Chimera technique for transporting disturbances

The Chimera technique for moving grids is used to take into account nonhomogeneous unsteady inflow conditions in the simulation of aerodynamic flows. The method is applied to simulate the transport of a large‐scale vortex by a mean velocity field over a large distance, where it finally interacts with an airfoil. The Chimera approach allows one to resolve the vortex on a fine grid, whereas the unstructured background grid covering most of the computational domain can be much coarser. This method shows the same low numerical dissipation as a simulation on a globally fine grid. Several precursor tests are performed with a finite modified analytical Lamb–Oseen type vortex to study the influence of spatial and temporal resolution and the employed numerical scheme. Then, the interaction of an analytical vortex with a NACA0012 airfoil and with an ONERA‐A airfoil near stall is studied. Finally, a realistic vortex is generated by a ramping airfoil and is transported on a moving Chimera block and then interacts with a two‐element airfoil, which allows one to simulate a typical setup for a gust generator in aerodynamic facilities. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A local domain‐free discretization method for simulation of incompressible flows over moving bodies

This paper presents a local domain‐free discretization (DFD) method for the simulation of unsteady flows over moving bodies governed by the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. The discretization strategy of DFD is that the discrete form of partial differential equations at an interior point may involve some points outside the solution domain. All the mesh points are classified as interior points, exterior dependent points and exterior independent points. The functional values at the exterior dependent points are updated at each time step by the approximate form of solution near the boundary. When the body is moving, only the status of points is changed and the mesh can stay fixed. The issue of ‘freshly cleared nodes/cells’ encountered in usual sharp interface methods does not pose any particular difficulty in the presented method. The Galerkin finite‐element approximation is used for spatial discretization, and the discrete equations are integrated in time via a dual‐time‐stepping scheme based on artificial compressibility. In order to validate the present method for moving‐boundary flow problems, two groups of flow phenomena have been simulated: (1) flows over a fixed circular cylinder, a harmonic in‐line oscillating cylinder in fluid at rest and a transversely oscillating cylinder in uniform flow; (2) flows over a pure pitching airfoil, a heaving–pitching airfoil and a deforming airfoil. The predictions show good agreement with the published numerical results or experimental data. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical simulation of thin airfoil stall by using a modified DES approach

The detached‐Eddy simulation (DES) method was applied to calculate pre‐ and post‐stall aerodynamic characteristics of airfoil stall. A discrepancy between numerical and experimental data was observed near the stall regime for the airfoil NACA64_A‐ 006 which is a thin airfoil stall type. The reason of this discrepancy and one possible way for improvement of the numerical model are discussed here. It is shown that the use of the Baldwin–Lomax model in the RANS region improves the DES results in this case. If the relevant factors (grid density, time step, turbulence model, etc.) are appropriately taken into account, the DES approach could reliably predict stall aerodynamical characteristics. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamics of co-rotating vortices in a flow around a bio-inspired corrugated airfoil

Bio-inspired corrugated airfoils show favourable aerodynamic characteristics such as high coefficient of lift and delayed stall at low Reynolds numbers. Two-dimensional (2D) direct numerical simulation has been performed here on a corrugated airfoil at various angles of attack (0°, +5°, -5°) and Reynolds number of 280 to 6700. The objective is to analyse the pressure variation inside the corrugations and correlate it to the vortex movement across the corrugations and the overall aerodynamic characteristics of the corrugated airfoil. The flow characteristics have been examined based on the local Strouhal numbers in the corrugations of the airfoil. It is observed that the pressure variation in each corrugation is the result of vortex merging and separation in the corrugation which plays a major role in changing the flow characteristics. The Strouhal number of the flow is dictated by the most dominant local Strouhal number. The numerical results are further compared with experimental results obtained using particle image velocimetry, and the two set of results are found to match well. These results are significant because they elucidate the effect of corrugation, angle of attack, and Reynolds number on flow over a corrugated airfoil.     

Design of a separation-free airfoil with outer-flow suction over a certain range of angles of attack

The problem of the design of an airfoil with slot air suction from the outer flow for a prescribed velocity distribution over the airfoil contour that ensures the absence of flow separation over a given range of angles of attack is formulated and solved. The proposed combined numerical and analytical method of airfoil design within the framework of the inviscid incompressible fluid model is based on the theory of inverse problems of aerohydrodynamics. Separationless flow past the airfoil is achieved by eliminating the falling velocity intervals from the specified velocity distribution in two given flow regimes. The flow past an airfoil with outer-flow suction is determined not only by the angle of attack as for an impermeable airfoil but also by the value of the suction mass flow. The slot is modeled by an annular channel with constant velocities on the walls. To satisfy the problem solvability conditions, free parameters are introduced into the initial velocity distribution. Examples of airfoil design are given. Kazan, Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 4, pp. 185–191, July–August, 2000.     

