Name: experimental investigation of the flow structure over a delta wing via flow visualization methods
Uploaded: 2018-04-23T15:00:00.000+00:00
Duration: 9 min 17 s
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Experimental Investigation of the Flow Structure over a Delta Wing Via Flow Visualization Methods at JoVE.com

The authors would like to thank Hong Kong Research Grants Council (no. GRF526913), Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission (no. ITS/334/15FP), and the US Office of Naval Research Global (no. N00014-16-1-2161) for financial support.

1. Wind Tunnel Setup
<ol>
	<li>Delta wing model
	<ol>
		<li>Construct a delta wing model from aluminum, with a sweep angle &#966; of 75&#176;, a chord length c of 280 mm, a root span b of 150 mm, and a thickness of 5 mm. Have both leading edges beveled at 35&#176; to fix the separation point17 (see Figure 1a).</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Wind tunnel facility
	<ol>
		<li>Conduct experiments in a closed-loop low-speed wind tunnel, with a test section of 2.4 m (length) &#215; 0.6 m (width) &#215; 0.6 m (height) that is equipped with glass walls that allow optical access during the experiments. The turbulent intensity of such a facility should be less than 0.4%. 
		NOTE: In this study, we used a wind tunnel at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University with the above characteristics. Also, the freestream velocity U&#8734; ranged from 2.64 m/s to 10.56 m/s, corresponding to a Reynolds number, Re, from 5 &#215; 104 to 2 &#215; 105, based on the chord length of the delta wing, which is the typical flight range for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).</li>
		<li>As needed, use three different arrangements (see Figure 1b-d) of the laser sheet and the cameras to observe the flow structures in the longitudinal cross section, the span-wise cross section, and the transverse cross section. Schematics of the setup are shown in Figure 1b. 
		NOTE: This protocol demonstrates the setup and measurement in the longitudinal cross section in detail.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Install the delta wing
	<ol>
		<li>Fix the delta wing trailing edge on the sting, which is on a circular motion guide used for adjusting the angle of attack (AoA), &#945;. The center of the circular guide is on the central line of the wind tunnel test section. Thus, the delta wing&#39;s center can always be at the center of the test section. Adjust the AoA to &#945; = 34&#176;.</li>
		<li>Carefully adjust the delta wing model to minimize any yaw angle and roll angle, by checking the readings of an angle meter and a three-axis laser level. In the current study, the uncertainty of these two angles is less than 0.1&#176;.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Set up the laser sheet
	<ol>
		<li>Use two lasers separately to illuminate the flow structures for PIV measurement and smoke flow visualization.
		<ol>
			<li>For PIV measurement, use a dual pulse laser, with a wavelength of 532 nm and a maximum energy of 600 mJ (adjustable) for each pulse. Control it with a synchronizer with transistor-transistor logic (TTL) signals (see Figure 1b).</li>
			<li>For smoke flow visualization, use a continuous laser with a wavelength of 532 nm and a power of 1 W. This continuous laser works independently. During the setup installation, use a neutral density filter with 10% transmittance to filter the laser beam for safety.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
		<li>Wear appropriate laser goggles.</li>
		<li>Adjust the reflection mirror to introduce the laser beam into the wind tunnel. The angle between the laser light axis and the mirror is <img alt="Equation 1" src="/files/ftp_upload/57244/57244eq1.jpg" />, to make the laser beam normal to the delta wing surface. Ensure that the laser beam is around the position x/c &#8773; 0.25, which will later be the center of the field of view (FOV).</li>
		<li>Install laser optics (with the continuous laser, at first) to form the laser sheet, as shown in Figure 1b. The convex lens is used to control the laser beam size (also the sheet thickness). The cylindrical lens expands the laser beam to a laser sheet. 
