Experimental investigation on tip vortices and aerodynamics of a wing with ground effect

The tip vortices and aerodynamics of a NACA0012 wing in the vicinity of the ground were studied in a wind tunnel.The wing tip vortex structures and lift/drag forces were measured by a seven-hole probe and a force balance,respectively.The evolution of the flow structures and aerodynamics with a ground height were analyzed.The vorticity of tip vortices was found to reduce with the decreasing of the ground height,and the position of vortex-core moved gradually to the outboard of the wing tip.Therefore,the down-wash flow induced by the tip vortices was weakened. However,vortex breakdown occurred as the wing lowered to the ground.From the experimental results of aerodynamics,the maximum lift-to-drag ratio was observed when the angle of attack was 2.5°and the ground clearance was 0.2.

The effect of single-horn glaze ice on the vortex structures in the wake of a horizontal axis wind turbine

The present study experimentally investigated the effect of a simulated single-horn glaze ice accreted on ro- tor blades on the vortex structures in the wake of a hori- zontal axis wind turbine by using the stereoscopic particle image velocimetry （Stereo-PIV） technique. During the ex- periments, four horizontal axis wind turbine models were tested, and both ＂free-run＂ and ＂phase-locked＂ Stereo-PIV measurements were carried out. Based on the ＂free-run＂ measurements, it was found that because of the simulated single-horn glaze ice, the shape, vorticity, and trajectory of tip vortices were changed significantly, and less kinetic en- ergy of the airflow could be harvested by the wind turbine. In addition, the ＂phase-locked＂ results indicated that the pres- ence of simulated single-horn glaze ice resulted in a dramatic reduction of the vorticity peak of the tip vortices. Moreover, as the length of the glaze ice increased, both root and tip vortex gaps were found to increase accordingly.

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.