应干扰,相对于单翼布局,扑翼—尾翼无量纲水平间距为0.5倍翼型弦长时的纵列翼布局的推力系数和推进效率分别增加28.7%和5.7%;②缩减频率是影响推力的关键参数,随着缩减频率的增加,脱落涡的强度增加,推力系数增大.对于单翼、纵列翼两种布局模式,当缩减频率在1.0附近时推进效率达到最优;③对于纵列翼布局,在扑翼—尾翼无量纲水平间距为1.1倍翼型弦长时推进效率达到峰值;④在0°~20°来流攻角变化范围内,随着来流攻角的增加,升力系数增加,推力系数减小,当来流攻角大于9°时,两种布局的推力均为负值.      

低雷诺数下协同射流关键参数对翼型气动性能的影响

协同射流是一种高效的新型主动流动控制技术,至今缺乏关键参数对翼型气动性能影响规律的系统研究。通过引入螺旋桨激励盘模型,发展了一种新的协同射流翼型流动模拟方法,使得射流反作用力计算更符合实际。在低雷诺数条件下,以NACA6415为基准翼型开展了射流动量系数、开口尺寸和位置等关键参数对翼型气动性能的影响规律研究,并探讨了相应的物理机制。结果表明：大迎角分离流状态下,射流动量系数对翼型气动性能的影响规律比小迎角附着流状态更复杂;随着吹气口尺寸增加,气泵功率系数先减后增,有效升阻比先增后减;随着吸气口尺寸增加,气泵功率系数逐渐减小,有效升阻比先增加后趋于平稳;吹/吸气口位置对翼型气动性能和气泵功率系数的影响很小。     

基于太阳能飞机应用的低雷诺数翼型研究

以太阳能飞机为背景,对低雷诺数翼型FX 63-137进行了折线型建模以拟合典型晶硅太阳能电池片对气动外形的影响,开展了气动数值模拟分析。首先引用"拟合优度"的定义描述本文折线型翼型轮廓与基准翼型(Baseline)的吻合度,并以此参数为变量建立5种折线型翼型模型;然后,采用计算流体力学(CFD)方法计算分析了不同雷诺数下各折线型翼型的气动特性,并着重研究了低雷诺数下折线型翼型的绕流机理;最后,基于工程应用实际的需求,提出了晶硅太阳能电池片的铺设方法也即折线型翼型设计思想准则,并进行算例验证。研究结果表明:低雷诺数条件下,折线型翼型升阻性能相比光滑翼型在一定程度上表现出了优势,但随着雷诺数的增加,升阻方面的优势逐渐消失;折线型翼型压力分布受各折线段长度影响,前缘吸力峰值、压力平台范围以及压力恢复区分布特征是决定折线型翼型气动性能的主要因素;通过设计的算例验证了本文提出的折线型翼型设计思想的可行性。     

高超声速飞行器宽速域翼型/机翼设计与分析

对于现代高超声速飞行器的设计而言,除了需要保证高超声速的性能外,还必须兼顾满足工程需求的亚跨超声速特性。首先,采用雷诺平均Navier-Stokes（RANS）方程流动求解器,结合基于Kriging模型的代理优化算法,开展了高超声速飞行器宽速域翼型的优化设计研究,设计出了一种下表面具有双"S"形特征的新翼型。综合性能评估结果表明,该翼型相比于常规的高超声速翼型,在跨声速和高超声速下具有更加优良的气动特性;其跨声速状态下的升阻比达到78.9,高超声速状态下的升阻比达到5.94,能够实现宽速域内良好的综合气动性能。其次,开展了仿德国"桑格尔号"（SANGER）空天飞机运载机机翼的气动特性研究,对配置宽速域翼型与常规高超声速翼型的机翼进行了气动力特性综合对比分析。结果表明,配置新翼型的机翼在宽速域范围内整体气动性能更优,说明所设计的宽速域翼型在三维机翼上也具有一定的实用价值。     

Aerodynamic performance enhancement of co-flow jet airfoil with simple high-lift device