Numerical simulation on the NACA0018 airfoil self-noise generation

Airfoil self-noise is a common phenomenon for many engineering applications. Aiming to study the underlying mechanism of airfoil self-noise at low Mach number and moderate Reynolds number flow, a numerical investigation is presented on noise generation by flow past NACA0018 airfoil. Based on a high-order accurate numerical method, both the near-field hydrodynamics and the far-field acoustics are computed simultaneously by performing direct numerical simulation. The mean flow properties agree well with the experimental measurements. The characteristics of aerodynamic noise are investigated at various angles of attack. The obtained results show that inclining the airfoil could enlarge turbulent intensity and produce larger scale of vortices. The sound radiation is mainly towards the upper and lower directions of the airfoil surface. At higher angle of attack, the tonal noise tends to disappear and the noise spectrum displays broad-band features.     

Assessment of 2D/3D numerical modeling for deep dynamic stall experiments

The results of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations in two and three spatial dimensions are compared to pressure measurements and particle image velocimetry (PIV) flow surveys to assess the suitability of numerical models for the simulation of deep dynamic stall experiments carried out on a pitching NACA 23012 airfoil. A sinusoidal pitching motion with a 10° amplitude and a reduced frequency of 0.1 is imposed around two different mean angles of attack of 10° and 15°. The comparison of the airloads curves and of the pressure distribution over the airfoil surface shows that a three-dimensional numerical model can better reproduce the flow structures and the airfoil performance for the deep dynamic stall regime. Also, the vortical structures observed by PIV in the flow field are better captured by the three-dimensional model. This feature highlighted the relevance of three-dimensional effects on the flow field in deep dynamic stall.     

A gas‐kinetic scheme for the simulation of turbulent flows on unstructured meshes

This paper presents a numerical method for simulating turbulent flows via coupling the Boltzmann BGK equation with Spalart–Allmaras one equation turbulence model. Both the Boltzmann BGK equation and the turbulence model equation are carried out using the finite volume method on unstructured meshes, which is different from previous works on structured grid. The application of the gas‐kinetic scheme is extended to the simulation of turbulent flows with arbitrary geometries. The adaptive mesh refinement technique is also adopted to reduce the computational cost and improve the efficiency of meshes. To organize the unstructured mesh data structure efficiently, a non‐manifold hybrid mesh data structure is extended for polygonal cells. Numerical experiments are performed on incompressible flow over a smooth flat plate and compressible turbulent flows around a NACA 0012 airfoil using unstructured hybrid meshes. These numerical results are found to be in good agreement with experimental data and/or other numerical solutions, demonstrating the applicability of the proposed method to simulate both subsonic and transonic turbulent flows. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Finite element computation of turbulent flow past a multi-element airfoil

Flow past multi-element airfoil is studied via two-dimensional numerical simulations. The incompressible Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equations, in primitive variables, are solved using a stabilized finite element formulation. The Spalart–Allmaras and Baldwin–Lomax models are employed for turbulence closure. The implementation of the Spalart–Allmaras model is verified by computing flow over a flat plate with a specified trip location. Good agreement is seen between the results obtained with the two models for flow past a NACA 0012 airfoil at 5° angle of attack. Results for the multi-element airfoil, with the two turbulence models, are compared with experiments for various angles of attack. In general, the pressure distribution, from both the models matches quite well with the experimental results. However, at larger angles of attack, the computational results overpredict the suction peak on the slat. The velocity profiles from the Baldwin–Lomax model are, in general, more diffused compared to those from the Spalart–Allmaras model. The agreement between the computed and experimental results is not too good in the flap region for large angles of attack. Both the models are unable to predict the stall; the flow remains attached even for relatively large angles of attack. Consequently, the lift coefficient is over predicted at large α by the computations. Overall, compared to the Baldwin–Lomax model, the predictions from the Spalart–Allmaras model are closer to experimental measurements.     

