Hovering rotor aerodynamics in extreme ground effect

This paper presents an experimental and numerical study of the aerodynamics of a moderate-scale rotor hovering in the Extreme Ground Effect(EGE)where rotor height-offground is below half the rotor radius.The tip vortex field was visualized by using the PIV technique.The aerodynamic performance,tip vortex trajectory,wall jet characteristics,surface pressure and velocity fields were measured and analyzed.To explore more deeply the flow mechanisms of the extreme ground effect,Detached Eddy Simulation(DES)was conducted on completely structured meshes.The results showed significant deviations of the rotor performance in EGE from that in Regular Ground Effect(RGE)with the rotor heights of more than half the rotor radius.Moreover,the flow structures of the rotor in EGE are considerably complex,such as the wall jet and groundwash flow separation.The rotor wake flow and tip vortices impact the ground more frequently,resulting in distinctive characteristics of the surface pressure and velocity fields in EGE.

Design and examination of a turboprop inlet with scavenge duct

The inlet with scavenge duct is an important part of turboprop aircraft engine.This type of inlet normally has a complex shape,of which the design is challenging and directly affects the flow field quality of the engine entrance and thus the engine performance.In this paper,the parametric design method of a turboprop aircraft inlet with scavenge duct is established by extracting and controlling the transition law of the critical characteristic parameters.The inlet’s performance and internal flow characteristics are examined by wind-tunnel experiment and numerical simulation.The results indicate that a flow tendency of winding up on both sides is formed due to the induction of the inlet profile,as well as a vortex pair on the back side of the power output shaft.The vortex pair dominates the pressure distortion index on the Aerodynamic Interface Plane(AIP).In addition,with the increase of freestream angle of attack,the total-pressure recovery coefficient of the inlet increases gradually while the total pressure distortion index decreases slightly.On the basis of the experimental results under different working conditions,the parametric design method proposed in this paper is feasible.

Experimental investigation on unstart-restart hysteresis of a supersonic inlet during throat regulation

The hysteresis during the throat regulation process of a supersonic variable inlet is unconducive to restart.Hence,detailed experimental studies of such a hysteresis and its control are necessary.A throat variable supersonic inlet was designed at a shock-on-lip Mach number of 4.0 and an Internal Contraction Ratio(ICR)ranging over 1.21–2.94.Meanwhile,a distributed bleed system was proposed to suppress the hysteresis.The wind tunnel tests were conducted at Mach number 2.9.The throat regulation processes were recorded using a high-speed schlieren and dynamic pressure acquisition system.The results indicate that the unstart and restart ICRs during the uncontrolled inlet’s throat regulation process were 1.95 and 1.48,respectively,demonstrating an unstart-restart hysteresis.Four typical flowfields were summarized during the uncontrolled inlet’s restart process.The proposed bleed control increased the unstart and restart ICRs to 2.06 and 1.75,respectively,and the inlet realized the designed state as the ICR was further decreased to 1.67.The controlled inlet’s hysteresis loop was decreased compared to the uncontrolled inlet.Finally,the mechanism of the hysteresis,dominated by the entrance separation-induced wave system,was clarified.The mechanisms of the bleed control to broaden the unstart and restart boundaries and suppress the hysteresis were elucidated.

Flow response hysteresis of throat regulation process of a two-dimensional mixed-compression supersonic inlet

The variable geometry supersonic inlet tends to decrease the throat area to reduce the Mach number upstream of the terminal shock,so as to reduce the flow loss.However,excessive Internal Contraction Ratio(ICR)exposes the inlet to a greater risk of unstart,which inevitably results in a process of increasing the throat area to aid the inlet restart.In the above throat regulation process,the inlet undergoes the start,unstart,and restart states in turn.In order to reveal the flow structure and mechanism of this process,a two-dimensional unsteady numerical simulation combined with a dynamic mesh technique were employed.The shock-on-lip Mach number of the studied inlet is 4.0 and the flight angle of attack is+6°.Analysis was focused on the state with a freestream Mach number of 3.0.The results clearly show that the flow response hysteresis appears,and restart is only realized when the throat area is obviously increased as compared to that of unstart due to the historical unstart flow structure.In addition,three typical flow fields were analyzed,and it is found that the separation ahead of the inlet was the key factor affecting the hysteresis.Finally,unstart and restart boundaries of the inlet were discussed,and the factors influencing its deviation from the typical boundaries of dual-solution area were analyzed.The newly predicted unstart and restart boundaries are much closer to the CFD results.