Dans un contexte de croissance du trafic aérien et dans le but de réduire la consommation de carburant ainsi que les émissions de polluants dans l’atmosphère, l’avion de demain se doit d’être plus respectueux de l’environnement. Dans un objectif d’optimisation de ses performances aérodynamiques,d’importantes activités de recherche sont menées dans le monde pour étudier de nouveaux dispositifs de contrôle actif des écoulements en temps réel. Depuis une dizaine d’années, l’utilisation de la décharge à barrière diélectrique surfacique comme actionneur plasma pour le contrôle d’écoulements suscite un intérêt grandissant. Ce type d’actionneur permet de créer un plasma non-thermique capable de générer un écoulement basse vitesse, appelé vent ionique, qui interagit avec l’écoulement naturel en proche paroi pour l’amener dans un état souhaité. Les études expérimentales présentées dans cette thèse portent, d’une part, sur la caractérisation de l’actionneur plasma sous atmosphère contrôlée pour étudier le rôle de l’azote et de l’oxygène sur le comportement de la décharge et d’autre part, sur l’évaluation des potentialités de cet actionneur à contrôler le décollement massif naissant au bord d’attaque d’un profil d’aile placé à forte incidence. Les résultats mettent en évidence l’importance du rôle joué par O2 dans l’amorçage des filaments de plasma et dans la production de vent ionique. Le taux de production d’ozone de l’actionneur plasma a été quantifié en fonction de la puissance électrique. Les essais en soufflerie, réalisés dans le cadre du projet européen PLASMAERO, montrent l’effet de la fréquence de pulsation du signal d’alimentation haute tension sur la réponse de l’écoulement décollé et des ses instabilités naturelles. Il est ainsi possible, pour le profil placé à des incidences au-delà de l’incidence de décrochage naturel, d’augmenter la portance du profil en supprimant le décollement ou en favorisant la formation de tourbillons portants à l’extrados du profil. / To reduce power consumption and pollutant emissions in the atmosphere due to the increase of aerial traffic jam, tomorrow’s plane must be environnement-friendly. To enhance aerodynamic airfoil performance, worldwide studies have been carried out to study reel time active flow control actuators. For a decade, the interest in using a dielectric barrier discharge for flow control is increasing. Such a discharge is able to create a non thermal plasma which can induce a low velocity airflow, called ionic wind, which interacts with natural flow close to the wall to change its behavior. Experimental studies detailled in this thesis can be divided in two parts. On one hand, plasma actuator caracterization is performed at atmospherical pressure to study the influence of oxygen and nitrogen on the discharge behavior. On the other hand, abilities of the actuator to control a massive flow separation at the leading-edge of an airfoil in a deep post-stall regime are investigated. Results underlines that plasma filaments ignition and ionic wind generation is mainly governed by O2. Besides, the ozone procution rate of the dischage is measured as a function of electrical power. Wind tunnel tests, performed in the PLASMAERO project, underline that separated air flow and its instabilities can be drive by the burst frequency of the high voltage signal. For a deep post-stall regime, a lift enhancement can by obtained by reattaching the air flow or inducing lifting vortexes on the wing upper surface.

Dans un contexte de croissance du trafic aérien et dans le but de réduire la consommation de carburant ainsi que les émissions de polluants dans l'atmosphère, l'avion de demain se doit d'être plus respectueux de l'environnement. Dans un objectif d'optimisation de ses performances aérodynamiques,d'importantes activités de recherche sont menées dans le monde pour étudier de nouveaux dispositifs de contrôle actif des écoulements en temps réel. Depuis une dizaine d'années, l'utilisation de la décharge à barrière diélectrique surfacique comme actionneur plasma pour le contrôle d'écoulements suscite un intérêt grandissant. Ce type d'actionneur permet de créer un plasma non-thermique capable de générer un écoulement basse vitesse, appelé vent ionique, qui interagit avec l'écoulement naturel en proche paroi pour l'amener dans un état souhaité. Les études expérimentales présentées dans cette thèse portent, d'une part, sur la caractérisation de l'actionneur plasma sous atmosphère contrôlée pour étudier le rôle de l'azote et de l'oxygène sur le comportement de la décharge et d'autre part, sur l'évaluation des potentialités de cet actionneur à contrôler le décollement massif naissant au bord d'attaque d'un profil d'aile placé à forte incidence. Les résultats mettent en évidence l'importance du rôle joué par O2 dans l'amorçage des filaments de plasma et dans la production de vent ionique. Le taux de production d'ozone de l'actionneur plasma a été quantifié en fonction de la puissance électrique. Les essais en soufflerie, réalisés dans le cadre du projet européen PLASMAERO, montrent l'effet de la fréquence de pulsation du signal d'alimentation haute tension sur la réponse de l'écoulement décollé et des ses instabilités naturelles. Il est ainsi possible, pour le profil placé à des incidences au-delà de l'incidence de décrochage naturel, d'augmenter la portance du profil en supprimant le décollement ou en favorisant la formation de tourbillons portants à l'extrados du profil.

