No abstract

Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulations (RANS) of flows around a Clark-Y airfoil with uniform blowing (UB) and uniform suction (US) are performed aiming at improvement of the airfoil performance. First, the control effect in the case with single UB or US applied on the airfoil surface is investigated at the various control locations. The magnitude of UB/US is 0.14% of the free-stream velocity, and the control region is set at four different locations on the upper and lower surfaces. The Reynolds number based on the chord length and the angle of attack are 1.5 × 10 6 and 0 • , respectively. It is found that the friction drag is decreased/increased by single UB/US control. It is also found that UB on the lower surface or US on the upper surface improves the lift-to-drag ratio, while UB on the upper surface or US on the lower surface worsens it. In the combined control of UB and US having the equal flow rate, the magnitude of blowing and suction is set at 0.14% or 0.26% of the free-stream velocity. The locations of blowing/suction and flow conditions are the same as those in the cases with either UB or US only. The simulation result suggests that the lift-to-drag ratio is improved by the combined control of UB on the lower surface and US on the upper surface. In particular, the lift-to-drag ratio is most improved by a combination of UB on the lower rear surface and US on the upper rear surface. In contrast, a combined control of UB on the upper front surface and US on the lower rear surface is identified as the most effective case for the friction drag reduction only.

Friction drag reduction effect of a passive blowing on a Clark-Y airfoil is investigated. Uniform blowing, conducted in a wall-normal direction on a relatively wide surface, is generally known as an active control method for reduction of turbulent skin friction drag. In the present study, uniform blowing is passively driven by the pressure difference on a wing surface between suction and blowing regions. The suction and the blowing regions are respectively set around the leading edge and the rear part of the upper surface of the Clark-Y airfoil in order to ensure a sufficient pressure difference for passive blowing. The Reynolds number based on the chord length is 0.65×10 6 and 1.55×10 6. The angle of attack is set to 0 • and 6 •. The mean streamwise velocity profiles on the blowing region and the downstream, measured by a traversed hot-wire anemometry, are observed to shift away from the wall by passive blowing. This behavior qualitatively suggests reduction of local skin friction on the wing surface. A quantitative assessment of the friction drag is performed using the law of the wall accounting for pressure gradients (Nickels, 2004), coupled with a modified Stevenson's law (Vigdorovich, 2016) to account for the weak blowing. From this assessment, the local friction drag reduction effect of passive blowing is estimated to reach 4% − 23%.

Friction drag reduction effect of a passive blowing on a Clark-Y airfoil is investigated. The passive blowing is conducted by the pressure difference on a wing surface between suction and blowing regions. The suction and the blowing regions are respectively set around the leading edge and the rear part of the upper surface. The Reynolds number based on the chord length is 0.65 × 106 and 1.54 × 106. The angle of attack is set to 0° and 6°. The mean velocity profiles on the blowing region and the downstream are shifted away from the wall by the passive blowing. This behavior qualitatively suggests local reduction of skin friction on the wing surface. As a result of the quantitative assessment, which takes into account the effects of pressure gradient and the roughness of the wall, the local friction drag reduction effect of passive blowing is estimated to reach 4%–23%.

No abstract