Design and test of pneumatic artificial muscle driven variable trailing-edge camber wing

A variable camber wing driven by pneumatic artificial muscles is developed in this paper. Firstly, the experimental setup to measure the static output force of pneumatic artificial muscle is designed and the relationship between the static output force and the air pressure is investigated. Experimental results show that the static output force of pneumatic artificial muscle decreases nonlinearly with the increase of contraction ratio. Secondly, the model of variable camber wing driven by pneumatic artificial muscles is manufactured to validate the variable camber concept. Finally, wind tunnel tests are conducted in the low speed wind tunnel. It is found that the wing camber increases with the increase of air pressure. When the air pressure of PAMs is 0.4 MPa and 0.5 MPa, the tip displacement of the trailing-edge is 3 mm and 5 mm, respectively. The lift of aerofoil with flexible trailing-edge increases by 87% at AOA of 5°.

Trailing-edge shock loss control with self-sustaining synthetic jet in a supersonic compressor cascade

To effectively reduce the loss of strong shock wave at the trailing edge of the supersonic cascade under high backpressure,a shock wave control method based on self-sustaining synthetic jet was proposed.The self-sustaining synthetic jet was applied on the pressure side of the blade with the blow slot and the bleed slot arranged upstream and downstream of the trailing-edge shock,respectively.The flow control mechanism and effects of parameters were investigated by numerical simulation.The results show that the self-sustaining synthetic jet forms an oblique shock wave in the cascade passage which slows down and pressurizes the airflow,and the expansion wave downstream of the blow slot weakens the shock strength which can effectively change the Mach reflection to regular reflection and thus weaken the shock loss.And the suction effect can reduce loss near blade surface.Compared with the baseline cascade,the self-sustaining jet actuator can reduce flow losses by 6.73%with proper location design and vibration of diaphragm.

Numerical Investigation of Three-dimensional Aeroacoustic Characteristics of Owl-inspired Trailing-edge Fringes

Owls are widely known for their silent flight,which is attributed to their unique wing morphologies comprising leading-edge(LE)serrations,trailing-edge(TE)fringes,and a velvety surface.The aeroacoustic characteristics of owl-inspired TE fringes have been widely investigated through two-dimensional(2D)modeling,but remain yet poorly studied in association with their three-dimensional(3D)effects.Here,we present a numerical study of the 3D aeroacoustic characteristics of owl-inspired TE fringes in which we combined large-eddy simulations(LES)with the Ffowcs Williams‒Hawkings analogy.We constructed a clean wing model and three wing models with TE fringes that were distributed differently spanwise.The aerodynamic forces and 3D acoustic characteristics reveal that,like the 2D results of our previous studies,the 3D TE fringes enable remarkable sound reduction spatially while having aerodynamic performance comparable to the clean model.Visualizations of the near-field 3D flow structures,vortex dynamics,and flow fluctuations show that TE fringes can robustly alter the 3D flow by breaking 3D TE vortices into small eddies and mitigating 3D flow fluctuations.Particularly,it is verified that TE fringes alter spanwise flows,thus dominating the 3D aeroacoustic characteristics in terms of passive flow control and flow stabilizations,whereas the fringes are inefficient in suppressing the acoustic sources induced by wingtip vortices.Moreover,the TE fringes distributed at midspan have better acoustic performance than those in the vicinity of the wingtip,indicating the importance of a spanwise distribution in enhancing aeroacoustic performance.

Simulation of aerodynamic performance affected by vortex generators on blunt trailing-edge airfoils

An investigation was carried out by numerical simulation on a wind turbine airfoil and a blunt trailing-edge airfoil with and without vortex generators (VGs), and the performance of the airfoils was analyzed. By the simulation of airfoil DU 91-W2-250 it was verified that the numerical method and model were credible. Based on this airfoil, a new one with a blunt trailing edge of 6% chord was blended by symmetrically adding thickness, and its characteristics curves were obtained through computing at key angles of attack. Additionally, the pressure distribution on blended airfoil was analyzed by comparing to the airfoil without blend. The interaction of streamwise vortices induced by VGs with trailing vortex or separation vortex was considered, followed by the uncovery of how VGs can suppress the boundary layer separation.

Stiffness requirement of flexible skin for variable trailing-edge camber wing

The method for analyzing the deformation of flexible skin under the air loads was developed based on the panel method and finite element method.The deformation of flexible skin under air pressures and effects of the local deformation on the aerodynamic characteristics were discussed.Numerical results show that the flexible skin on the upper surface of trailing-edge will bubble under the air loads and the bubble has a powerful effect on the aerodynamic pressure near the surface of local deforma-tion.Then the stiffness requirements for flexible skin of variable trailing-edge were given by using the Jacobs rule,i.e.,the maximum displacement of skin is not greater than 0.1% of wing chord.Results show that the in-plane stiffness can be reduced by increasing the ratio of bending stiffness to in-plane stiffness.Although the deformation of flexible skin increases with the in-plane stiffness decreasing,it depends on the bending stiffness.When the bending stiffness exceeds critical value,the deformation of flexible skin only depends on the bending stiffness and has nothing to do with the in-plane stiffness.The conclusions can be used for the structural design of flexible skin.

Continuous morphing trailing-edge wing concept based on multi-stable nanomaterial

Morphing technology is one of the most effective methods to improve the flight efficiency of aircraft.Traditional control surfaces based morphing method is mature and widely used on current civil and military aircraft,but insufficiently effective for the entire flight envelope.Recent research on morphing wing still faces the challenge that the skin material for morphing should be both deformable and stiff.In this study,a continuous morphing trailing-edge wing with a new multi-stable nano skin material fabricated using surface mechanical attrition treatment technology was proposed and designed.Computational fluid dynamics simulation was used to study the aerodynamic performance of the continuous morphing trailing-edge wing.Results show that the lift coefficient increases with the increase of deflection angle and so does the lift-drag ratio at a small angle of attack.More importantly,compared with the wing using flaps,the continuous morphing trailing-edge wing can reduce drag during the morphing process and its overall aerodynamic performance is improved at a large angle of attack range.Flow field analysis reveals that the continuous morphing method can delay flow separation in some situations.

