Vortex formation and saturation for low-aspect-ratio rotating flat-plate fins

We investigate experimentally the unsteady, three-dimensional vortex formation of low-aspect-ratio, trapezoidal flat-plate fins undergoing rotation from rest at a 90° angle of attack and Reynolds numbers of O(10³). The objectives are to characterize the unsteady three-dimensional vortex structure, examine vortex saturation, and understand the effects of the root-to-tip flow for different velocity programs. The experiments are conducted in a water tank facility, and the diagnostic tools are dye flow visualization and digital particle image velocimetry. The dye visualizations show that the low-aspect-ratio plate produces symmetric ring-like vortices comprised mainly of tip-edge vorticity. They also indicate the presence of the root-to-tip velocity. For large rotational amplitudes, the primary ring-like vortex sheds and a secondary ring-like vortex is generated while the plate is still in motion, indicating saturation of the leading vortex. The time-varying vortex circulation in the flow symmetry plane provides quantitative evidence of vortex saturation. The phenomenon of saturation is observed for several plate velocity programs. The temporal development of the vortex circulation is often complex, which prevents an objective determination of an exact saturation time. This is the result of an interaction between the developing vortex and the root-to-tip flow, which breaks apart the vortex. However, it is possible to define a range of time during which the vortex reaches saturation. A formation-parameter definition is investigated and is found to reasonably predict the state corresponding to the pinch-off of the initial tip vortex across the velocity programs tested. This event is the lower bound on the saturation time range.     

Dynamics of Instabilities in a Viscous Fluid Rotating with an Acceleration

The flow of a viscous incompressible fluid between coaxial cylinders rotating with a constant rigid-body acceleration about the axis is studied numerically. A one-dimensional time-dependent solution of the Navier-Stokes equations is constructed analytically for the motion starting from the state of rest. On the initial time interval the one-dimensional unsteady fluid motion is unstable. Small perturbations introduced into the flow initiate the formation of secondary vortex flows with a velocity component along the axis. The dynamics of the developing instabilities and their dissipation are studied numerically. A condition determining the dimensions of the unsteady secondary flow zone is formulated. The unsteady regime is transient and starting from a certain instant of time the flow becomes stable.     

Reynolds number effects on leading edge vortex development on a waving wing

The waving wing experiment is a fully three-dimensional simplification of the flapping wing motion observed in nature. The spanwise velocity gradient and wing starting and stopping acceleration that exist on an insect-like flapping wing are generated by rotational motion of a finite span wing. The flow development around a waving wing at Reynolds number between 10,000 and 60,000 has been studied using flow visualization and high-speed PIV to capture the unsteady velocity field. Lift and drag forces have been measured over a range of angles of attack, and the lift curve shape was similar in all cases. A transient high-lift peak approximately 1.5 times the quasi-steady value occurred in the first chord length of travel, caused by the formation of a strong attached leading edge vortex. This vortex appears to develop and shed more quickly at lower Reynolds numbers. The circulation of the leading edge vortex has been measured and agrees well with force data.     

On vortex structures and processes over bluff bodies in impulsive flow

An experimental system that generates and visualizes unsteady motions in air was employed to visualize vortex developments over bluff bodies in impulsive started flow. The study presents photographic sequences of impulsive flow over circular and square cylinders for flow Reynolds number of 200. A comparison of physical and numerical visualization for impulsive flow over a flat plate at 50° angle of attack and for flow Reynolds number of 1,000 is also presented. The visualization examples reveal the details of vortex separation and subsequent developments and may be utilized as a reference to guide and economize computer visualization efforts on unsteady separated flows.Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering     

Three-dimensional vortex formation on a heaving low-aspect-ratio wing: Computations and experiments

This paper addresses by means of high-resolution numerical simulations and experimental quantitative imaging the three-dimensional unsteady separation process induced by large-amplitude heaving oscillations of a low-aspect-ratio wing under low-Reynolds-number conditions. Computed results are found to be in good agreement with experimental flow visualizations and PIV measurements on selected cross-flow planes. The complex unsteady three-dimensional flow structure generated during dynamic stall of the low-aspect-ratio wing is elucidated. The process is characterized by the generation of a leading-edge vortex system which is pinned at the front corners of the plate and which exhibits intense transverse flow toward the wing centerline during its initial stages of development. This vortex detaches from the corners and evolves into an newly found arch-type structure. The legs of the arch vortex move along the surface toward the wing centerline and reconnect forming a ring-like structure which is shed as the next plunging cycle begins. Vortex breakdown, total collapse and reformation of the wing tip vortices are also observed at various stages of the heaving motion. At the relatively high value of reduced frequency considered, these basic flow elements of the complex three-dimensional dynamic stall process are found to persist over a range of Reynolds numbers.     

