Separated flow around a rotating gyroball

Abstract  

In baseball, a gyroball is known as a pitched ball which has its rotation axis oriented towards the catcher, i.e., in flight direction, and therefore does not create a lift force. The purpose of this study was to clarify what effect the seams of such a rotating gyroball have on the drag force acting on the ball. Two typical seam patterns, one with two and one with four seams, were selected. First, pitching experiments were carried out to capture the trajectories of various breaking balls. From the obtained trajectories the drag coefficients were estimated. Flow visualization was applied to a heated flying gyroball with the help of the schlieren technique to investigate the flow separation area. To verify the results obtained in the pitching tests, corresponding wind-tunnel experiments were also conducted with a device which allowed the ball to rotate freely in the tunnel. Drag measurements and flow visualization by fog were performed on a rotating gyroball. Both in the pitching and wind-tunnel tests, the drag coefficient of the two-seam gyroball was smaller than that of the four-seam one by 0.04 or approximately 13%. The flow visualization revealed that the flow-separated area of the two-seam gyroball was smaller due to flow reattachment made possible by a more energetic boundary layer. This observation can well explain the drag difference between two- and four-seam gyroballs.     

Visualization of flow past a square prism with cut-corners at the front-edge

Flow past a square prism with cut-corners at the front-edge is numerically and experimentally visualized to investigate a mechanism of drag reduction. An adaptive numerical scheme based on the vortex method is implemented for two values of the Reynolds number between 200 and 1,250, and the results are compared with experiments. Experimental visualization techniques include the hydrogen-bubble technique atRe=4,000 and the oil-flow technique atRe=10,000 for a global wake formation, and the aluminum-flake technique for transient flow at the early stage of motion atRe=1,250. A similar reattachment flow pattern is shown in a wide range of the Reynolds number between 200 and 10,000, which implies a possibility of the drag reduction in the Reynolds number being approximately lower than 8,000 unlike the previous findings.     

Use of the wake of a small cylinder to Control unsteady loads on a circular cylinder

Simultaneous measurements of lift and drag forces have been performed in order to study passive control of unsteady loads induced on a circular cylinder. For this purpose, an aerodynamic balance has been developed. The balance, developed for a cylinder of 25.4 mm in diameter, was designed to operate in the subcritical regime (Re=32000). This instrument is characterized by its sensitive element that forms a small central part of the cylinder. The static and dynamic calibrations of the balance show the appropriateness of the present design. Moreover, qualification experiments carried out with a single cylinder gave results (mean and rms values of the lift and drag coefficients) that are in good agreement with those found in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to present a passive control experiment performed by means of the wake of a smaller cylinder interacting with a larger one. Firstly, a parametric study was performed by varying the following: i) the diameterdS of the small cylinder for one large cylinder diameterd (7 values in the range 0.047≤d _S /d≤0.125); ii) the center-to-center spacingS/d (11 values in the range 1.375≤S/d≤2.5); and iii) the stagger anglea(0≤a≤90 with a fine angular stepDa fora≤15). A maximum mean drag reduction of about 48% is achieved. Ata=4 to 8, one can observe a peak of mean lift coefficient. Then unsteady fluid forces, vortex shedding frequency and flow pattern were systematically investigated for the small cylinder having a diameterdS=2.4 mm (0.094d). Reductions of 78% and 56% of the rms lift and drag fluctuations respectively were obtained with the small cylinder placed at a slight stagger angle in the range 6<a<9. This leads to an instantaneous force vector that exhibits more steadiness both in angle and amplitude. Moreover, at these stagger angles, the energy of the lift fluctuations at the shedding frequency is significantly reduced compared to the single cylinder case.     