Este trabalho apresenta o resultado da aplicação do Método dos Volumes Finitos, adotado pelo software comercial Star-CCM+ na simulação para o regime permanente de escoamentos turbulentos incompressíveis e compressíveis sobre seções de aerofólios. Para o caso incompressível modelam-se seções do aerofólio NACA 0012 com ângulo de ataque zero. Para o caso compressível, uma seção do aerofólio supercrítico OAT15A em pequeno ângulo de ataque é modelada. Os domínios computacionais são discretizados por malhas não estruturadas de células poliédricas ou por malhas estruturadas de geração hiperbólica para diferentes topologias e parâmetros construtivos determinados pela estimativa de grandezas do fenômeno físico, como a altura da primeira camada de células quadrilaterais junto à parede. A qualidade e adequação dessas malhas para as simulações são verificadas por estudo de dependência quanto ao nível de refinamento e também quanto à posição do contorno onde o escoamento é livre no caso de escoamento compressível. Na metodologia de verificação, o índice de convergência de malha GCI e a ordem observada de convergência do método (dos Volumes Finitos) são obtidos para três níveis de refinamento com o propósito de selecionar uma malha de trabalho que concilie precisão e esforço computacional com os recursos disponíveis. As simulações são conduzidas para dois modelos de turbulência – o modelo Spalart-Allmaras e o modelo k-ω/SST. Os resultados obtidos pela aplicação desses modelos são interpretados sob o ponto de vista fenomenológico e comparados com os resultados experimentais disponíveis em literatura. / The Finite Volumes Method adopted by the commercial software Star-CCM+ is applied to the simulation of the steady state regime of incompressible and compressible turbulent flows over selected airfoil’s sections. The physical model used with the incompressible flow case is a NACA 0012 airfoil section at zero angle of attack. The ONERA’s OAT15A supercritical airfoil section at small angle of attack applies to the compressible flow case. The computational domains are discretized by structured and unstructured meshes for different topologies and far field configurations. The structured meshes are of the quadrilateral type with hyperbolic node distribution whilst the unstructured meshes use polyhedral cells. The grids are generated by applying a methodology where estimates of the flow variables are used as input for the grid’s constructive parameters like the near wall cell thickness. Grid dependency studies are carried out in order to verify the grid’s quality and suitability to represent the physical phenomena. The grid’s asymptotic convergence index GCI and its observed order of convergence are evaluated for three refinement levels and far field position for the compressible flow cases. The objective is to select the most suitable grid taking into account the accuracy requirements and the computational resources available. The one-equation Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model and the two-equation k-ω/SST turbulence models are used. The numerical results are discussed from the physical point of view and compared with the experimental ones available in literature.