		NOTE: In the current study, the focal length of the cylindrical lens is 700 mm, and the diameter of the cylindrical lens is 12 mm.</li>
		<li>Check the laser sheet thickness by measuring the laser line on the model. Adjust the location of the convex lens if the laser sheet thickness is not suitable (here, around 1 mm, with an effective width of the laser sheet in the test section of about 100 mm). Note that the thickness of the laser sheet is dependent on 1) the velocity component in the normal direction to the laser sheet and 2) the time interval between the pair of snapshots in PIV measurement.</li>
		<li>Put a calibration target plate on the delta wing, with its surface coincident to the laser sheet. This step is essential because the FOV in the current study is not orthogonal to the wind tunnel coordinate.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Camera setup
	<ol>
		<li>Turn off the lasers when setting up the camera. As with the lasers, use two cameras for each separate part of this experiment:
		<ol>
			<li>For PIV measurement, use a high-speed CCD camera with a resolution of 2048 &#215; 2048 pixels. This camera is controlled by the synchronizer and the dual pulse laser (see Figure 1b). Data in this camera will be transmitted directly to the computer.</li>
			<li>For smoke flow visualization, use a commercial digital camera with a snapshot resolution of 4,000 &#215; 6,000 pixels and a 50 Hz video recording resolution of 720 &#215; 1280 pixels during the smoke flow visualization. It will be operated manually.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
		<li>Move the camera&#39;s position (commercial digital camera, at first) to obtain the desired FOV. Adjust the camera lens to focus on the calibration target plate. Make sure the entire field is focused. If not, the coordinates of the camera may not be orthogonal to the calibration target plate. Thus, adjust the camera&#39;s position carefully18.</li>
		<li>Take several frames after the camera is well set. Later, these frames of the calibration target plate will be used to calibrate the scale factor between the real size and the frame pixel, and to identify the reference position in the xyz coordinate. Then, remove the calibration target plate.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Turn on the wind tunnel at a low speed (e.g., 3 m/s) and inject oil particles into the wind tunnel. Set the pressure of the aerosol generator at 2.5 bar and operate it for 30 s for the pre-seeded flow visualization method. After this, the whole wind tunnel will be uniformly seeded with oil particles at a normal diameter of about 1 &#181;m. 
	NOTE: In the current study, the estimated oil particle density concentration in the wind tunnel is approximately&#160;<img alt="Equation 2" src="/files/ftp_upload/57244/57244eq2.jpg" /> in the smoke flow visualization; thus, the overall flow density change in the wind tunnel is <img alt="Equation 3" src="/files/ftp_upload/57244/57244eq3.jpg" />.</li>
	<li>PIV software setup
	<ol>
		<li>Control the PIV system with the PIV software (see Table of Materials). This software can command the synchronizer to send TTL signals to the laser and the camera, as shown in Figure 1b.</li>
		<li>Set the sampling frequency at 5 Hz, with a total sampling number of 500. The time interval between PIV frames is 80 &#181;s. Note that the time interval is dependent on the size of the FOV and flow velocity. Make sure that the interrogation areas in two frames have about a 50 - 75% overlap.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
2. Running the Experiment
<ol>
	<li>Improved smoke flow visualization
	<ol>
		<li>Turn on the wind tunnel at the desired freestream velocity (U = 2.64 m/s). Run it for 10 min to stabilize the freestream velocity. At Re = 50,000, the freestream velocity is U = 2.64 m/s.</li>
		<li>Turn on the continuous laser. Use the digital camera to capture 5 - 10 snapshots of the flow structure.</li>
		<li>Check whether the laser sheet is at the longitudinal cross-section of the LEV core (see the typical structure shown in Figure 3). If so, mark this position on the delta wing model as a reference for the later PIV measurement; otherwise, change the position of the laser sheet by adjusting the optic lens and reset the calibration following steps 1.4.6 - 1.5.3.</li>
		<li>Review those images and check the focus and brightness. If the image quality is not satisfactory, adjust the aperture of the lens or the ISO setup.</li>
		<li>Take more snapshots (typically around 20) and videos (approximately 40 s) with the proper setup. Turn off the laser and transfer the data to the computer.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>PIV measurement
