Measurement of unsteady boundary layer developed on an oscillating airfoil using multiple hot-film sensors

 The spatial-temporal progressions of the leading-edge stagnation, separation and reattachment points, and the state of the unsteady boundary layer developed on the upper surface of a 6 in. chord NACA 0012 airfoil model, oscillated sinusoidally within and beyond the static-stall angle, were measured using 140 closely-spaced, multiple hot-film sensors (MHFS). The MHFS measurements show that (i) the laminar separation point and transition were delayed with increasing α and the reattachment and relaminarization were promoted with decreasing α, relative to the static case, (ii) the pitchup motion helped to keep the boundary layer attached to higher angles of attack over that could be obtained statically, (iii) the dynamic stall process was initiated by the turbulent flow separation in the leading-edge region as well as by the onset of flow reversal in the trailing-edge region, and (iv) the dynamic stall process was found not to originate with the bursting of a laminar separation bubble, but with a breakdown of the turbulent boundary layer. The MHFS measurements also show that the flow unsteadiness caused by airfoil motion as well as by the flow disturbances can be detected simultaneously and nonintrusively. The MHFS characterizations of the unsteady boundary layers are useful in the study of unsteady separated flowfields generated by rapidly maneuvering aircraft, helicopter rotor blades, and wing energy machines. Received: 17 June 1997 / Accepted: 10 December 1997     

Operational Modal Analysis of a Helicopter Rotor Blade Using Digital Image Correlation

A novel procedure to perform operational modal analysis on a reduced-scale, 2 m diameter helicopter rotor blade is described. Images of the rotor blade rotating at 900 RPM are captured by a pair of high-speed digital cameras at a sampling rate of 1000 frames per second. From these images, the out-of-plane bending deformation of the rotor blade is measured using Digital Image Correlation, with a spatial resolution of 7.2 mm and an accuracy of 60 μm, or 0.006 % of the rotor radius. Modal parameters including natural frequencies and mode shapes are determined from the bending deformation through application of the Ibrahim Time Domain method. The first three out-of-plane bending modes were identified at each rotational speed and compared to an analytical finite element model of the rotor blade. The experimental and analytical natural frequencies agreed to within 0.2 % in the best case and 10.0 % in the worst case. The experimental mode shapes were also found to closely match the analytical predictions. The results of this study demonstrate the ability of this procedure to accurately determine the modal parameters of rotating helicopter rotor blades.     

两种椭圆翼型高速气动特性实验研究

新概念旋转机翼飞机的主机翼既能高速旋转作为旋翼,又可锁定作为固定翼,所以只能使用特殊的前后对称翼型。针对主机翼翼型的这一特殊要求,对16％相对厚度,相对弯度分别为0％和3％的两种椭圆翼型的高速气动特性进行了风洞实验研究,试验分别在中国空气动力研究发展中心FL-21风洞和荷兰代尔夫特大学TST-27风洞进行,采用表面测压和尾排型阻测量技术。试验结果的对比分析表明,有弯度椭圆翼型的升力和力矩特性优于无弯度椭圆翼型,而阻力特性和最大升阻比劣于无弯度椭圆翼型。试验结果为旋转机翼飞机主机翼翼型的选取提供了参考。     

Performance improvement of small-scale rotors by passive blade twist control

A passive twist control is proposed as an adaptive way to maximize the overall efficiency of the small-scale rotor blade for multifunctional aircrafts. Incorporated into a database of airfoil characteristics, Blade Element Momentum Theory is implemented to obtain the blade optimum twist rates for hover and forward flight. In order to realize the required torsion of blade between hover and forward flight, glass/epoxy laminate blade is proposed based on Centrifugal Force Induced Twist concept. Tip mass is used to improve the nose-down torsion and the stabilization of rotating flexible blade. The laminate blades are tested in hover and forward flight modes, with deformations measured by Laser Displacement Sensor. Two Laser Displacement Sensors are driven by the tracking systems to scan the rotating blade from root to tip. The distance from blade surface to a reference plane can be recorded section by section. Then, a polynomial surface fitting is applied to reconstruct the shape of rotating blade, including the analysis of measurement precision based on the Kline–McClintock method. The results from deformation testings show that nose-down torsion is generated in each flight mode. The data from a Fluid Structure Interaction model agrees well with experimental results at an acceptable level in terms of the trend predictions.     

Validation of actuator disc circulation distribution for unsteady virtual blades model

The actuator disc method is an engineering approach to reduce computer resources in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of helicopter rotors or aeroplane propellers. Implementation of an actuator disc based on rotor circulation distribution allows for approximations to be made while reproducing the blade tip vortices. Radial circulation distributions can be formulated according to the nonuniform Heyson-Katzoff “typical load” in hover. In forward flight, the nonuniform disk models include “azimuthal” sin and cos terms to reproduce the blade cyclic motion. The azimuthal circulation distribution for a forward flight mode corresponds to trimmed conditions for the disk rolling and pitching moments. The amplitude of the cos harmonic is analysed and compared here with presented in references data and CFD simulations results.     