电磁力控制湍流边界层分离圆柱绕流场特性数值分析

在亚临界区高雷诺数Re=1.4×105下,采用脱体涡模拟结合湍流分离的方法对弱电解质中电磁力作用下湍流边界层分离圆柱绕流场及其升(阻)力特性进行了数值模拟和分析.结果表明,电磁力可以提高圆柱体湍流边界层内的流体动能,延缓圆柱体湍流边界层的流动分离,减弱圆柱体湍流绕流场中在流向和展向上大尺度漩涡的强度,减小圆柱体阻力时均值及其升力脉动幅值.当电磁力作用参数大于某个临界值后,湍流边界层流动分离消失,在圆柱体尾部产生射流现象,从而电磁力对圆柱体产生净推力作用,出现负阻力现象,而且升力脉动幅值接近于零,出现圆柱体升力消失现象.     

Numerical simulation of transitional flow on a wind turbine airfoil with RANS-based transition model

This paper presents a numerical investigation of transitional flow on the wind turbine airfoil DU91-W2-250 with chord-based Reynolds number Re_c = 1.0 × 10⁶. The Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes based transition model using laminar kinetic energy concept, namely the k ? k_L ? ω model, is employed to resolve the boundary layer transition. Some ambiguities for this model are discussed and it is further implemented into OpenFOAM-2.1.1. The k ? k_L ? ω model is first validated through the chosen wind turbine airfoil at the angle of attack (AoA) of 6.24° against wind tunnel measurement, where lift and drag coefficients, surface pressure distribution and transition location are compared. In order to reveal the transitional flow on the airfoil, the mean boundary layer profiles in three zones, namely the laminar, transitional and fully turbulent regimes, are investigated. Observation of flow at the transition location identifies the laminar separation bubble. The AoA effect on boundary layer transition over wind turbine airfoil is also studied. Increasing the AoA from ?3° to 10°, the laminar separation bubble moves upstream and reduces in size, which is in close agreement with wind tunnel measurement.     

Effect of relative camber on the aerodynamic performance improvement of asymmetrical blunt trailing-edge modification

In this paper, the aerodynamic performance of the S series of wind turbine airfoils with different relative cambers and their modifications is numerically studied to facilitate a greater understanding of the effects of relative camber on the aerodynamic performance improvement of asymmetrical blunt trailing-edge modification. The mathematical expression of the blunt trailing-edge modification profile is established using the cubic spline function, and S812, S816 and S830 airfoils are modified to be asymmetrical blunt trailing-edge airfoils with different thicknesses. The prediction capabilities of two turbulence models, the k-ω SST model and the S-A model, are assessed. It is observed that the k-ω SST model predicts the lift and drag coefficients of S812 airfoil more accurately through comparison with experimental data. The best trailing-edge thickness and thickness distribution ratio are obtained by comparing the aerodynamic performance of the modifications with different trailing-edge thicknesses and distribution ratios. It is, furthermore, investigated that the aerodynamic performance of original airfoils and their modifications with the best thickness of 2% c and distribution ratio being 0:4 so as to analyze the increments of lift and drag coefficients and lift–drag ratio. Results indicate that with the increase of relative camber, there are relatively small differences in the lift coefficient increments of airfoils whose relative cambers are less than 1.81%, and the lift coefficient increment of airfoil with the relative camber more than 1.81% obviously decreases for the angle of attack less than 6.3°. The drag coefficient increment of S830 airfoil is higher than that of S816 airfoil, and those of these two airfoils mainly decrease with the angle of attack. The average lift–drag ratio increment of S816 airfoil with the relative camber of 1.81% at different angles of attack ranging from 0.1° to 20.2° is the largest, closely followed by S812 airfoil. The lift–drag ratio increment of S830 airfoil is negative as the angle of attack exceeds 0.1°. Thus, the airfoil with medium camber is more suited to the asymmetrical blunt trailing-edge modification.     