Adaptive Euler simulations of airfoil–vortex interaction

A grid redistribution method is used together with an improved spatially third‐order accurate Euler solver to improve the accuracy of direct Euler simulations of airfoil–vortex interaction. The presented numerical results of two airfoil–vortex interaction cases indicate that with combination of the two methods, the numerical diffusion of vorticity inherent in the direct Euler simulations is drastically reduced without increasing the number of grid points. With some extra works due to grid redistribution, the predicted vortex structure is well preserved after a long convection and much sharper acoustic wave front resulting from airfoil–vortex interaction is captured. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Calculation of nonlinear aerodynamic characteristics of a wing using a 3‐D panel method

The nonlinear aerodynamic characteristic of a wing is investigated using the frequency‐domain panel method. To calculate the nonlinear aerodynamic characteristics of a three‐dimensional wing, the iterative decambering approach is introduced into the frequency‐domain panel method. The decambering approach uses the known nonlinear aerodynamic characteristic of airfoil and calculates two‐variable decambering function to take into consideration the boundary‐layer separation effects for the each section of the wing. The multidimensional Newton iteration is used to account for the coupling between the different sections of wing. The nonlinear aerodynamic analyses for a rectangular wing, a tapered wing, and a wing with the control surface are performed. Present results are given with experiments and other numerical results. Computed results are in good agreement with other data. This method can be used for any wing having different nonlinear aerodynamic characteristics of airfoil. The present method will contribute to the analysis of aircraft in the conceptual design because the present method can predict the nonlinear aerodynamic characteristics of a wing with a few computing resources and significant time. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Input-output reduced-order modeling of unsteady flow over an airfoil at a high angle of attack based on dynamic mode decomposition with control

Due to the damage caused by stall flutter, the investigation and modeling of the flow over a wind turbine airfoil at high angles of attack are essential. Dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) and dynamic mode decomposition with control (DMDc) are used to analyze unsteady flow and identify the intrinsic dynamics. The DMDc algorithm is found to have an identification problem when the spatial dimension of the training data is larger than the number of snapshots. IDMDc, a variant algorithm based on reduced dimension data, is introduced to identify the precise intrinsic dynamics. DMD, DMDc and IDMDc are all used to decompose the data for unsteady flow over the S809 airfoil that are obtained by numerical simulations. The DMD results show that the dominant feature of a static airfoil is the adjacent shedding vortices in the wake. For an oscillating airfoil, the DMDc results may fail to consider the effect of the input and have an identification problem. IDMDc can alleviate this problem. The dominant IDMDc modes show that the intrinsic flow for the oscillating case is similar to the unsteady flow over the static airfoil. Moreover, the input–output model identified by IDMDc can give better predictions for different oscillating cases than the identified DMDc model.     

Implicit preconditioned high‐order compact scheme for the simulation of the three‐dimensional incompressible Navier–Stokes equations with pseudo‐compressibility method

This paper combines the pseudo‐compressibility procedure, the preconditioning technique for accelerating the time marching for stiff hyperbolic equations, and high‐order accurate central compact scheme to establish the code for efficiently and accurately solving incompressible flows numerically based on the finite difference discretization. The spatial scheme consists of the sixth‐order compact scheme and 10th‐order numerical filter operator for guaranteeing computational stability. The preconditioned pseudo‐compressible Navier–Stokes equations are marched temporally using the implicit lower–upper symmetric Gauss–Seidel time integration method, and the time accuracy is improved by the dual‐time step method for the unsteady problems. The efficiency and reliability of the present procedure are demonstrated by applications to Taylor decaying vortices phenomena, double periodic shear layer rolling‐up problem, laminar flow over a flat plate, low Reynolds number unsteady flow around a circular cylinder at Re = 200, high Reynolds number turbulence flow past the S809 airfoil, and the three‐dimensional flows through two 90°curved ducts of square and circular cross sections, respectively. It is found that the numerical results of the present algorithm are in good agreement with theoretical solutions or experimental data. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A hybrid pressure‐based solver for nonideal single‐phase fluid flows at all speeds

