Journal of Fluids and Structures最新文献

This paper reports direct numerical simulations of the flow past rigid and flexible flapping wings under hovering flight conditions. Both passive and active deformations are considered. It is shown that passive deformation can help increase aerodynamic performance through significant wing bending. Bending occurs at the frequency of the prescribed flapping motion and is, in this case, characterized by moderate amplitude and phase lag with respect to the prescribed flapping motion. Bending is then actively prescribed (rather than being a result of passive deformation) with varying phase lag. This allows to decouple the role of bending amplitude and phase lag on aerodynamic performance of the flapping wing. It is shown that both lift and efficiency can be significantly enhanced for phase lags around $3\pi /2$ but this enhancement reduces with increasing pitch angle. The influence of morphing on aerodynamic performance can be explained by the concomitant role of quasi-steady and unsteady effects. These results hence demonstrate that morphing can be beneficial to the aerodynamics of flapping wings. Furthermore, they can help define structural properties that promote aerodynamic performance of flapping wings through passive deformations (with relevant amplitude and phase).

Effects of chord-wise flexibility as an instrument to control chaotic transitions in the wake of a flexible flapping foil have been studied here using an immersed boundary method-based in-house fluid–structure-interaction solver. The ability of the flapping foil at an optimum level of flexibility to inhibit chaotic transition, otherwise encountered in a similar but rigid configuration, has been highlighted. The rigid foil manifests chaotic transition through a quasi-periodic-intermittency route at high dynamic plunge velocities; whereas, increasing the level of flexibility gradually regularises the aperiodic behaviour through a variety of interesting wake patterns. If flexibility is increased beyond an optimum level, aperiodicity sets in again and robust chaos is restored at very high flexibility levels. The mechanisms of triggering the order-to-chaos transition are different between the rigid and the high flexibility cases. Along the route to order and back to chaos, the flexible foil exhibits different flow-field behaviours, including far-wake switching, primary & secondary vortex streets, bifurcated wakes and interactive vortices between the bifurcated wakes. The underlying interaction mechanisms of the flow-field vortices responsible for the associated dynamical signatures of the wake have been closely tracked. This study further examines the optimum propulsive performance range of the flexible flapper and investigates its connection with the periodicity/regularity of the system.

To investigate hydroelasticity effects on a single cavitation bubble dynamic, a focused laser was used to generate the bubble in water near a flexible aluminium foil fixed to a specimen holder with a circular aperture to allow the foil to vibrate. The bubble was generated below the foil's center. A laser-based optical sensor measured the displacement at the center of the foil. Simultaneously, a high-speed camera monitored the bubble's dynamics to correlate it with the foil's displacement. By directly measuring the foil's displacements, we provided building block missing in previous investigations. We found that a key difference between bubble dynamics near a rigid and an elastic structure was that, at relative wall distances larger or equal to unity, the bubble did not collapse on the elastic foil. The bubble's dynamics caused dominant foil displacements during its first growth (after plasma seeding) and during its subsequent collapse. Foil displacements during the bubble's first collapse were about twice as large as those during its growth phase. For lower relative wall distances, the induced foil displacements were significant until the bubble's third collapse. At larger relative wall distances, the bubble did not collapse on the elastic foil and, thus, it did not induce erosion. However, it caused foil vibrations and, therefore, may contribute to the foil's structural fatigue damage. Our study postulates that the cavitation may not be erosive, however it can induce impulsive loads causing vibrations and thereby fatigue damage of nearby structures.

The phononic crystal theory provides a novel approach for effectively controlling the bending vibrations in fluid-filled pipelines. This paper innovatively proposes the precise parameters transfer matrix method to investigate the band calculation accuracy and bandgap characteristics of fluid-filled periodic pipelines with various beam types. Firstly, the differential equations for bending vibration of fluid-filled pipelines are established based on deformation and force analysis. The parameters of the system state are precisely represented by the structural form of multiplying the constitutive matrix with the derivative matrix. Combined with Bloch's theorem, the novel precise parameters transfer matrix method for calculating the band structure is proposed. Secondly, the validity of this method is verified through a comparison with finite element simulation results. A detailed analysis is provided regarding the mechanism of bandgap formation and the effect of fluid filling on the band structure. Then, the influence of shear deformation, moment of inertia, and their coupling on the band calculation accuracy for fluid-filled periodic pipelines is studied based on various beam theories. Finally, it delves into the bandgap characteristics of fluid-filled periodic pipelines under different material parameters, structural parameters, and excitation conditions. This research offers valuable insights for the structural design and vibration damping application in fluid-filled periodic pipelines, providing theoretical support for accurately determining their bandgaps.