Viscous Interaction Between a Vortex Tube and a Rotating Spherical Particle

The transient advection of a cylindrical vortex tube in a viscous incompressible flow field and its interaction with a rotating/spinning spherical particle has been investigated numerically at Reynolds numbers in the range of 20≤ Re≤200 for angular velocities of 0≤Ω≤0.5. The effects of vortex parameters such as size, circulation strength and initial position relative to the particle, on the temporal behavior of the lift and drag forces are studied. Vortex‐sphere interactions bring about major changes in the flow field particularly when coupled with particle rotation. It is observed that the forces acting on the particle are significantly influenced during the time that the vortex core is in the vicinity of the particle. The extent of these local changes are about ±30% in the drag coefficient and about ±200% in the lift coefficient as compared to flow over a rotating solid sphere with no vortex interaction. It is also found that a vortex with core radius between one and two particle diameters creates the strongest temporal variations in the lift and drag coefficients. Furthermore, maximum lift variations occur for the vortex‐particle head on collision, while a vortex with an offset distance of about one diameter from the principal flow axis generates the maximum drag variations.     

Two-dimensional structure of the wake behind a pitching airfoil with higher non-dimensional pitching rate

Two-dimensional flow patterns have been visualized by two kinds of dyes and a VTR camera in a water tunnel atRe=4.0×10³ in order to study how flow patterns of vortex changed behind a pitching airfoil with various pitching rates and pitching amplitudes. The tested airfoil was NACA0010. The experiment was performed under the conditions such as the pitching motions with sinusoidal or triangular wave around its mid- or quarter-chord axis. The non-dimensional pitching rates werek=1.97, 2.81 and 4.22. The pitching amplitudes were changed asA=±2, ±6 and ±12, however the mean angle of attack was fixed atμ _m =0°. As a result, the followings were clarified. The flow pattern of thrust producing vortex street was observed in the wake behind the pitching airfoil with a higher nondimensional pitching rate. Similar flow patterns of the vortex were observed in spite of the differences in the location of pitching motion axis, in the pitching motion wave profile and in the pitching amplitude. Moreover, the pitching motion around the quarter-chord axis with triangular wave could realize the thrust producing vortex street more easily.     

Generation of vortices by a streamwise oscillating cylinder

The wake of a streamwise oscillating cylinder is presently investigated. The Reynolds number investigated is 300, based on the cylinder diameterd. The cylinder oscillates at an amplitude of 0.5d and a frequencyf _e/f_s=1.8, wheref _e is the cylinder oscillating frequency andf _s is the natural vortex shedding frequency of a stationary cylinder. Under these conditions the flow is essentially two dimensional. A two-dimensional direct numerical simulation (DNS) scheme has been developed to calculate the flow. The DNS results display a street of binary vortices, each containing two counter-rotating vortical structures, symmetrical about the centerline, which is in excellent agreement with measurements. The drag and lift on the cylinder have been examined. The time averaged drag and lift are 1.4 and 0, respectively, which are the same as those on a stationary cylinder at the sameRe. However, the fluctuating drag was high, about 2.68. It has been found that, being symmetrically formed about the centerline, the binary vortices induce an essentially zero fluctuating lift, which may have a profound implication in flow control and engineering.     

等厚薄板翼型的气动力特性研究

本文从吹风实验及数据分析两方面来研究等厚薄板翼型的气动力特性。在实验中对单园弧、双圆弧、抛物线三种类型的薄板翼型进行了孤立翼型的吹风试验，得出了各翼型升力系数，阻力系数随冲角变化的结果。然后利用非交错网格下的ＳＩＭＰＬＥ方法，计算了等厚薄板翼型流场，计算结果和实验结果吻合较好。     

Numerical simulation of a flow past a triangular sail-type blade of a wind generator using the ANSYS FLUENT software package

An air flow past a single triangular sail-type blade of a wind turbine is analyzed by numerical simulation for low velocities of the incoming flow. The results of numerical simulation indicate a monotonic increase in the drag force and the lift force as functions of the incoming flow; empirical dependences of these quantities are obtained.     