This paper describes the implementation of a numerical solver that is capable of simulating compressible flows of nonideal single‐phase fluids. The proposed method can be applied to arbitrary equations of state and is suitable for all Mach numbers. The pressure‐based solver uses the operator‐splitting technique and is based on the PISO/SIMPLE algorithm: the density, velocity, and temperature fields are predicted by solving the linearized versions of the balance equations using the convective fluxes from the previous iteration or time step. The overall mass continuity is ensured by solving the pressure equation derived from the continuity equation, the momentum equation, and the equation of state. Nonphysical oscillations of the numerical solution near discontinuities are damped using the Kurganov‐Tadmor/Kurganov‐Noelle‐Petrova (KT/KNP) scheme for convective fluxes. The solver was validated using different test cases, where analytical and/or numerical solutions are present or can be derived: (1) A convergent‐divergent nozzle with three different operating conditions; (2) the Riemann problem for the Peng‐Robinson equation of state; (3) the Riemann problem for the covolume equation of state; (4) the development of a laminar velocity profile in a circular pipe (also known as Poiseuille flow); (5) a laminar flow over a circular cylinder; (6) a subsonic flow over a backward‐facing step at low Reynolds numbers; (7) a transonic flow over the RAE 2822 airfoil; and (8) a supersonic flow around a blunt cylinder‐flare model. The spatial approximation order of the scheme is second order. The mesh convergence of the numerical solution was achieved for all cases. The accuracy order for highly compressible flows with discontinuities is close to first order and, for incompressible viscous flows, it is close to second order. The proposed solver is named rhoPimpleCentralFoam and is implemented in the open‐source CFD library OpenFOAM^®. For high speed flows, it shows a similar behavior as the KT/KNP schemes (implemented as rhoCentralFoam‐solver, Int. J. Numer. Meth. Fluids 2010), and for flows with small Mach numbers, it behaves like solvers that are based on the PISO/SIMPLE algorithm.     

Effect of flexure on aerodynamic propulsive efficiency of flapping flexible airfoil

The aim of present study is to investigate the effect of chord-wise flexure amplitude on unsteady aerodynamic characteristics for a flapping airfoil with various combinations of Reynolds number and reduced frequency. Unsteady, viscous flows over a single flexible airfoil in plunge motion are computed using conformal hybrid meshes. The dynamic mesh technique is applied to illustrate the deformation modes of the flexible flapping airfoil. In order to investigate the influence of the flexure amplitude on the aerodynamic performance of the flapping airfoil, the present study considers eight different flexure amplitudes (a₀) ranging from 0 to 0.7 in intervals of 0.1 under conditions of Re=10⁴, reduced frequency k=2, and dimensionless plunge amplitude h₀=0.4. The computed unsteady flow fields clearly reveal the formation and evolution of a pair of leading edge vortices along the body of the flexible airfoil as it undergoes plunge motion. Thrust-indicative wake structures are generated when the flexure amplitude of the airfoil is less than 0.5 of the chord length. An enhancement in the propulsive efficiency is observed for a flapping airfoil with flexure amplitude of 0.3 of the chord length. This study also calculates the propulsive efficiency and thrust under various Reynolds numbers and reduced frequency conditions. The results indicate that the propulsive efficiency has a strong correlation with the reduced frequency. It is found that the flow conditions which yield the highest propulsive efficiency correspond to Strouhal number St of 0.255.     

Multi‐size‐mesh multi‐time‐step algorithm for noise computation on curvilinear meshes

Aeroacoustic problems are often multi‐scale and a zonal refinement technique is thus desirable to reduce computational effort while preserving low dissipation and low dispersion errors from the numerical scheme. For that purpose, the multi‐size‐mesh multi‐time‐step algorithm of Tam and Kurbatskii [AIAA Journal, 2000, 38 (8), p. 1331–1339] allows changes by a factor of two between adjacent blocks, accompanied by a doubling in the time step. This local time stepping avoids wasting calculation time, which would result from imposing a unique time step dictated by the smallest grid size for explicit time marching. In the present study, the multi‐size‐mesh multi‐time‐step method is extended to general curvilinear grids by using a suitable coordinate transformation and by performing the necessary interpolations directly in the physical space due to multidimensional interpolations combining order constraints and optimization in the wave number space. A particular attention is paid to the properties of the Adams–Bashforth schemes used for time marching. The optimization of the coefficients by minimizing an error in the wave number space rather than satisfying a formal order is shown to be inefficient for Adams–Bashforth schemes. The accuracy of the extended multi‐size‐mesh multi‐time‐step algorithm is first demonstrated for acoustic propagation on a sinusoidal grid and for a computation of laminar trailing edge noise. In the latter test‐case, the mesh doubling is close to the airfoil and the vortical structures are crossing the doubling interface without affecting the quality of the radiated field. The applicability of the algorithm in three dimensions is eventually demonstrated by computing tonal noise from a moderate Reynolds number flow over an airfoil. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of High-order Explicit LES Dynamic Modeling Applied to Airfoil Flows