Aeroelastic analysis of helicopter rotor blade in hover using an efficient reduced-order aerodynamic model

This paper presents a coupled flap–lag–torsion aeroelastic stability analysis and response of a hingeless helicopter blade in the hovering flight condition. The boundary element method based on the wake eigenvalues is used for the prediction of unsteady airloads of the rotor blade. The aeroelastic equations of motion of the rotor blade are derived by Galerkin's method. To obtain the aeroelastic stability and response, the governing nonlinear equations of motion are linearized about the nonlinear steady equilibrium positions using small perturbation theory. The equilibrium deflections are calculated through the iterative Newton–Raphson method. Numerical results comprising steady equilibrium state deflections, aeroelastic eigenvalues and time history response about these states for a two-bladed rotor are presented, and some of them are compared with those obtained from a two-dimensional quasi-steady strip aerodynamic theory. Also, the effect of the number of aerodynamic eigenmodes is investigated. The results show that the three-dimensional aerodynamic formulation has considerable impact on the determination of both the equilibrium condition and lead-lag instability.     

Thermographic flow visualization by means of non-negative matrix factorization

In order to investigate the areas of different flow regimes in the boundary layer of an airfoil, thermography is a powerful flow visualization tool. However, the distinguishability between boundary layer flow regimes such as laminar or turbulent is limited due to systematic and random inhomogeneity in the measured temperature field, hindering a clear separation of the flow regimes. In order to increase the distinguishability of different flow regimes, a time series of thermographic images is evaluated by means of a non-negative matrix factorization. As a result, the non-negative matrix factorization creates images that contain the dominant features of the measured images, while reducing systematic temperature gradients within the flow regimes by up to a factor of five. This way an increase of the distinguishability between every pair of consecutive flow regimes can be achieved on the surface of a non-heated cylinder in cross-flow condition. As a further application example of the non-negative matrix factorization, the distinguishability between the flow and the laminar-turbulent transition zone on a heated helicopter airfoil is also increased by a factor of five. Hence, non-negative matrix factorization is capable of enhancing thermographic flow visualization for increasing the distinguishability of different flow phenomena.     

Euler solutions for self-generated rotor blade-vortex interactions

A finite-difference procedure has been developed for the prediction of three-dimensional rotor blade-vortex interactions. The interaction velocity field was obtained through a non-linear superposition of the rotor flow field, computed using the unsteady three-dimensional Euler equations, and the embedded vortex wake flow field, computed using the law of Biot-Savart. In the Euler model, near wake rotational effects were simulated using the surface velocity ‘transpiration’ approach. As a result, a modified surface boundary condition was prescribed and enforced at each time step of the computations to satisfy the tangency boundary condition. For supercritical interactions using an upstream-generated vortex, accuracy of the numerical results were found to rely on the user-specified vortex core radius and vortex strength. For the more general self-generated subcritical interactions, vortex wake trajectories were computed using the lifting-line helicopter/rotor trim code CAMRAD. For these interactions, accuracy of the results were found to rely heavily on the CAMRAD-predicted vortex strength, vortex orientation with respect to the blade, and to a large extent on the user-specified vortex core radius. Results for the one-seventh scale model OLS rotor and for a non-lifting rectangular blade having a NACA0012 section are presented. Comparisons with the experimental windtunnel data are also made.     

风力机叶片的三维非定常气动特性估算

结合动量-叶素理论、非定常空气动力和动态失速模型来计算风力机叶片的二维非定常气动特性,并在此基础上经过适当修正后考虑三维旋转效应的非定常气动特性。分析比较二维和三维两种计算结果,给出更为合理的计算叶片非定常气动特性的方法。计算结果表明,风力机叶片的三维非定常气动特性计算结果与二维时的计算结果相比有较大改善。     

An experimental study on boundary layer transition detection over a pitching supercritical airfoil using hot-film sensors

