Aerodynamics

Particle image velocimetry and flow visualization are used to characterize the wake of a heaving airfoil in a set of two experiments. In the first experiment a tandem airfoil configuration is used, with a stationary airfoil downstream of a heaving airfoil (modified Schmidt wave-propeller). Several vortex structures are identified for a forced Strouhal number (St)---based on airfoil chord-length, forcing frequency, and free-steam velocity---for 0.1 < St < 0.7. An asymmetric average velocity profile is measured in the upper St range. In the second experiment, the wake behind a single heaving airfoil is further inspected, with the purpose of highlighting the asymmetric wake, for 0.1 < St < 1.0. A maximum wake excursion of 18 degrees is measured at St = 0.6, and a minimum excursion of 5.7 degrees occurs at St = 0.9. Using averaged velocity profiles, a virtual origin of the wake excursion is also calculated.

In this work, a two-dimensional model representing the vortices that animals produce, when they are flying/swimming, was constructed. A D{shaped cylinder and an oscillating airfoil were used to mimic these body{shed and wing{generated vortices, respectively. The parameters chosen are based on the Reynolds numbers similar to that which is observed in nature (104). In order to imitate the motion of ying/swimming, the entire system was suspended into a water channel from frictionless air{bearings. The position of the apparatus in the channel was regulated with a linear, closed loop PI controller. Thrust/drag forces were measured with strain gauges and particle image velocimetry (PIV) was used to examine the wake structure that develops. The Strouhal number of the oscillating airfoil was compared to the values observed in nature as the system transitions between the accelerated and steady states... As suggested by previous work, this self-regulation is a result of a limit cycle process that stems from nonlinear periodic oscillations. The limit cycles were used to examine the synchronous conditions due to the coupling of the foil and wake vortices. Noise is a factor that can mask details of the synchronization. In order to control its effect, we study the locking conditions using an analytic technique that only considers the phases.. The results suggest that Strouhal number selection in steady forward natural swimming and flying is the result of a limit cycle process and not actively controlled by an organism. An implication of this is that only relatively simple sensory and control hardware may be necessary to control the steady forward motion of man-made biomimetically propelled vehicles.

The dissertation investigates helicopter trim and stability during level bank-angle and diving bank-angle turns. The level turn is moderate in that sufficient power is available to maintain level maneuver, and the diving turn is severe where the power deficit is overcome by the kinetic energy of descent. The investigation basically represents design conditions where the peak loading goes well beyond the steady thrust limit and the rotor experiences appreciable stall. The major objectives are: 1) to assess the sensitivity of the trim and stability predictions to the approximations in modeling stall, 2) to correlate the trim predictions with the UH-60A flight test data, and 3) to demonstrate the feasibility of routinely using the exact fast-Floquet periodic eigenvector method for mode identification in the stability analysis. The UH-60A modeling and analysis are performed using the comprehensive code RCAS (Army's Rotorcraft Comprehensive Analysis System). The trim and damping predictions are based on quasisteady stall, ONERA-Edlin vi (Equations Differentielles Lineaires) and Leishman-Beddoes dynamic stall models. From the correlation with the test data, the strengths and weaknesses of the trim predictions are presented.

The principal objective of the proposed CFD analysis is to investigate the flow field around a horizontal axis wind turbine rotor and calculate the turbine's power. A full three dimensional computational fluid dynamics method based on Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes approach was used in this study. The wind turbine has three blades and a rotor diameter of six meters. One third of the wind turbine rotor was modeled by means of 120o periodicity in a moving reference frame system. The power coefficient curve obtained from the CFD results is compared with experimental data obtained by NREL Phase VI rotor experiment. The numerical result for the power coefficient curve shows close agreement with the experimental data. The simulation results include the velocity distribution, pressure distribution along the flow direction, turbulent wake behind the wind turbine, and the turbine's power. The discussion will also include the effect of wind speed on turbine's power.

The main objective of the thesis is to carry out a rigorous hydrodynamic analysis of ocean current turbines and determine power for a range of flow and geometric parameters. For the purpose, a computational tool based on the vortex lattice method (VLM) is developed. Velocity of the flow on the turbine blades, in relation to the freestream velocity, is determined through induction factors. The geometry of trailing vortices is taken to be helicoidal. The VLM code is validated by comparing its results with other theoretical and experimental data corresponding to flows about finite-aspect ratio foils, swept wings and a marine current turbine. The validated code is then used to study the performance of the prototype gulfstream turbine for a range of parameters. Power and thrust coefficients are calculated for a range of tip speed ratios and pitch angles. Of all the cases studied, the one corresponding to tip speed ratio of 8 and uniform pitch angle 20 produced the maximum power of 41.3 [kW] in a current of 1.73 [m/s]. The corresponding power coefficient is 0.45 which is slightly less than the Betz limit power coefficient of 0.5926. The VLM computational tool developed for the research is found to be quite efficient in that it takes only a fraction of a minute on a regular laptop PC to complete a run. The tool can therefore be efficiently used or integrated into software for design optimization.