An experimental campaign to study the impact of a distinct type of vortex generator — rod type (RVG), on the flow characteristics and the acoustic far-field pressure of a wind turbine airfoil, is conducted. Airfoils exhibit decreased aerodynamic performance at high inflow angles due to turbulent boundary layer flow separation. RVGs are applied to mitigate the flow separation. However, this benefit is accompanied by an acoustic penalty. An assessment of the impact of RVGs on the far-field noise emission is conducted for the DU96-W-180 airfoil. The evolution of the boundary layer impacted by the rods is analyzed through Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements. The resulting reduction in the separation zone is observed through oil flow visualization. Analysis of the sound spectrum for airfoils with/without RVGs is conducted for a range of frequencies (300 Hz to 4000 Hz). Results show a reduction of the noise level at relatively low frequencies, at the expense of an increased noise level in the mid-high frequency ranges. While the former is caused by the reduction of the flow separation, the latter is determined by the combined contribution of the noise scattered by the RVG and by the change in boundary layer characteristics at the airfoil trailing edge.

Although the most energetic part of the wall pressure field (WPF) beneath a turbulent boundary layer (TBL) is within the convective region, this region is mostly filtered out by the structure when excited by a low Mach number turbulent flow. Therefore, structural vibration is primarily induced by the low-wavenumber components of the WPF. This highlights the importance of an accurate estimation of the low-wavenumber WPF for predicting flow-induced vibration of structures. Existing semi-empirical TBL models for the WPF agree well in the convective region but significantly differ from one another in estimating the low-wavenumber levels. In this study, we aim to investigate the feasibility of estimating the low-wavenumber WPF by analyzing vibration data from a structure excited by a TBL. The proposed approach is based on the relationship between the TBL forcing function and structural vibrations in the wavenumber domain. By utilizing vibration data obtained from a structure excited by a TBL and incorporating the sensitivity functions of the respective structure, it is possible to estimate the cross-spectrum density of the pressure fluctuations in the wavenumber domain. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, an analytical model of a simply-supported panel excited by a reference TBL model is employed. The vibration data of the panel is then used in an inverse method to identify the low-wavenumber levels of the pressure fluctuations, which are then compared to those of the reference TBL model. The performance of the proposed method is examined through a parametric study and virtual experiments.

The importance of fluidelastic forces in flow-excited vibrations is crucial, in view of their damaging potential. Flow-coupling coefficients are often experimentally obtained from vibration experiments, performed within a limited experimental frequency range. For any given flow velocity, these coefficients are typically frequency-dependent, as amply documented in the literature since the seminal work of Tanaka and Takahara. Such frequency dependence, which seems quite natural in view of the flows intricacies, not only is awkward for attempting physical interpretations, but also leads to numerical difficulties when performing time-domain computations. In this work, we address this problem by assuming that the measured fluidelastic forces encapsulate "hidden" (non-measured) dynamics of the coupled flow. This leads to the possibility of modelling the flow-structure coupled dynamics through conventional ordinary differential equations with constant parameters. The substructure analysis of such a model, augmented with a set of "hidden" flow variables, readily highlights an inevitability of the frequency-dependence found in the measured flow forces, when these are condensed at the measurement degrees of freedom. The formulation thus obtained clearly suggests the mathematical structure of the measured fluidelastic forces, in particular providing the formal justification for a modelling approach often used in unsteady aeroelasticity. Then, inspired by previous work in the fields of viscoelasticity and soil-structure interaction, we proceed by identifying adequate frequency-independent second-order flow-coupling matrices from the frequency-dependent experimental data, which is a challenging identification problem, even for the specific case of symmetric coupling detailed here. Finally, the developed concepts and procedures are applied to experimental results obtained at CEA-Saclay (France), for the fluidelastic interaction forces acting on a flexible tube within a rigid bundle, although the problem addressed embraces a much wider range of applications. The proposed flow modelling and identification approach shows significant potential in practical applications, with many definite advantages.