In the present work, experimental tests are conducted to study boundary layer transition over a supercritical airfoil undergoing pitch oscillations using hot-film sensors. Tests have been undertaken at an incompressible flow. Three reduced frequencies of oscillations and two mean angles of attack are studied and the influences of those parameters on transition location are discussed. Different algorithms are examined on the hot-film signals to detect the transition point. Results show the formation of a laminar separation bubble near the leading edge and at relatively higher angles of attack which leads to the transition of the boundary layer. However, at lower angles of attack, the amplification of the peaks in voltage signal indicate the emergence of the vortical structures within the boundary layer, introducing a different transition mechanism. Moreover, an increase in reduced frequency leads to a delay in transition onset, postponing it to a higher angle of attack, which widens the hysteresis between the upstroke and downstroke motions. Rising the reduced frequency yields in weakening or omission of vortical disturbances ensuing the removal of spikes in the signals. Of the other important results observed, is faster movement of the relaminarization point in the higher mean angle of attack. Finally, a time–frequency analysis of the hot-film signals is performed to investigate evolution of spectral features of the transition due to the pitching motion. An asymmetry is clearly observed in frequency pattern of the signals far from the bubble zone towards the trailing edge; this may reflect the difference between the transition and relaminarization physics. Also, various ranges of frequency were obtained for different transition mechanisms.     

An experimental study of the effects of pitch-pivot-point location on the propulsion performance of a pitching airfoil

An experimental investigation was conducted to characterize the evolution of the unsteady vortex structures in the wake of a pitching airfoil with the pitch-pivot-point moving from 0.16C to 0.52C (C is the chord length of the airfoil). The experimental study was conducted in a low-speed wind tunnel with a symmetric NACA0012 airfoil model in pitching motion under different pitching kinematics (i.e., reduced frequency k=3.8–13.2). A high-resolution particle image velocimetry (PIV) system was used to conduct detailed flow field measurements to quantify the characteristics of the wake flow and the resultant propulsion performance of the pitching airfoil. Besides conducting “free-run” PIV measurements to determine the ensemble-averaged velocity distributions in the wake flow, “phase-locked” PIV measurements were also performed to elucidate further details about the behavior of the unsteady vortex structures. Both the vorticity–moment theorem and the integral momentum theorem were used to evaluate the effects of the pitch-pivot-point location on the propulsion performance of the pitching airfoil. It was found that the pitch-pivot-point would affect the evolution of the unsteady wake vortices and resultant propulsion performance of the pitching airfoil greatly. Moving the pitch-pivot-point of the pitching airfoil can be considered as adding a plunging motion to the original pitching motion. With the pitch-pivot-point moving forward (or backward), the added plunging motion would make the airfoil trailing edge moving in the same (or opposite) direction as of the original pitching motion, which resulted in the generated wake vortices and resultant thrust enhanced (or weakened) by the added plunging motion.     

直升机旋翼瞬态气动响应分析的一个高效方法

基于旋翼动量-叶素组合理论,计入桨叶挥舞运动和动态入流对旋翼拉力的非定常影响,建立了一个快速计算垂直飞行状态总距突增时旋翼气动响应的方法,可用于旋翼拉力、桨叶挥舞运动和诱导速度的瞬态变化的分析。为验证方法的有效性,分别对三种不同总距突增情况下的旋翼气动响应进行了计算,并与可得到的实验结果进行了对比。应用该方法,研究了铰接式旋翼桨叶的挥舞铰外伸量对动态响应的影响,对比了总距突增和突减两种情况下的不同瞬态变化。在此基础上,得出了一些结论。     

Flow field studies on a micro-air-vehicle-scale cycloidal rotor in forward flight

This paper examines the flow physics and principles of force production on a cycloidal rotor (cyclorotor) in forward flight. The cyclorotor considered here consists of two blades rotating about a horizontal axis, with cyclic pitch angle variation about the blade quarter-chord. The flow field at the rotor mid-span is analyzed using smoke flow visualization and particle image velocimeV are compared with flow fields predicted using 2D CFD and time-averaged force measurements acquired in an open-jet wind tunnel at three advance ratios. It is shown that the experimental flow field is nearly two dimensional at μ = 0.73 allowing for qualitative comparisons to be made with CFD. The incoming flow velocity decreases in magnitude as the flow passes through the retreating (upper) half of the rotor and is attributed to power extraction by the blades. A significant increase in flow velocity is observed across the advancing (lower) half of the rotor. The aerodynamic analysis demonstrates that the blades accelerate the flow through the lower aft region of the rotor, where they operate in a high dynamic pressure environment. This is consistent with CFD-predicted values of instantaneous aerodynamic forces which reveal that the aft section of the rotor is the primary region of force production. Phase-averaged flow field measurements showed two blade wakes in the flow, formed by each of the two blades. Analysis of the blades at several azimuthal positions revealed two significant blade-wake interactions. The locations of these blade-wake interactions are correlated with force peaks in the CFD-predicted instantaneous blade forces and highlight their importance to the generation of lift and propulsive force of the cyclorotor.     

