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Criteria for dynamic stall onset and vortex shedding in low-Reynolds-number flows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2024

Sarasija Sudharsan
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011
Anupam Sharma*
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011
*
Email address for correspondence: sharma@iastate.edu

Abstract

Dynamic stall at low Reynolds numbers, $Re \sim O(10^4)$, exhibits complex flow physics with co-existing laminar, transitional and turbulent flow regions. Current state-of-the-art stall onset criteria use parameters that rely on flow properties integrated around the leading edge. These include the leading edge suction parameter or $LESP$ (Ramesh et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 751, 2014, pp. 500–538) and boundary enstrophy flux or $BEF$ (Sudharsan et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 935, 2022, A10), which have been found to be effective for predicting stall onset at moderate to high $Re$. However, low-$Re$ flows feature strong vortex-shedding events occurring across the entire airfoil surface, including regions away from the leading edge, altering the flow field and influencing the onset of stall. In the present work, the ability of these stall criteria to effectively capture and localize these vortex shedding events in space and time is investigated. High-resolution large-eddy simulations for an SD7003 airfoil undergoing a constant-rate, pitch-up motion at two $Re$ (10 000 and 60 000) and two pitch rates reveal a rich variety of unsteady flow phenomena, including instabilities, transition, vortex formation, merging and shedding, which are described in detail. While stall onset is reflected in both $LESP$ and $BEF$, local vortex-shedding events are identified only by the $BEF$. Therefore, $BEF$ can be used to identify both dynamic stall onset and local vortex-shedding events in space and time.

Information

Type
JFM Papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press.
Figure 0

Figure 1. Grid used in the present study: (a) full view; (b) zoomed-in view and (c) trailing-edge region. Every third point in the radial and circumferential directions is shown for clarity in panels (a,b).

Figure 1

Table 1. Datasets used in the present work. In all cases, an SD7003 airfoil is pitched up at a constant rate about the quarter-chord point, at $M_{\infty } = 0.1$.

Figure 2

Figure 2. Schematic showing the coordinate directions and integration region for calculating $BEF$ and $LESP$.

Figure 3

Figure 3. Space–time contours for Case R60-p05. (a) $-C_p$ and (b) $C_f$.

Figure 4

Figure 4. Isosurfaces of Q-criterion (value 100) coloured by spanwise vorticity contours (inlaid legend) showing the shear layer undergoing (a) a K-H instability and subsequent transition to turbulence, (b) upstream propagation of the K-H instability and (c) development of viscous instabilities close to the leading edge, for Case R60-p05. (a) $\alpha = 6.9^{\circ }$, (b) $\alpha = 9.3^{\circ }$ and (c) $\alpha = 10.7^{\circ }$.

Figure 5

Figure 5. Variation with $\alpha$ of (ac) aerodynamic coefficients and (d) $\max (|C_p|)$ near the first 5 % of airfoil chord, for Case R60-p05.

Figure 6

Figure 6. $C_p$ profiles on the airfoil suction surface for different $\alpha$ around the time of strong laminar vortex shedding. The profiles are shifted along the ordinate by $\Delta C_p = 2.25$ units to avoid clutter. The profile corresponding to relatively strong vortex shedding is highlighted in red.

Figure 7

Figure 7. (a) $LESP$ and (b) $|BEF|$ integrated over different chord lengths, plotted against $\alpha$, for Case R60-p05.

Figure 8

Figure 8. Space–time contours for Case R60-p25. (a) $-C_p$ and (b) $C_f$.

Figure 9

Figure 9. Case R60-p25. Vorticity contours showing (ac) the simultaneous amplification of the K-H instability in the shear layer and the viscous instabilities within the LSB leading to the roll-up of vortices; (df) growth of the leading-edge DSV and shear layer vortices. Purple represents clockwise vorticity, while green represents counter-clockwise vorticity. (a) $\alpha = 15.0^{\circ }$, (b) $\alpha = 15.5^{\circ }$, (c) $\alpha = 16.7^{\circ }$, (d) $\alpha = 18.4^{\circ }$, (e) $\alpha = 19.6^{\circ }$ and (f) $\alpha = 20.7^{\circ }$.

Figure 10

Figure 10. Variation with $\alpha$ of (ac) aerodynamic coefficients and (d) $\max (|C_p|)$ near the first 5 % of airfoil chord, for Case R60-p25.

Figure 11

Figure 11. (a) $LESP$ and (b) $|BEF|$ integrated over different chord lengths, plotted against $\alpha$, for Case R60-p25.

Figure 12

Figure 12. Vorticity contours showing the formation of a DSV system through shear layer vortex and wall interactions for Case R10-p05. (a) $\alpha = 11.0^{\circ }$, (b) $\alpha = 13.3^{\circ }$, (c) $\alpha = 14.8^{\circ }$, (d) $\alpha = 15.7^{\circ }$, (e) $\alpha = 18.3^{\circ }$ and (f) $\alpha = 20.3^{\circ }$.