A high-order low dissipative numerical framework is discussed to tackle simultaneously the modeling of unresolved sub-grid scale flow turbulence and the capturing of shock waves. The flows around two different airfoil profiles are simulated using a Spectral Difference discretisation scheme. First, a transitional, almost incompressible, low Reynolds number flow over a Selig-Donovan 7003 airfoil. Second, a high Reynolds number flow over a RAE2822 airfoil under transonic conditions. These flows feature both laminar and turbulent flow physics and are thus particularly challenging for turbulence sub-grid scale modeling. The accuracy of the recently developed Spectral Element Dynamic Model, specifically capable of detecting spatial under-resolution in high-order flow simulations, is evaluated. Concerning the test in transonic conditions, the additional complexity due to the presence of shock waves has been handled using an artificial viscosity shock-capturing technique based on bulk viscosity. To mitigate the impact of the shock-capturing on turbulence dissipation, it was necessary to combine the high-order modal-type shock detection with a usual sensor measuring the local flow compressibility.

     

High fidelity numerical simulation of airfoil thickness and kinematics effects on flapping airfoil propulsion

High-fidelity numerical simulations with the spectral difference (SD) method are carried out to investigate the unsteady flow over a series of oscillating NACA 4-digit airfoils. Airfoil thickness and kinematics effects on the flapping airfoil propulsion are highlighted. It is confirmed that the aerodynamic performance of airfoils with different thickness can be very different under the same kinematics. Distinct evolutionary patterns of vortical structures are analyzed to unveil the underlying flow physics behind the diverse flow phenomena associated with different airfoil thickness and kinematics and reveal the synthetic effects of airfoil thickness and kinematics on the propulsive performance. Thickness effects at various reduced frequencies and Strouhal numbers for the same chord length based Reynolds number (=1200) are then discussed in detail. It is found that at relatively small Strouhal number (=0.3), for all types of airfoils with the combined pitching and plunging motion (pitch angle 20°, the pitch axis located at one third of chord length from the leading edge, pitch leading plunge by 75°), low reduced frequency (=1) is conducive for both the thrust production and propulsive efficiency. Moreover, relatively thin airfoils (e.g. NACA0006) can generate larger thrust and maintain higher propulsive efficiency than thick airfoils (e.g. NACA0030). However, with the same kinematics but at relatively large Strouhal number (=0.45), it is found that airfoils with different thickness exhibit diverse trend on thrust production and propulsive efficiency, especially at large reduced frequency (=3.5). Results on effects of airfoil thickness based Reynolds numbers indicate that relative thin airfoils show superior propulsion performance in the tested Reynolds number range. The evolution of leading edge vortices and the interaction between the leading and trailing edge vortices play key roles in flapping airfoil propulsive performance.     

Aeroelastic interactions and trajectory selection of vortex gusts impinging upon Joukowski airfoils

The dynamically-coupled interactions of vortex gusts encountering a symmetric Joukowski airfoil on linear elastic supports is formulated analytically and evaluated numerically using a time-dependent conformal mapping. The Brown and Michael framework models the unsteady shedding of vorticity from the airfoil into the wake, and the aeroelastic motion of the airfoil is analyzed using quasi-steady, apparent mass, and fully-unsteady aerodynamic models. Special attention is paid to the influences of the strength of the incident vortex and the airfoil natural frequency on the initial upstream placement of a vortex gust that achieves direct impingement. These results are weakly sensitive to the initial vortex position in the limits of either large or small structural natural frequency, and the initial vertical vortex position to achieve impingement changes monotonically with the vortex strength. A comparison of the numerical model with available experimental vortex gust measurements over stationary airfoils highlights the appropriate use of the point-vortex model for inviscid vortex–airfoil interaction problems without significant vortex strength decay, which occurs for predominantly viscous interactions of close vortex–airfoil encounters.     

Circulation flow around airfoils by a steady plane-parallel flow of a heavy liquid of finite depth with a free surface

Steady problems of a circulation flow around bodies by a flow of a heavy liquid bounded by a free surface and a straight bottom are solved. The method of complex boundary elements is used, which is based on the integral Cauchy formula written for a complex-conjugate velocity. Results of numerical calculations of the flow around a circular contour and the Joukowski airfoil are presented. Shapes of the free surface and the most important hydrodynamic characteristics of the process (velocity circulation over the airfoil and the lifting force and its moment relative to the sharp edge of the airfoil) are given. Kemerovo State University, Kemerovo 650043. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 101–110, May–June, 2000.