University of Twente Student Theses
CFD study on performance of a D.B.D. Plasma Actuated airfoil in an ultra-low Reynolds number flow
Rozeman, S. (2014) CFD study on performance of a D.B.D. Plasma Actuated airfoil in an ultra-low Reynolds number flow.
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| Abstract: | Since the modern world of aviation got to accept the theory of flight after the first actual full flight on December 17th in 1903 by the Wright brothers, engineers have sought to improve flight performance on all possible levels thinkable. One of the ongoing fields of research in the improvement of flight performance is the field of flow separation control. Separated flow occurs naturally in many situations caused by the boundary layer unable to overcome an adverse pressure gradient and thus becoming detached from the surface. Such separated flow comes with an array of undesirable effects such as increased (pressure) drag, a possible loss of lift and noise generation from shedded vortices. Controlling flow separation is therefore very important in achieving greater airfoil performance. The study focusses on CFD simulation of flow separation control of an ultra-low Reynolds number flow over a NACA-0015 airfoil equipped with a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuator. To investigate effects of plasma actuation, actuator location and angles of attack are varied. Conclusions are that unactuated airfoil performance is worse than predicted by classical thin airfoil theory, because of pre-stall flow separation from the actual airfoil. It was shown that for pre-stall angles of attack, lift and lift over drag are increased and separation is delayed under influence of normal actuation, independent of actuator location. Because of inconclusive data, no general statement about the behavior of drag under the influence of normal actuation could be made. For post-stall angles of attack, lift is seen to increase with a clear optimum under the influence of normal actuation, as is airfoil performance. Drag is seen to decrease with a clear optimum under the influence of normal actuation and separation is seen to be delayed, dependent on actuator location. In general, the actuated airfoil performs better than the unactuated airfoil, seeing an increase in the slope of the lift curve towards the classical thin airfoil theory curve. Also, stall is delayed and aircraft cruising conditions could be improved to higher cruising speeds or more economical flight conditions. |
| Item Type: | Internship Report (Master) |
| Clients: | ISAS, Japan |
| Faculty: | ET: Engineering Technology |
| Subject: | 52 mechanical engineering |
| Programme: | Mechanical Engineering MSc (60439) |
| Keywords: | CFD, Plasma Actuator, Ultra-low Reynolds |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/69281 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
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