Figure 13

Figure 13. Variation with $\alpha$ of (ac) aerodynamic coefficients and (d) $\max (|C_p|)$ near the first 5 % of airfoil chord, for Case R10-p05. The red x markers correspond to the flow fields highlighted in panels (bd) in figure 12.

Figure 14

Figure 14. (a) $LESP$ and (b) $|BEF|$ integrated over different chord lengths, plotted against $\alpha$, for Case R10-p05.

Figure 15

Figure 15. Vorticity contours at different instances during the pitch-up manoeuvre for Case R10-p25. Similar behaviour as in Case R10-p05, but is delayed (in $t^*$ and $\alpha$) due to the higher pitch rate, and vortex shedding occurs closer to the leading edge. (a) $\alpha = 20.2^{\circ }$, (b) $\alpha = 22.8^{\circ }$, (c) $\alpha = 25.7^{\circ }$, (d) $\alpha = 29.7^{\circ }$, (e) $\alpha = 33.2^{\circ }$ and (f) $\alpha = 49.7^{\circ }$.

Figure 16

Figure 16. Variation with $\alpha$ of (ac) aerodynamic coefficients and (d) $\max (|C_p|)$ near the first 5 % of airfoil chord, for Case R10-p25.

Figure 17

Figure 17. (a) $LESP$ and (b) $|BEF|$ integrated over different chord lengths, plotted against $\alpha$, for Case R10-p25.

Figure 18

Figure 18. Different sections of the airfoil referred to in subsequent figures.

Figure 19

Figure 19. Contributions to (a) $C_{suction}$ and (b) $BEF$ from different airfoil segments, for Case R60-p05.

Figure 20

Figure 20. Contributions to (a) $C_{suction}$ and (b) $BEF$ from different airfoil segments, for Case R10-p25.

Figure 21

Figure 21. Illustration of observations from all four cases considered in the present study.

Figure 22

Figure 22. Comparison of $C_p$ and $C_f$ distributions between static LES and XFOIL for an $Re$ of 60 000 at $\alpha = 4^{\circ }$. (a) Surface pressure coeff., $C_p$ and (b) skin friction coeff., $C_f$.

Figure 23

Figure 23. Contributions to $C_{suction}$ and $BEF$ from different airfoil segments for cases (a,b) R60-p25 and (c,d) R10-p05. (a) $C_{suction}$, R60-p25, (b) $BEF$, R60-p25, (c) $C_{suction}$, R10-p05 and (d) $BEF$, R10-p05.

Supplementary material: File

Sudharsan and Sharma supplementary movie 1

Span-averaged vorticity contours from LES simulations are presented for an SD7003 airfoil pitched up at a chord-based Reynolds number of 60,000 and a nondimensional pitch rate of 0.05 at a freestream Mach number of 0.1. This case is characterized by the onset of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities leading to the formation of shear layer vortices, viscous instabilities leading to the establishment of a laminar separation bubble, and its eventual breakdown leading to the formation of a coherent dynamic stall vortex.
Download Sudharsan and Sharma supplementary movie 1(File)
File 1 MB
Supplementary material: File

Sudharsan and Sharma supplementary movie 2

Span-averaged vorticity contours from LES simulations are presented for an SD7003 airfoil pitched up at a Reynolds number of 60,000 and a nondimensional pitch rate of 0.25 at a freestream Mach number of 0.1. This case is characterized by the nearly simultaneous amplification of inviscid Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities as well as and viscous instabilities leading to the breakdown of the laminar separation bubble and complete transition to turbulence. Unsteady lag effects due to the higher pitch rate delay the angle of attack at which dynamic stall formation occurs.
Download Sudharsan and Sharma supplementary movie 2(File)
File 1.5 MB
Supplementary material: File

Sudharsan and Sharma supplementary movie 3

Span-averaged vorticity contours from LES simulations are presented for an SD7003 airfoil pitched up at a Reynolds number of 10,000 and a nondimensional pitch rate of 0.05 at a freestream Mach number of 0.1. A dynamic stall vortex system comprised of multiple, large-scale, laminar vortices is observed at this lower Reynolds number.
Download Sudharsan and Sharma supplementary movie 3(File)
File 930.4 KB
Supplementary material: File

Sudharsan and Sharma supplementary movie 4

Span-averaged vorticity contours from LES simulations are presented for an SD7003 airfoil pitched up at a Reynolds number of 10,000 and a nondimensional pitch rate of 0.25 at a freestream Mach number of 0.1. A stronger dynamic stall vortex system (comprised of multiple vortices) is observed to be located farther upstream along the airfoil surface due to the higher pitch rate for this case.
Download Sudharsan and Sharma supplementary movie 4(File)
File 1.2 MB