Aerodynamic optimization and mechanism design of flexible variable camber trailing-edge flap

Trailing-edge flap is traditionally used to improve the takeoff and landing aerodynamic performance of aircraft.In order to improve flight efficiency during takeoff,cruise and landing states,the flexible variable camber trailing-edge flap is introduced,capable of changing its shape smoothly from 50% flap chord to the rear of the flap.Using a numerical simulation method for the case of the GA（W）-2 airfoil,the multi-objective optimization of the overlap,gap,deflection angle,and bending angle of the flap under takeoff and landing configurations is studied.The optimization results show that under takeoff configuration,the variable camber trailing-edge flap can increase lift coefficient by about 8% and lift-to-drag ratio by about 7% compared with the traditional flap at a takeoff angle of 8°.Under landing configuration,the flap can improve the lift coefficient at a stall angle of attack about 1.3%.Under cruise state,the flap helps to improve the lift-todrag ratio over a wide range of lift coefficients,and the maximum increment is about 30%.Finally,a corrugated structure–eccentric beam combination bending mechanism is introduced in this paper to bend the flap by rotating the eccentric beam.

Prediction and control of trailing edge noise based on bionic airfoil

As a promising means,the passive porosity technology is used for the trailing-edge noise reduction of a bionic airfoil.The detailed two-dimensional Large Eddy Simulation is achieved to gain a better understanding of the prediction and passive control of trailing-edge noise source with the non-porous and porous treatment,respectively.The flow fields around the bionic airfoil indicate that the leading-edge separation causes both the noise contributors,i.e.,the turbulent boundary layer and the vortex shedding.In addition,the effect of the porous trailing edge is substantiated in the distribution of the static pressure.The relevant noise also suggests a pronounced noise reduction potential in excess of 10 dB,but it has dependence on the flow resistivities.The two trailing-edge noise reduction mechanisms are characterized:(1)the suppression of the tonal vortex shedding noise;(2)the reduction of broadband turbulent boundary layer scattering noise.The findings may be used as reference in the design of silent aircraft.

A Review on Modeling of Bionic Flow Control Methods for Large-Scale Wind Turbine Blades

Due to complicated working conditions,the normal operating large-scale wind turbine blades are often suffering from some inevitable problems,i.e.,friction adhesion,flow separation and acoustic noise,which may significantly affect the aerodynamic performance of the blades and thus the wind turbine system.Therefore,effective measurements must be taken to solve these issues.Correspondingly,several novel bionic flow control methods by mimicking shark skin,whale fin and owl wing,i.e.,riblet,leading-edge protuberance and trailing-edge serration,have been recently studied,and good progresses have been made in terms of effectiveness,analysis and mechanism.However,these potential techniques are unable to be widely applied within wind energy community due to the lack of reasonable modeling methods,clearly reflecting the effect of bionic structures on the flow field around,which results in incapability to carry out further optimal design of bionic blade.To this end,this review paper first concentrated on a summary of the control mechanisms of three bionic techniques.Based on this,some feasible ideas of model buildup were proposed.Finally,the flow analyses around the typical blade airfoils were chosen as case studies to verify the feasibility and accuracy of these simulation methods.

Numerical study of separation on the trailing edge of a symmetrical airfoil at a low Reynolds number

This study focuses on the trailing-edge separation of a symmetrical airfoil at a low Rey-nolds number. Finite volume method is adopted to solve the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes （RANS） equation. Flow of the symmetrical airfoil SD8020 at a low Reynolds number has been simulated. Laminar separation bubble in the flow field of the airfoil is observed and process of unsteady bubble burst and vortex shedding from airfoil surfaces is investigated. The time-dependent lift coefficient is characteristic of periodic fluctuations and the lift curve varies nonlinearly with the attack of angle. Laminar separation occurs on both surfaces of airfoil at small angles of attack. With the increase of angle of attack, laminar separation occurs and then reattaches near the trailing edge on the upper surface of airfoil, which forms laminar separation bubble. When the attack of angle reaches certain value, the laminar separation bubble is unstable and produces two kinds of large scale vortex, i.e. primary vortex and secondary vortex. The periodic processes that include secondary vortex production, motion of secondary vortex and vortex shedding cause fluctuation of the lift coefficient. The periodic time varies with attack of angle. The secondary vortex is relatively stronger than the primary vortex, which means its influence is relatively stronger than the primary vortex.

Experimental study on transfer functions of an active rotor under different flight conditions

Vibrations impose negative impacts on the effectiveness and public acceptance of helicopters.Active rotors with trailing-edge flaps have been proved to be an effective way to actively eliminate helicopter vibrations.For the existing control algorithm based on offline system identification,the transfer functions of an active rotor under different flight conditions are pre-requisites to implement closed-loop vibration control.In this study,a three-bladed active rotor with improved trailing-edge flaps is designed,and wind-tunnel tests are conducted to identify the transfer functions of this active rotor using frequency sweep and phase sweep methods.The experimental results demonstrate that these transfer functions are insensitive to the variation of flight speeds:the amplitude of the transfer function varies slightly,while the phase delay almost remains unchanged.In addition,this finding is validated through closed-loop vibration control tests with the active rotor.The transfer function obtained from the hover test results is also applicable to closed-loop vibration control tests under the forward flight conditions.This will dramatically simplify the implementation and operation of an active rotor.