	<ol>
		<li>Based on the reference position known from step 2.1.3 and the results of the snapshots from step 2.1.5, choose an interesting region (x/c&#8776; 0.3) as the FOV, where vortical substructures can be observed. Replace the continuous laser and digital camera with the dual pulse laser and CCD camera for PIV measurement.</li>
		<li>Repeat steps 1.4.6 - 1.5.3 to record the calibration for PIV measurement.</li>
		<li>Turn on the wind tunnel at the desired freestream velocity, U = 2.64 m/s. Run it for 10 minutes to ensure that the freestream velocity is stable.</li>
		<li>Adjust the dual pulse laser to the highest power level and stand by. Use the software to start the data acquisition for 100 s. Once the data recording has finished, turn off the laser head.</li>
		<li>Review the acquired images in the software and check the laser sheet distribution, the particle density (usually 6-10 particles in each desired interrogation area), the focus, and the particle displacement between the double frames (25-50% of the interrogation area).</li>
		<li>If the quality of the images is satisfactory, as described in step 2.2.5., save the data onto the hard disk of the PC and run the other cases by repeating the above steps. Otherwise, repeat steps 1.7 and 2.2 and carefully adjust the setup.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
3. Data Processing
<ol>
	<li>Improved smoke visualization 
	NOTE: The following steps, 3.1.1-3.1.4, are done via MATLAB code automatically (see the Supplemental Coding File).
	<ol>
		<li>Transform the video into a sequence of frames. Convert the frames from the RGB form into grayscale. Rotate the frame to make the delta wing surface horizontal. Choose the area of interest for later processing (Figure 2a).</li>
		<li>Adjust the brightness and the contrast to highlight the flow structure. Apply an adaptive threshold to transform the gray image to a binary image (Figure 2b).</li>
		<li>Add up the binary values in each column and find the position at which the sum suddenly changes. This position is the vortex breakdown location (Figure 2c).</li>
		<li>Record the vortex breakdown locations and their corresponding times. The time history of the breakdown oscillation thus can be obtained.</li>
		<li>Use the pixel-real size scale factor (measured from the images with the calibration target plate in step 1.5.3) to transform the time history from pixels to real size and to identify the reference position. Plot the time history of the breakdown oscillation.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>PIV measurement
	<ol>
		<li>Run the PIV software. Use the images acquired in step 2.2.2 to set the scale factor and the reference position of the coordinates. Pre-process the acquired data through the image processing library to highlight the particles and reduce noise18.</li>
		<li>Use the adaptive interrogation area method with a minimum grid size of 32 &#215; 32 pixels and a minimum overlap of 50%. Choose the image area and set a 3 x 3 vector validation for the adaptive cross-correlations.</li>
		<li>The result is given as a velocity vector field, in which the blue vectors are the correct vectors, the green ones are the substituted vectors, and the red ones are bad vectors.</li>
		<li>Apply the 3 x 3 moving average validation method to estimate the local velocity by comparing the vectors in its neighborhood. Replace vectors that deviate too much from their neighbors with the average of their neighbors.</li>
		<li>Calculate vector statistics in the velocity maps to obtain the flow characteristics in the time history, e.g., the time-averaged velocity, the standard deviation, and the cross-correlation between velocity components. Compute the scalar derivatives from the vector map to demonstrate the internal features of the flow field, e.g., the vorticity, shear stresses, and swirling strength.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>

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The authors have nothing to disclose.

This article presents the two flow visualization methods, improved smoke flow visualization and PIV measurement, to investigate flow structure over the delta wing qualitatively and quantitatively. The general procedures of the experiment are described step by step. The setups of these two methods are almost the same, while the devices involved are different. The basic principle of these two flow visualization methods is to illuminate the particles in the flow via the laser sheet. The improved smoke flow visualization can...