The present study performed a numerical investigation to explore the performance enhancement of a co-flow jet (CFJ) airfoil with simple high-lift device configuration, with a specific goal to examine the feasibility and capability of the proposed configuration for low-speed take-off and landing. Computations have been accomplished by an in-house-programmed Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes solver enclosed by k-ω shear stress transport turbulence model. Three crucial geometric parameters, viz., injection slot location, suction slot location and its angle were selected for the sake of revealing their effects on aerodynamic lift, drag, power consumption and equivalent lift-to-drag ratio. Results show that using simple high-lift devices on CFJ airfoil can significantly augment the aerodynamic associated lift and efficiency which evidences the feasibility of CFJ for short take-off and landing with small angle of attack. The injection and suction slot locations are more influential with respect to the aerodynamic performance of CFJ airfoil compared with the suction slot angle. The injection location is preferable to be located in the downstream of the pressure suction peak on leading edge to reduce the power expenditure of the pumping system for a relative higher equivalent lift-to-drag ratio. Another concluded criterion is that the suction slot should be oriented on the trailing edge flap for achieving more aerodynamic gain, meanwhile, carefully selecting this location is crucial in determining the aerodynamic enhancement of CFJ airfoil with deflected flaps.     

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。     

Dynamic stall suppression on an oscillating airfoil by steady and unsteady tangential blowing

The use of steady and unsteady tangential blowing to suppress the dynamic stall on an oscillating airfoil was studied by numerically solving the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations. Pitching oscillations with amplitude of 10° about a mean angle of attack of 15° and with reduced frequencies of 0.15 and 0.25 were examined. The blowing location is near the airfoil leading edge, and for unsteady blowing, the jet strength was varied periodically at the same frequency as that of airfoil oscillation with some phase difference. In case of steady blowing, with a C_μ of 0.07, the large pitching moment, massive drop in C_L and increase in C_D due to dynamic stall were eliminated. The unsteady blowing was found more effective than the steady blowing.     

超临界自然层流机翼设计及基于TSP技术的边界层转捩风洞试验

为了实现绿色航空节能减排的目标,层流设计技术成为飞行器设计者的研究热点。对于跨声速客机而言,超临界自然层流机翼设计技术将显著减小飞行阻力,提升气动性能,减少燃油消耗和污染物排放。首先,基于高精度边界层转捩预测技术耦合翼型优化设计系统,实现超临界自然层流翼型设计;经过合理的翼型配置,形成超临界自然层流机翼。转捩数值模拟分析结果表明,超临界自然层流机翼的层流流动特性良好。然后,以比例为1：10.4的试验模型在荷兰高速低湍流度风洞进行边界层转捩风洞试验,使用温度敏感材料涂层（TSP）技术拍照获得机翼表面在不同马赫数、雷诺数和迎角工况下的层流-湍流分布。最后,通过超临界自然层流机翼边界层转捩试验结果,探讨了该类型机翼的转捩特性随来流参数的变化规律,总结了超临界自然层流机翼设计的关键因素。此外,该模型也可用来验证边界层转捩预测技术在超临界、高雷诺数工况下的预测精度。     

半模机翼振动对气动性能影响的风洞试验研究

为了验证翼型振动测压试验结果和有关振动数值模拟文献的计算结果,设计完成了对称翼型NA-CA0012和层流翼型NACA64-210两种半模机翼的低速风洞振动试验。通过专门研制的半模振动模型,选取5种激振方式,用直接测力法得到了模型在静态和不同激振方式下升力特性变化曲线,分别研究了振动频率、雷诺数、自然转捩和固定转捩、数据采集方式等参数对机翼气动特性的影响。试验结果表明：半模机翼振动的气动特性与二元翼型和数值计算情况有所不同,其影响因不同翼型构型、不同采集方式和翼面不同流动模式等会产生不同效果。并对产生原因进行初步探讨。     