Este trabalho apresenta o resultado da aplicação do Método dos Volumes Finitos, adotado pelo software comercial Star-CCM+ na simulação para o regime permanente de escoamentos turbulentos incompressíveis e compressíveis sobre seções de aerofólios. Para o caso incompressível modelam-se seções do aerofólio NACA 0012 com ângulo de ataque zero. Para o caso compressível, uma seção do aerofólio supercrítico OAT15A em pequeno ângulo de ataque é modelada. Os domínios computacionais são discretizados por malhas não estruturadas de células poliédricas ou por malhas estruturadas de geração hiperbólica para diferentes topologias e parâmetros construtivos determinados pela estimativa de grandezas do fenômeno físico, como a altura da primeira camada de células quadrilaterais junto à parede. A qualidade e adequação dessas malhas para as simulações são verificadas por estudo de dependência quanto ao nível de refinamento e também quanto à posição do contorno onde o escoamento é livre no caso de escoamento compressível. Na metodologia de verificação, o índice de convergência de malha GCI e a ordem observada de convergência do método (dos Volumes Finitos) são obtidos para três níveis de refinamento com o propósito de selecionar uma malha de trabalho que concilie precisão e esforço computacional com os recursos disponíveis. As simulações são conduzidas para dois modelos de turbulência – o modelo Spalart-Allmaras e o modelo k-ω/SST. Os resultados obtidos pela aplicação desses modelos são interpretados sob o ponto de vista fenomenológico e comparados com os resultados experimentais disponíveis em literatura. / The Finite Volumes Method adopted by the commercial software Star-CCM+ is applied to the simulation of the steady state regime of incompressible and compressible turbulent flows over selected airfoil’s sections. The physical model used with the incompressible flow case is a NACA 0012 airfoil section at zero angle of attack. The ONERA’s OAT15A supercritical airfoil section at small angle of attack applies to the compressible flow case. The computational domains are discretized by structured and unstructured meshes for different topologies and far field configurations. The structured meshes are of the quadrilateral type with hyperbolic node distribution whilst the unstructured meshes use polyhedral cells. The grids are generated by applying a methodology where estimates of the flow variables are used as input for the grid’s constructive parameters like the near wall cell thickness. Grid dependency studies are carried out in order to verify the grid’s quality and suitability to represent the physical phenomena. The grid’s asymptotic convergence index GCI and its observed order of convergence are evaluated for three refinement levels and far field position for the compressible flow cases. The objective is to select the most suitable grid taking into account the accuracy requirements and the computational resources available. The one-equation Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model and the two-equation k-ω/SST turbulence models are used. The numerical results are discussed from the physical point of view and compared with the experimental ones available in literature.

Este trabalho apresenta o resultado da aplicação do Método dos Volumes Finitos, adotado pelo software comercial Star-CCM+ na simulação para o regime permanente de escoamentos turbulentos incompressíveis e compressíveis sobre seções de aerofólios. Para o caso incompressível modelam-se seções do aerofólio NACA 0012 com ângulo de ataque zero. Para o caso compressível, uma seção do aerofólio supercrítico OAT15A em pequeno ângulo de ataque é modelada. Os domínios computacionais são discretizados por malhas não estruturadas de células poliédricas ou por malhas estruturadas de geração hiperbólica para diferentes topologias e parâmetros construtivos determinados pela estimativa de grandezas do fenômeno físico, como a altura da primeira camada de células quadrilaterais junto à parede. A qualidade e adequação dessas malhas para as simulações são verificadas por estudo de dependência quanto ao nível de refinamento e também quanto à posição do contorno onde o escoamento é livre no caso de escoamento compressível. Na metodologia de verificação, o índice de convergência de malha GCI e a ordem observada de convergência do método (dos Volumes Finitos) são obtidos para três níveis de refinamento com o propósito de selecionar uma malha de trabalho que concilie precisão e esforço computacional com os recursos disponíveis. As simulações são conduzidas para dois modelos de turbulência – o modelo Spalart-Allmaras e o modelo k-ω/SST. Os resultados obtidos pela aplicação desses modelos são interpretados sob o ponto de vista fenomenológico e comparados com os resultados experimentais disponíveis em literatura. / The Finite Volumes Method adopted by the commercial software Star-CCM+ is applied to the simulation of the steady state regime of incompressible and compressible turbulent flows over selected airfoil’s sections. The physical model used with the incompressible flow case is a NACA 0012 airfoil section at zero angle of attack. The ONERA’s OAT15A supercritical airfoil section at small angle of attack applies to the compressible flow case. The computational domains are discretized by structured and unstructured meshes for different topologies and far field configurations. The structured meshes are of the quadrilateral type with hyperbolic node distribution whilst the unstructured meshes use polyhedral cells. The grids are generated by applying a methodology where estimates of the flow variables are used as input for the grid’s constructive parameters like the near wall cell thickness. Grid dependency studies are carried out in order to verify the grid’s quality and suitability to represent the physical phenomena. The grid’s asymptotic convergence index GCI and its observed order of convergence are evaluated for three refinement levels and far field position for the compressible flow cases. The objective is to select the most suitable grid taking into account the accuracy requirements and the computational resources available. The one-equation Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model and the two-equation k-ω/SST turbulence models are used. The numerical results are discussed from the physical point of view and compared with the experimental ones available in literature.