Flow characteristics around a square cylinder with changing chamfer dimensions

Abstract  

It is known that for a square cylinder subjected to uniform flow, the drag force changes with the angle of attack. To clarify the flow characteristics around a square cylinder with corner cutoffs, we measured the drag coefficient and the Strouhal number for changing chamfer dimensions. We analyzed the flow around a square cylinder with corner cutoffs by applying the RNG k–ε turbulent model, and investigated the surface flow pattern using visualization by means of the oil film and mist flow method. From these results, we obtained the surface flow patterns by the oil film method and numerical analysis. The numerical results agreed well with the experimental values. The drag coefficient of the square cylinder with corner cutoffs decreased suddenly at an angle of attack of about α = 0°– 10° when compared with the drag coefficient for a square cylinder. The minimum value of the drag coefficient for the square cylinder with corner cutoffs decreased by about 30% compared with that for the square cylinder. The drag coefficient of the square cylinder with 10% corner cutoffs was found to be smallest, since the wake area of this square cylinder was smaller compared with that of the other square cylinder.     

Visualization of turbulent flow around a sphere at subcritical reynolds numbers

The shear layer evolution and turbulent structure of near-wake behind a sphere atRe= 11,000 and 5,300 were investigated using a smoke-wire visualization method. A laminar flow separation was found to occur near the equator. The smooth laminar shear layers appeared to be axisymmetrically stable to the downstream location of aboutx/d=1.0 atRe=11,000 andx/d= 1.7∼1.8 atRe=5,300, respectively. At Re=11,000, the vortex ring-shaped protrusions were observed with the onset of shear layer instability. Moreover, the transition from laminar to turbulence in the separated flow region occurred earlier at the hiher Reynolds number ofRe=11,000 than atRe=5,300. The PIV measurements in the streamwise and cross-sectional planes atRe=11,000 clearly revealed the turbulent structures of the sphere wake such as recirculating flow, shear layer instability, vortex roll-up, and small-scale turbulent eddies.     

Anisotropic stokes drag and dynamic lift on cylindrical colloids in a nematic liquid crystal

We have measured the Stokes drag on magnetic nanowires suspended in the nematic liquid crystal 4-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB). The effective drag viscosity for wires moving perpendicular to the nematic director differs from that for motion parallel to the director by factors of 0.88 to 2.4, depending on the orientation of the wires and their surface anchoring. When the force on the wires is applied at an oblique angle to the director, the wires move at an angle to the force, demonstrating the existence of a lift force on particles moving in a nematic. This dynamic lift is significantly larger for wires with homeotropic anchoring than with longitudinal anchoring in the experiments, suggesting the lift force as a mechanism for sorting particles according to their surface properties.     

Flow visualization and local mass transfer studies for turbulent flow in a wind tunnel with chamfered ribs

The paper presents results of flow visualization and mass transfer studies for fully developed turbulent flow of air in a square section wind tunnel with repeated chamfered rib roughness on the bottom of the tunnel (rib head chamfer angles ϕ of -15°, 0°, and 15°; relative roughness pitchp/e = 3, 5, 7.5, and 10). Direct video recordings of flow patterns were made using a simple technique of particles visualization. For the positively chamfered closely spaced ribs (p/e <- 5) vigorous vortex shedding has been seen compared to the square or negatively chamfered ribs, which is found to be a function of the Reynolds number. For the widely spaced ribs, the study shows flow separation at the ribs and reattachment in the inter-rib region. Local mass transfer studies, based on the variation in colour of cobaltous chloride solution impregnated paper due to evaporation of water, showed a significant improvement in mass transfer rate in the recirculating region in the wake of ribs with the change in the chamfer angle from -15° to 15°. The positively chamfered 15° ribs are found to be better than square section ribs atp/e <- 7.5. The performance of negatively chamfered ribs is found to be poor compared to other ribs irrespective of the relative roughness pitch.     