An inviscid model for vortex shedding from a deforming body

An inviscid vortex sheet model is developed in order to study the unsteady separated flow past a two-dimensional deforming body which moves with a prescribed motion in an otherwise quiescent fluid. Following Jones (J Fluid Mech 496, 405–441, 2003) the flow is assumed to comprise of a bound vortex sheet attached to the body and two separate vortex sheets originating at the edges. The complex conjugate velocity potential is expressed explicitly in terms of the bound vortex sheet strength and the edge circulations through a boundary integral representation. It is shown that Kelvin’s circulation theorem, along with the conditions of continuity of the normal velocity across the body and the boundedness of the velocity field, yields a coupled system of equations for the unknown bound vortex sheet strength and the edge circulations. A general numerical treatment is developed for the singular principal value integrals arising in the solution procedure. The model is validated against the results of Jones (J Fluid Mech 496, 405–441, 2003) for computations involving a rigid flat plate and is subsequently applied to the flapping foil experiments of Heathcote et al. (AIAA J, 42, 2196–2204, 2004) in order to predict the thrust coefficient. The utility of the model in simulating aquatic locomotion is also demonstrated, with vortex shedding suppressed at the leading edge of the swimming body.      

Plate cascade in subsonic unsteady gas flow

Accounting for fluid compressibility creates serious difficulties in solving the problem of oscillations of a grid of thin, slightly curved profiles in a subsonic stream. The problem has been solved in [1–3] for a widely-spaced cascade without stagger whose profiles oscillate in phase opposition. The phenomenon of aerodynamic (acoustic) resonance, which may arise in a grid in the direction transverse to the stream for definite values of the stream velocity and profile oscillation frequency, was discovered in [2]. An approximate solution of the problem in which account is not taken of the effect of the vortex trails on the gas flow has been obtained in [4]. In [5, 6] Meister studied in the exact linear formulation the problem of unsteady gas motion through an unstaggered cascade of semi-infinite plates. In [7] Meister considered a grid of profiles with finite chords, but the problem solution was not completed. The problem of subsonic gas flow through a staggered lattice whose profiles oscillate following a single law with constant phase shift was solved most completely in the studies of Kurzin [8, 9] using the method of integral equations. A method of solving the problem for the case of arbitrary harmonic oscillation laws for the lattice profiles was indicated in [10]. The results of the calculation of the unsteady aerodynamic forces for the particular case of a plate cascade without stagger are presented in [9,11], and the possibility of the occurrence of aerodynamic resonance in the cascade in the directions transverse to and along the stream is indicated.Another method of solving the problem is given in [12], in which the more general problem of unsteady subsonic gas flow through a three-dimensional cascade of plates is solved. In the present study this method is applied to the solution of the problem of oscillations of staggered plate cascades in a two-dimensional subsonic gas flow. The results are presented of an electronic computer calculation of the unsteady aerodynamic characteristics of the cascade profiles, which show the essential influence of fluid compressibility on these characteristics. In particular, a sharp decrease of the aerodynamic damping in the acoustic resonance regimes is obtained.     

动失速型非定常分离涡结构的控制

本文对动失速型非定常分离涡结构的控制方法，在低速风洞中应用相平均测压技术进行了实验研究。在二元平板模型中部安装一作俯仰振荡的扰流板产生动失速型分离涡，在其上游安装另一用作控制的小扰流板。实验结果表明，应用前置的振荡小扰流板可影响并改变动失速分离涡的强度和对流特性。在最有利的控制相位下，涡吸力峰可降低４８％，涡对流时间可以推迟０．１９周期。对于间歇式振荡扰流板，采用相位提前控制方式比相位滞后控制方式更有效。     

Two-dimensional unsteady flow around a waving plate in wall effects

A new method of nonlinear formulation is presented to analyze the two-dimensional incompressible flow around a flexible plate waving near a rigid wall. A system of differential and integral equations is solved for the velocity field and the wake vortex. A nonlinear unsteady Kutta condition is imposed at the trailing edge in order to treat the case of large amplitude and fast oscillation accurately. The shed vortex sheet is discretized and approximated by a large number of vortex filaments, and their movements are visualized by numerical computation. The lift, thrust, power input and hydrodynamic efficiency are computed for various values of the distance of the waving plate from the wall.     