The analysis and optimum design of stiffened, shear webs in aircraft structures is addressed. The post-buckling behaviour of the webs is assessed using the interactive algorithm developed by Grisham. This method requires only linear finite element analyses, while convergence is typically achieved in as few as five iterations. The Grisham algorithm is extensively compared with empirical analysis methods previously used for aircraft structures and also with a refined, non-linear quasi-static finite element analysis. The Grisham algorithm provides for both compressive buckling in two directions as well as shear buckling, and overcomes some of the conservatism inherent in conventional methods of analysis. In addition, the method is notably less expensive than a complete non-linear finite element analysis, even though global collapse cannot be predicted. While verification of the analysis methodology is the main focus of the stud, an initial investigation into optimization is also made. In optimizing stiffened thin walled structures, the Grisham algorithm is combined with a genetic algorithm. Allowable stress constraints are accommodated using a simple penalty formulation. / Dissertation (MEng (Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / unrestricted

No description available.

Shear layer development over a NACA 0018 airfoil at a chord Reynolds number of 100,000 was investigated experimentally. The effects of experimental setup and analysis tools on the results were also examined. The sensitivity of linear stability predictions for measured separated shear layer velocity profiles to both the analysis approach and experimental data scatter was evaluated. Analysis approaches that are relatively insensitive to experimental data scatter were identified. Stability predictions were shown to be more sensitive to the analysis approach than to experimental data scatter, with differences in the predicted maximum disturbance growth rate and corresponding frequency of approximately 35% between approaches. A parametric study on the effects of experimental setup on low Reynolds number airfoil experiments was completed. It was found that measured lift forces and vortex shedding frequencies were affected by the end plate configuration. It was concluded that the ratio of end plate spacing to projected model height should be at least seven, consistent with the guideline for circular cylinders. Measurements before and after test section wall streamlining revealed errors in lift coefficients due to blockage as high as 9% and errors in the wake vortex shedding frequency of 3.5%. Shear layer development over the model was investigated in detail. Flow visualization images linked an observed asymmetry in wake velocity profiles to pronounced vortex roll-up below the wake centerline. Linear stability predictions based on the mean hot-wire profiles were found to agree with measured disturbance growth rates, wave numbers, and streamwise velocity fluctuation profiles. Embedded surface pressure sensors were shown to provide reasonable estimates of disturbance growth rate, wave number, and convection speed for conditions at which a separation bubble formed on the airfoil surface. Convection speeds of between 30 and 50% of the edge velocity were measured, consistent with phase speed estimates from linear stability theory.

Shear layer development over a NACA 0018 airfoil at a chord Reynolds number of 100,000 was investigated experimentally. The effects of experimental setup and analysis tools on the results were also examined. The sensitivity of linear stability predictions for measured separated shear layer velocity profiles to both the analysis approach and experimental data scatter was evaluated. Analysis approaches that are relatively insensitive to experimental data scatter were identified. Stability predictions were shown to be more sensitive to the analysis approach than to experimental data scatter, with differences in the predicted maximum disturbance growth rate and corresponding frequency of approximately 35% between approaches. A parametric study on the effects of experimental setup on low Reynolds number airfoil experiments was completed. It was found that measured lift forces and vortex shedding frequencies were affected by the end plate configuration. It was concluded that the ratio of end plate spacing to projected model height should be at least seven, consistent with the guideline for circular cylinders. Measurements before and after test section wall streamlining revealed errors in lift coefficients due to blockage as high as 9% and errors in the wake vortex shedding frequency of 3.5%. Shear layer development over the model was investigated in detail. Flow visualization images linked an observed asymmetry in wake velocity profiles to pronounced vortex roll-up below the wake centerline. Linear stability predictions based on the mean hot-wire profiles were found to agree with measured disturbance growth rates, wave numbers, and streamwise velocity fluctuation profiles. Embedded surface pressure sensors were shown to provide reasonable estimates of disturbance growth rate, wave number, and convection speed for conditions at which a separation bubble formed on the airfoil surface. Convection speeds of between 30 and 50% of the edge velocity were measured, consistent with phase speed estimates from linear stability theory.