射频介质阻挡放电改善NACA 0015翼型气动性能的实验

介质阻挡放电(DBD)均匀稳定、易于敷设,是机翼/翼型等离子体流动控制(PFC)中最常用的激励方式。射频介质阻挡放电激励频率高、放电功率大,且能在流场中产生明显的加热,应用潜力大。采用射频电源驱动DBD激励器产生等离子体,分析放电的体积力、热特性和诱导流场特性,开展了射频介质阻挡放电改善NACA 0015翼型气动性能的实验,研究了占空比、调制频率、载波频率和电源功率等参数对流动控制效果的影响规律。结果表明:射频等离子体激励的体积力效应随激励电压的增大而增加;射频等离子体激励产生的热量在诱导的流场中进行传导,加速流场;当来流速度为20m/s,Re=3.36×10~5时,在翼型前缘施加激励,使翼型临界失速迎角推迟1°,最大升力系数增大6.43%,且在过失速迎角下仍具有流动控制效果,使升力下降变缓;调制频率越大,控制效果越好;存在最佳占空比、载波频率和功率,占空比对流场控制效果的影响最显著,最佳占空比、载波频率和功率分别为20%,460kHz和50W。射频等离子体激励以体积力效应、热效应和诱导壁面射流改善失速流场,使得NACA0015翼型气动性能极大改善,流动分离得到有效控制。     

多相等离子体气动激励抑制翼型失速分离的实验

开展了多相等离子体气动激励抑制NACA0015翼型失速分离的实验,详细研究了翼型升阻特性随激励电压、激励相角、输入电压波形和占空比等激励参数的影响.研究表明:雷诺数Re=4.9×105(来流速度60m/s)时,多相等离子体气动激励可有效抑制NACA0015翼型吸力面的流动分离,将翼型临界失速攻角提高2°;相位对流动控制...     

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。     

褶皱位置对蜻蜓滑翔翼气动性能的影响

改变昆虫翅膀的褶皱结构可以优化翼型的气动性能,有利于微型飞行器的气动设计。以蜻蜓翼作为参考,采用计算流体力学（CFD）的方法计算了攻角范围为0°~20°,雷诺数范围为700~2300时褶皱位于前缘、尾缘和中部位置时三种翼型的滑翔气动性能。结果表明:在不同攻角和雷诺数下,褶皱位于尾缘的翼型具有最大的升力系数和升阻比,滑翔气动性能最优;当雷诺数为1500,攻角为10°时,褶皱位于尾缘的翼型时均升力系数分别比位于前缘和中部的翼型提高了58%和82%,升阻比分别提高了49%和33%;这是由于尾缘褶皱中的涡起到了延缓前缘涡脱落的作用,使前缘涡更为集中,更贴近壁面。      

Numerical investigation of dynamic stall suppression of rotor airfoil via improved co-flow jet

The decrease in aerodynamic performance caused by the shock-induced dynamic stall of an advancing blade and the dynamic stall of a retreating blade at low speed and high angles of attack limits the flight speed of a helicopter. However, little research has been carried on the flow control methods employed to suppress both the dynamic stall induced by a shock wave and the dynamic stall occurring at high angles of attack. The dynamic stall suppression of a rotor airfoil by Co-Flow Jet(CFJ) is nume...     

Numerical investigation of co-flow jet airfoil with parabolic flap

Both the Active Flow Control (AFC) and the variable-camber technology are considered as efficient ways to enhance the aerodynamic performance of an aircraft. The present study investigated the feasibility of the combination of a Co-Flow Jet (CFJ) airfoil and a parabolic flap, where the Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations and the Spalart-Allmaras (S-A) turbulence model were exploited for the numerical simulation. Several significant geometric parameters, including the injection slot location, the suction slot location, the injection slot angle, the suction slot angle and the airfoil Suction Surface Translation (SST), were selected to study their effects on the aerodynamics of the proposed configuration. Then, an optimized design was created and compared with the baseline airfoil. The results show that the CFJ airfoil combined with the parabolic flap is more beneficial to the aerodynamic performance enhancement at small angles of attack. It is preferable to locate the injection slot at a 2% chord-wise location and the suction slot at a 75% chord-wise location. Both the decrease of the injection slot angle and the augmentation of the suction slot angle could reduce the drag. Furthermore, the SST of 0.5% chord is selected due to its high gain in the corrected aerodynamic efficiency at small angles of attack. Compared with the baseline, the optimized design could increase the lift coefficient and the corrected lift-to-drag ratio by 32.1% and 93.8% respectively at the angle of attack α = 4°.