Response of force behaviors of a spherical particle to an oscillating flow

Combined multi-direct forcing technique and the immersed boundary method is applied to investigate the response of force behaviors of a fixed spherical particle to an oscillating flow. The influences of the inlet oscillating flow at a mean Reynolds number of 300 with six different oscillating frequencies and three oscillating amplitudes are investigated. Three different zones with different behaviors are identified and the specific behaviors of the drag and the lift coefficients are analyzed. The averaged drag coefficient and the maximum lift force exerted on the particle increase with the increment of the oscillating Reynolds number or the oscillating amplitude. When the frequency of the inlet flow is equal to the natural vortex shedding frequency, the average drag coefficient reaches the maximum value. A linear relation between the gradient of the maximum lift coefficient and the frequency as well as the amplitude of the inlet oscillating flow is observed in certain regime.     

煤粉颗粒所受Magnus力的数值模拟

本文采用数值模拟方法计算了煤粉颗粒所受的Ｍａｇｎｕｓ力,考察了颗粒的旋转速度、流动Ｒｅ数对Ｍａｇｎｕｓ力的影响,并且给出了相应的关系公式．通过比较煤粉颗粒在运动过程中所受到的Ｍａｇｎｕｓ力与气动力的大小,得出：当煤粉颗粒的旋转速度为１８００转／分时,其大小约为气动力的１％,因此在实际的煤粉颗粒受力分析中是完全可以忽略该力的。     

Optical-velocimetry, wake measurements of lift and induced drag on a wing

Particle Tracking Velocimetry was used, in a low-speed wind-tunnel study, to obtain simultaneous cross-flow velocity measurements in three planar regions downstream of an airfoil having a NACA 0015 profile. In order to measure both the total lift and induced drag, and their distributions on the airfoil, a wake integration technique based on the control volume approach was used. The airfoil model was tested in clean wing configuration and with a 3.33% Gurney flap attached to the trailing edge. The Gurney flap was found to increase the complexity of the wake and cause a systematic increase in lift and induced drag values. The changes in total lift and induced drag resulting from the fitting of a Gurney flap compared very favourably to investigations using traditional aerodynamic techniques demonstrating the validity of the method.     

疏水表面减阻的格子Boltzmann方法数值模拟

采用格子Boltzmann方法的多松弛模型和Shan-Chen多相流模型对雷诺数为100的疏水表面方柱绕流进行了数值模拟, 分析了疏水表面接触角和来流含气率对方柱绕流流场的影响. 研究结果表明: 疏水表面接触角一定时, 来流含气率在一定范围内, 疏水表面具有减阻的能力, 超出这一范围时会出现阻力系数、升力系数升高的现象, 同时在方柱近壁面处伴随涡的形成产生了气团脱落; 当来流含气率处于适当水平时, 接触角越大, 绕流物体近壁面处含气率越稳定, 减阻效果越明显. 分析发现疏水表面减阻的关键在于保证近壁面处气层的稳定性, 此时接触角越大, 减阻效果越明显. 本文从含气率角度出发分析疏水表面的减阻现象, 为进一步探索疏水表面减阻机理提出了新的思路.     

Orthogonal-polarization compensation method for measuring unsteady vertical force of a bumblebee in a wind tunnel

It is important to measure the unsteady vertical force of an insect in a wind tunnel for studying the flight performance of insects. Optical method can measure it with high accuracy, but it is affected by air turbulence. An orthogonal-polarization compensation (OPC) method is developed for measuring the beating force of a bumblebee in a wind tunnel and compensating the error due to beam fluctuations induced by air turbulence. The applicability of the OPC method was confirmed by using a piezo translator to generate the tilt angle variation. The results show that by using the OPC method, the error in tilt angle measurement due to air turbulence can be decreased by about 80% compared with that using the conventional angle measurement method. The OPC method was then applied to measure the tilt angle variation caused by the beating motion of a bumblebee attached to one end of a sensor block in a wind tunnel for a wind velocity of 1.1 ms⁻¹. The results confirmed the effectiveness of this new method.