用拉格朗日相关结构研究圆盘启动过程的流体输运

利用粒子成像测速(PIV)技术,得到了圆盘启动涡环流场的速度分布和涡量分布.圆盘启动涡环流场的有限时间李雅普诺夫指数场(Finit-time Lyapunov exponents,FTLE)以及拉格朗日相关结构(Lagrangian coherent structures,LCS)被计算出来.基于圆盘启动涡环流场的有限时间李雅普诺夫指数场以及拉格朗日相关结构,通过跟踪流体质点,对圆盘启动涡环流场的输运情况进行了分析.在圆盘启动涡环形成过程中,流体发现被圆盘和相互排斥的拉格朗日相关结构分成三部分.剪切流窗口(vorticity-flux window)被发现,涡量流通过剪切流窗口进入涡核.涡环的非定常边界被确定,它由相互排斥的拉格朗日相关结构背风面、圆盘以及剪切流窗口组成.     

数值研究平板方舵激波-湍流边界层干扰

数值研究了平板方舵激波-湍流边界层干扰流场。模拟出了分离激波与弓型激波砬撞后形成的“λ”激波结构;消晰地显示了分离区中的旋涡结构,发现流场中会出现二次分离涡,并从理论上分析了流场对称面涡心形态与非定常的关系,得到了涡心为不稳定螺旋点或出现极限环是非定常流动特征的新结论。     

Experimental study of pitching and plunging airfoils at low Reynolds numbers

Measurements of the unsteady flow structure and force time history of pitching and plunging SD7003 and flat plate airfoils at low Reynolds numbers are presented. The airfoils were pitched and plunged in the effective angle of attack range of 2.4°–13.6° (shallow-stall kinematics) and ?6° to 22° (deep-stall kinematics). The shallow-stall kinematics results for the SD7003 airfoil show attached flow and laminar-to-turbulent transition at low effective angle of attack during the down stroke motion, while the flat plate model exhibits leading edge separation. Strong Re-number effects were found for the SD7003 airfoil which produced approximately 25 % increase in the peak lift coefficient at Re = 10,000 compared to higher Re flows. The flat plate airfoil showed reduced Re effects due to leading edge separation at the sharper leading edge, and the measured peak lift coefficient was higher than that predicted by unsteady potential flow theory. The deep-stall kinematics resulted in leading edge separation that led to formation of a large leading edge vortex (LEV) and a small trailing edge vortex (TEV) for both airfoils. The measured peak lift coefficient was significantly higher (~50 %) than that for the shallow-stall kinematics. The effect of airfoil shape on lift force was greater than the Re effect. Turbulence statistics were measured as a function of phase using ensemble averages. The results show anisotropic turbulence for the LEV and isotropic turbulence for the TEV. Comparison of unsteady potential flow theory with the experimental data showed better agreement by using the quasi-steady approximation, or setting C(k) = 1 in Theodorsen theory, for leading edge–separated flows.     

Further study on vortex shedding flow by a circular cylinder

In the present paper the mechanism involved in vortex shedding flows is investigated in detail. In the early stage of the unsteady separated flow the interaction between secondary vortices and primary vortices is quite strong. In the later stage of the flow, corresponding to the vortex shedding the recirculating flow region on each side of the aft body goes through such a cycle: growth-contraction-growth, the secondary separation occurs periodically rather than continuously. The reduction of circulation is taken into account in three cases with different decay factors to study its influence on the prediction of main flow characteristics. Results show that to simulate vortex shedding flow it is necessary to include the reduction of circulation to bring the calculated results into good agreement with experiments. An improved discrete vortex model is suggested in which both the secondary separation and the reduction are incorporated. The processes of vortex shedding, the forces prediction and other flow characteristics are given and some discussions are made. Porject is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China.     

非定常流动的快速拉格朗日涡方法数值模拟

采用快速拉格朗日涡方法数值模拟有复杂旋涡运动的非定常流动. 利用离散涡元模拟旋涡的产生、聚集和输送过程. 拉格朗日描述法用来计算离散涡元的移动,而移动速度则利用广义毕奥-萨伐尔公式结合快速多极子展开法计算,修正的涡半径扩散模型用来模拟离散涡元的黏性扩散. 突然起动圆柱和大攻角下突然起动翼型的非定常有涡流动的数值模拟,及其与试验结果的对比验证了方法的有效性. 另外,大攻角下突然起动翼型的计算结果给出了翼型起动后吸力面旋涡的产生、发展,周期性非定常流动的形成,以及尾流旋涡结构等一些重要的流动特征.[关键词] 非定常流有涡流动快速涡方法      

