High-Fidelity Simulation of Transitional Flows past a Plunging Airfoil

This investigation addresses the simulation of the unsteady separated flows encountered by a plunging airfoil under low-Reynolds-number conditions (Rec 6 ◊ 10 4 ). The flow fields are computed employing a previously developed and extensively validated high-fidelity implicit large-eddy simulation (ILES) approach. In order to permit comparison with available experimental measurements, calculations are performed first for an SD7003 airfoil section at an angle of attack o = 4 plunging with reduced frequency k = 3.93 and nondimensional amplitude ho = 0.05. Under these conditions, it is demonstrated that for Rec = 10 4 , transitional effects are not significant and that the dynamic-stall vortices remain fairly coherent as they propagate along the airfoil. For Rec = 4 ◊ 10 4 , the dynamic-stall vortex system is laminar at is inception, however shortly afterwards, it experiences an abrupt breakdown associated with the onset of spanwise instability effects. A detailed description of this transition process near the leading edge is provided. The computed phased-averaged structures for both values of Reynolds number are found to be in good agreement with the experimental data. As a second example, the suppression of static stall at high angle of attack ( o = 14 ) is investigated using high-frequency small-amplitude vibrations (k = 10,ho = 0.005). At Rec = 6 ◊ 10 4 , separation is completely eliminated in a time-averaged sense, and the mean drag is reduced by approximately 40%. The instantaneous flow is characterized by the periodic generation of dynamic-stall vortices near the leading edge and by their subsequent transition as they convect close to the airfoil. For Rec = 10 4 , significant reduction of the timeaveraged separation region is still possible with transitional effects present in the aft-portion of the airfoil. For larger forcing amplitude (ho = 0.04,Rec = 10 4 ), a very intriguing regime emerges. The dynamic stall vortex moves around and in front of the leading edge and experiences a dramatic breakdown as it impinges against the airfoil. As a result, the phased-averaged flow displays no coherent vortices propagating along the airfoil upper surface. This new flow structure is also characterized in the mean by the existence of a strong jet in the near wake which manifests in a high value of net thrust. The present study demonstrates the importance of transitional effects for low-Reynolds-number maneuvering airfoils, as well as the suitability of the ILES approch for exploring such flow regime.