A numerical modelling of stator–rotor interaction in a turbine stage with oscillating blades

In real flows unsteady phenomena connected with the circumferential non-uniformity of the main flow and those caused by oscillations of blades are observed only jointly. An understanding of the physics of the mutual interaction between gas flow and oscillating blades and the development of predictive capabilities are essential for improved overall efficiency, durability and reliability. In the study presented, the algorithm proposed involves the coupled solution of 3D unsteady flow through a turbine stage and the dynamics problem for rotor-blade motion by the action of aerodynamic forces, without separating the outer and inner flow fluctuations. The partially integrated method involves the solution of the fluid and structural equations separately, but information is exchanged at each time step, so that solution from one domain is used as a boundary condition for the other domain. 3-D transonic gas flow through the stator and rotor blades in relative motion with periodicity on the whole annulus is described by the unsteady Euler conservation equations, which are integrated using the explicit monotonous finite volume difference scheme of Godunov–Kolgan. The structural analysis uses the modal approach and a 3-D finite element model of a blade. The blade motion is assumed to be constituted as a linear combination of the first natural modes of blade oscillations, with the modal coefficients depending on time. A calculation has been done for the last stage of the steam turbine, under design and off-design regimes. The numerical results for unsteady aerodynamic forces due to stator–rotor interaction are compared with results obtained while taking into account blade oscillations. The mutual influence of both outer flow non-uniformity and blade oscillations has been investigated. It is shown that the amplitude-frequency spectrum of blade oscillations contains the high-frequency harmonics, corresponding to the rotor moving past one stator blade pitch, and low-frequency harmonics caused by blade oscillations and flow non-uniformity downstream from the blade row; moreover, the spectrum involves the harmonics which are not multiples of the rotation frequency.     

Experimental study of boundary-layer transition on an airfoil induced by periodically passing wake

 Hot-wire measurements are performed in boundary-layer flows developing on a NACA 0012 airfoil over which wakes pass periodically. The periodic wakes are generated by rotating circular cylinders clockwise or counterclockwise around the airfoil. The time- and phase-averaged mean streamwise velocities and turbulence fluctuations are measured to investigate the phenomena of wake-induced transition. Especially, the phase-averaged wall shear stresses are evaluated using a computational Preston tube method. The passing wakes significantly change the pressure distribution on the airfoil, which has influence on the transition process of the boundary layer. The orientation of the passing wake alters the pressure distribution in a different manner. Due to the passing wake, the turbulent patches are generated inside the laminar boundary layer on the airfoil, and the boundary layer becomes temporarily transitional. The patches propagate downstream at a speed smaller than the free-stream velocity and merge together further downstream. Relatively high values of phase-averaged turbulence fluctuations in the outer part of the boundary layer indicate the possibility that breakdown occurs in the outer layer away from the wall. It is confirmed that the phase-averaged mean velocity profile has two dips in the outer region of the transitional boundary layer for each passing cycle. Received: 12 February 2001 / Accepted: 6 July 2001 Published online: 23 November 2001     

Experimental study of the boundary layer over an airfoil in plunging motion

This is an experimental study on the boundary layer over an airfoil under steady and unsteady conditions.It specifically deals with the effect of plunging oscillation on the laminar/turbulent characteristics of the boundary layer.The wind tunnel measurements involved surfacemounted hot-film sensors and boundary-layer rake.The experiments were conducted at Reynolds numbers of 0.42×10 6 to 0.84 × 10 6 and the reduced frequency was varied from 0.01 to 0.11.The results of the quasi-wall-shear stress as well as the boundary layer velocity profiles provided important information about the state of the boundary layer over the suction surface of the airfoil in both static and dynamic cases.For the static tests,boundary layer transition occurred through a laminar separation bubble.By increasing the angle of attack,disturbances and the transition location moved toward the leading edge.For the dynamic tests,earlier transition occurred with increasing rather than decreasing effective angle of attack.The mean angle of attack and the oscillating parameters significantly affected the state of the boundary layer.By increasing the reduced frequency,the boundary layer transition was promoted to the upstroke portion of the equivalent angle of attack,but the quasi skin friction coefficient was decreased.     

Experimental study on the effect of unsteadiness on boundary layer development on a linear turbine cascade

 The results from an experimental investigation of unsteady boundary layer behavior on a linear turbine cascade are presented in this paper. To perform a detailed study on unsteady cascade aerodynamics and heat transfer, a new large-scale, high-subsonic research facility for simulating the periodic unsteady flow has been developed. It is capable of sequentially generating up to four different unsteady inlet flow conditions that lead to four different passing frequencies, wake structures, and freestream turbulence intensities. For a given Reynolds number, two different unsteady wake formations are utilized. Detailed unsteady boundary layer velocity. turbulence intensity, and pressure measurements are performed along the suction and pressure surfaces of one blade. The results display the transition and development of the boundary layer, ensemble-averaged velocity, and turbulence intensity. Received: 23 September 1996/Accepted: 19 February 1997