Application of a vortex lattice numerical model in the calculation of inviscid incompressible flow around delta wings

The flow over a flat plate delta wing at incidence and in sideslip is studied using vortex lattice models based on streamwise penelling. For the attached flow problem the effect of sideslip is simulated by modifying the standard vortex lattice model for zero sideslip by aligning the trailing vortices aft of the wing along the resultant flow direction. For the separated flow problem a non-linear vortex lattice model is developed for both zero and non-zero sideslip angles in which the shape and position of the leading edge separation vortices are calculated by an iterative procedure starting from an assumed initial shape. The theoretical values are compared with available theoretical and experimental results.     

Self-similar problem of separated ideal-fluid flow over an expanding plate

The research carried out in [1–8] is developed by considering the self-similar problem of the unsteady separated flow over a plate expanding from a point with the constant velocity D of a plane-parallel stream of ideal fluid with velocity V_∞. At infinity the flow is uniform, steady and normal to the surface of the plate. A wide range of values of the parameter α=V_∞/D is investigated. On the value of α there depends, in particular, the direction of shedding of the vortex sheets (VS) which, in accordance with the Joukowsky-Chaplygin condition, occur in separated flow over a plate. A comparison is made with the results obtained when the sheets are replaced by vortex filaments (VF). In accordance with [9] the choice of the intensity of the VF ensures, like the introduction of VS, the finiteness of the flow velocity at the edges of the plate. Within the framework of the unsteady analogy and the law of plane sections the problem of the flow over a delta wing at an angle of attack reduces to the unsteady flow over an expanding plate investigated. In addition to [3, 9], this question was also examined in [10–15]. In [11–15] and in [3] the analysis is based on VS and in [9, 10] on VF. Special attention is paid to the topology of the flow, in particular, to the structure of the so-called conical streamlines and their points of convergence and divergence (this was done in [3] for a special, nonlinear law of expansion of the plate and a variable free-stream velocity). The results obtained for the models with VS and VF are compared over a broad range of values of α, not only with respect to the integral characteristics, as in [12], but also with respect to the flow patterns. Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, pp. 62–69, September–October, 1988.     

The evolution of starting vortex and secondary separation on an elliptic cylinder

Flow visualization was used to investigate experimentally the evolution process from symmetrical shedding to staggered shedding of the starting vortex and the phenomenon of secondary separation on an elliptic cylinder at moderate Reynolds numbers. The vortex structure of the flow separation was studied. The temporal variation of separation angle and length of wake vortex were given. The photographs and experimental results provided basis for further investigation of the complicated feature of the starting process of unsteady separated flows around an elliptic cylinder. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.     

An unsteady airfoil theory applied to pitching motions validated against experiment and computation

An inviscid theoretical method that is applicable to non-periodic motions and that accounts for large amplitudes and non-planar wakes (large-angle unsteady thin airfoil theory) is developed. A pitch-up, hold, pitch-down motion for a flat plate at Reynolds number 10,000 is studied using this theoretical method and also using computational (immersed boundary method) and experimental (water tunnel) methods. Results from theory are compared against those from computation and experiment which are also compared with each other. The variation of circulatory and apparent-mass loads as a function of pivot location for this motion is examined. The flow phenomena leading up to leading-edge vortex shedding and the limit of validity of the inviscid theory in the face of vortex-dominated flows are investigated. Also, the effect of pitch amplitude on leading-edge vortex shedding is examined, and two distinctly different vortex-dominated flows are studied using dye flow visualizations from experiment and vorticity plots from computation.     

Simulations of the unsteady separated flow past a normal flat plate

Well-resolved two-dimensional numerical simulations of the unsteady separated flow past a normal flat plate at low Reynolds numbers have been performed using a fractional step procedure with high-order spatial discretization. A fifth-order upwind-biased scheme is used for the convective terms and the diffusive terms are represented by a fourth-order central difference scheme. The pressure Poisson equation is solved using a direct method based on eigenvalue decomposition of the coefficient matrix. A systematic study of the flow has been conducted with high temporal and spatial resolutions for a series of Reynolds numbers. The interactions of the vortices shed form the shear layers in the near-and far-wake regions are studied. For Reynolds numbers less than 250 the vortices are observed to convect parallel to the freestream. However, at higher Reynolds numbers (500 and 1000), complex interactions including vortex pairing, tearing and deformations are seen to occur in the far-wake region. Values of the drag coefficient and the wake closure length are presented and compared with previous experimental and numerical studies.