An investigation into the effects of unsteady parameters on the aerodynamics of a low Reynolds number pitching airfoil

The growing applications of low Reynolds number (LRN) operating vehicles impose the need for accurate LRN flow solutions. These applications usually involve complex unsteady phenomena, which depend on the kinematics of the vehicle such as pitching, plunging, and flapping of a wing. The objective of the present study is to address the issues related to LRN aerodynamics of a harmonically pitching NACA0012 airfoil. To this end, the influence of unsteady parameters, namely, amplitude of oscillation, d, reduced frequency, k, and Reynolds number, Re, on the aerodynamic performance of the model is investigated. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is utilized to solve Navier–Stokes (N–S) equations discretized based on the Finite Volume Method (FVM). The resulting instantaneous lift coefficients are compared with analytical data from Theodorsen’s method. The simulation results reveal that d, k, and Re are of great importance in the aerodynamic performance of the system, as they affect the maximum lift coefficients, hysteresis loops, strength, and number of the generated vortices within the harmonic motion, and the extent of the so-called figure-of-eight phenomenon region. Thus, achieving the optimum lift coefficients demands a careful selection of these parameters.