Jesse Collins

Unsteady aerodynamic forces on small-scale wings: experiments, simulations and models

The goal of this work is to develop low order dynamical systems models for the unsteady lift and drag forces on small wings in various modes of flight, and to better understand the physical characteristics of unsteady laminar separation. Velocity field and body force data for a flat plate at static angle of attack and in sinusoidal pitch and plunge maneuvers are generated by 2D direct numerical simulations using an immersed boundary method at Re = 100. The lift of a sinusoidally plunging plate is found to deviate from the quasi-steady approximation at a reduced frequency of k = 0.5 over a range of Strouhal numbers. Lagrangian coherent structures illustrate formation and convection of a leading-edge vortex in sinusoidal pitch and plunge. A phenomenological ODE model with three states is shown to reproduce the lift on a flat plate at a static angle of attack above the stall angle. DNS for a 3D pitch-up maneuver of a rectangular plate at Re = 300 shows the effect of aspect ratio on vortical wake structure and lift. Wind tunnel experiments of a wing in single pitch-up and sinusoidal pitch maneuvers are compared with a dynamic model incorporating time delays and relaxation times to produce hysteresis.

Control of Flow Structure on a Semi-Circular Planform Wing

Active flow control is used to modify the lift, drag and pitching moments on a semicircular wing with aspect ratio, AR = 2, and chord Reynolds number is 68,000. The wing is mounted on a pitch/plunge sting mechanism that responds to the instantaneous loads and moments acting on the wing. The leading edge of the airfoil contains 16 spatially localized actuators that can be independently controlled. Smoke wire visualization, surface pressure and six-component force balance measurements are used to characterize the effects of openloop forcing. The lift coefficients on the steady wing are enhanced with the actuation, similar to the effect of dynamic stall vortex lift enhancement that occurs during a pitch up maneuver. Surface pressure measurements are being used to construct a flow model for use in feedback control. Progress toward the goal of designing a feedback controller to stabilize the flight of the model in an oscillatory freestream is discussed.

Control of a Semi-Circular Planform Wing in a "Gusting" Unsteady Freestream Flow: I - Experimental Issues

Active flow control is used to modify the lift, drag and pitching moments on a semicircular wing during “gusting” flow conditions. A longitudinal oscillating flow component has an amplitude of 10 percent of the freestream speed and a frequency giving k = 0.048 (f =0.2 Hz). The aspect ratio of the wing is AR = 2.54, and the chord Reynolds number of the wing is 70,600. Pulsed-blowing flow control actuation occurs along the leading edge of the airfoil via 16 spatially localized micro-valve actuators. Feed-forward control based on a quasi-steady lift model is used to stabilize lift fluctuations generated by an oscillating free stream, which simulates the longitudinal component of a gusting flow. The quasi-steady system model reduces the amplitude of the fundamental and first harmonics of lift oscillations, but does not account for time delays. The time delay between the lift and the freestream oscillation was measured to be τu + = 4.8. The time delay between the lift and the actuator input signal was found to be τa + = 11.3.

Control of a Semi-Circular Planform Wing in a "Gusting" Unsteady Free stream Flow II: Modeling and Feedback Design

Active flow control has been demonstrated in Part I of this article to modify the lift, drag and pitching moments on a semi-circular wing during “gusting” flow conditions. The low aspect ratio wing, AR = 2.54, is mounted on a captive trajectory system that responds to the instantaneous lift force and pitching moment and the “gusting” flow is simulated by a 0.2 Hz oscillation of the free stream speed of the wind tunnel. The mean chord Reynolds number of the wing is 70,600. Active flow control occurs along the leading edge of the airfoil, which contains 16 spatially localized micro-valve actuators. Details of the experimental setup, a quasi steady state lift model and results involving open-loop proof of concept validation are provided in Part I of this paper. Here we outline principles and considerations associated with close loop design that will be discussed in our talk.

Control of the Spanwise Distribution of Circulation on NACA 0012 and Flat Plate Wings

Open-loop active flow control is used to modify the spanwise distribution of circulation around an NACA 0012 and flat plate wing. The leading edge on both airfoils and tip regions of the NACA airfoil contain spatially localized actuators that can be independently controlled in terms of amplitude and frequency, allowing the spanwise distribution of circulation to be modified. Different orientations of the pulsed-blowing actuators were used to provide upstream, downstream, in-line with the flow, and outward span components of actuation. The actuation effectiveness was documented using force balance measurements of the lift and drag, smoke-wire visualization, surface pressure measurements and PIV velocity field measurements. Actuation with an upstream component is shown to be far more effective in reducing the separated region than actuation in the streamwise direction. Initial measurements of the change in circulation on the suction surface of the airfoil indicate that spatially localized forcing produces global changes over the wing, primarily associated with the reduction in size of the separated flow region.