In this work, we have performed numerical simulations of the flapping motion of a rectangular wing in a three-dimensional flow field using the discrete vortex method (DVM). The DVM method is computationally more convenient because it does not require the generation of a grid for the flow field at each time step as in other conventional simulation methods. In addition to the rigid wing case, the aerodynamic characteristics of a deformable wing are also investigated. The deformable wing is studied in various configurations, such as bending, twisting, and bending-twisting coupling (BTC), to provide a comprehensive analysis of its performance. In this study, we have introduced a novel aerodynamic technique in wing twisting. Unlike traditional wing rotation about a fixed root axis, our approach involves rotating the wing about a dynamically adjusted point located at the root of the leading edge. This novel approach was found to be effective in increase in the requisite aerodynamic force. The BTC wing represents reflects a sophisticated aerodynamic approach that optimally coordinates both twisting and bending deformations of the wing, resulting in a substantial improvement in its overall aerodynamic efficiency. The investigation of all four modes involves a detailed analysis of the flow mechanisms and vortex dynamics, which play a crucial role in influencing the aerodynamic forces, namely lift and thrust. The study aims to understand how these flow patterns change under different operating conditions and how these changes impact the generation of lift and thrust. The lift, thrust, and propulsive efficiency of all four modes are compared to provide a detailed understanding of their aerodynamic characteristics. The bent wing showed minimal improvements in lift and thrust compared to the rigid wing. In contrast, the twisted wing showed greater improvements in both lift and thrust. The BTC wing proves to be the most efficient method to improve aerodynamic performance during flapping. The parametric dependence of kinematic parameters such as asymmetric ratio (downstroke speed to upstroke speed), aspect ratio and reduced frequency on the aerodynamic performance was also investigated.

We have conducted an experimental study on the use of rear flexible vertical flaps as adaptive solutions to reduce the drag of a squareback Ahmed body, and on the fluid–structure interaction mechanisms at the turbulent wake. To that aim, wind tunnel experiments were conducted to compare the performance of various configurations including the baseline body, the body with rigid flaps and with flexible flaps. These configurations were tested under different aligned and cross-flow conditions. The results reveal that the flexible adaptive devices effectively reduce the drag within for low values of the dimensionless stiffness quantified through the Cauchy number, $Ca$. Thus, the two-dimensional deformation of the flexible flaps, which undergo progressive inwards reconfiguration (with an averaged tip deflection angle of $\Theta \simeq 4°$), reduces the bluffness of the flow separation at the body base, thus shrinking the recirculation region. This reconfiguration leads to increased base pressure, resulting into a 8.3% decrease in the global drag, $C_D$, under aligned conditions. Similar drag reductions are observed under yawed conditions.

Two regimes are identified in terms of the coupled fluid–structure dynamics. For low $Ca$, the passive reconfiguration of the flaps include small amplitude, periodic oscillations corresponding to the first free deformation mode of a cantilevered beam. Alongside these weak oscillations, the flaps are deformed guided by the changes in the value of the horizontal base pressure gradient, depicting bi-stable behavior which is caused by the synchronization between the Reflectional Symmetry Breaking (RSB) mode, typically present in the wake of three-dimensional bluff bodies, and the flaps deformation. For higher values of $Ca$, the flexible flaps deflect inwardly by about $\Theta \simeq 20°$ on average, but exhibit vigorous oscillations combining the first and second free deformation modes of a cantilevered beam. These large amplitude oscillations excite the flow separation at the model’s trailing edges, leading to significant fluctuations in the separated shear layers and a consequent 31% increase in the global drag. Under yawed conditions, the flaps responses for large values of $Ca$ are different due to the asymmetry of the corresponding recirculation region.