Flow field measurement via visualization techniques is a basic methodology in fluid engineering. Among the different visualization techniques, smoke wire flow visualization in wind tunnel experiments and dye visualization in water tunnel experiments are the most widely used to illustrate flow structures qualitatively. PIV and laser Doppler anemometry (LDA) are two typical quantitative techniques1.
In smoke wire flow visualization, smoke streaklines are generated from oil droplets on a heating wire or injected from the outer smoke generator/container during the experiments. High-power lights or laser sheets are used to illuminate the smoke streaklines. Images are then recorded for further analysis. This is a simple but very useful flow visualization method2. However, the effectiveness of this method may be limited by various factors, such as the short duration of smoke wires, the complex three-dimensional flow field, the relatively high velocity of the flow, and the efficiency of smoke generation3.
In PIV measurements, a cross-section of a flow field with entrained particles is illuminated by a laser sheet, and instant positions of the particles in this cross-section are captured by a high-speed camera. Within an extremely small time interval, a pair of images is recorded. By dividing the images into a grid of interrogation areas and calculating the average motion of particles in interrogation areas through cross-correlation functions, the instantaneous velocity vector map in this observed cross-section can be obtained. However, it is also known that compromises must be reached for factors including the size of the observation window, the resolution of the velocity map, the velocity magnitude in the plane, the time interval between the pair of images, the orthogonal velocity magnitude, and the particle density4. Therefore, many exploratory experiments may be needed to optimize the experimental settings. It would be expensive and time-consuming to investigate an unknown and complex flow field with PIV measurement alone5,6. Considering the above concerns, a strategy to combine smoke flow visualization and PIV measurement is proposed and demonstrated here to study the complex flow over a slender delta wing.
Numerous studies of LEV flows over delta wings have been conducted7,8, with flow visualization techniques used as the primary tools. Many interesting flow phenomena have been observed: spiral type and bubble type vortex breakdowns9,10, an unsteady shear layer substructure11,12, oscillations of LEV breakdown locations13, and effects of pitching and yaw angles14,15,16 on the flow structures. However, the underlying mechanisms of some unsteady phenomena in the delta wing flows remain unclear7. In this work, the smoke flow visualization is improved using the same seeding particles used in PIV measurement, instead of a smoke wire. This improvement greatly simplifies the operation of the visualization and increases the quality of the images. Based on the results from the improved smoke flow visualization, PIV measurement focuses on those flow fields of interest to acquire the quantitative information.
Here, a detailed description is provided to explain how to conduct a flow visualization experiment in a wind tunnel and to investigate unsteady flow phenomena over a delta wing. Two visualization methods, the improved smoke flow visualization and PIV measurement, are used together in this experiment. The procedure includes step-by-step guidance for device setup and parameter adjustment. Typical results are demonstrated to show the advantage of combining these two methods for measuring the complex flow field spatially and temporally.

<table><tbody><tr><td>532 nm Nd:YAG laser</td><td>Quantel Laser</td><td>Evergreen 600mJ</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>High speed camera</td><td>Dantec Dynamic</td><td>HiSense 4M</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>camera lens</td><td>Tamron</td><td>SP AF180mm F/3.5 Di</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>PIV recording and processing software</td><td>Dantec Dynamic</td><td>DynamicStudio</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>cylindrical lens</td><td>Newport</td><td></td><td>&amp;Phi;=12 mm</td></tr><tr><td>convex lens</td><td>Newport</td><td></td><td>f=700 mm</td></tr><tr><td>neutral density filter</td><td>Newport</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Calibration target</td><td></td><td></td><td>custom made</td></tr><tr><td>aerosol generator</td><td>TSI</td><td>TSI 9307-6</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>PULSE GENERATOR</td><td>Berkeley Nucleonics Corp</td><td>BNC 575</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>continuous laser</td><td></td><td>APGL-FN-532-1W</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Digital camera</td><td>Nikon</td><td>Nikon D5200</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Image processing</td><td>Matlab</td><td></td><td>custom code</td></tr><tr><td>wind tunnel support</td><td></td><td></td><td>custom made</td></tr><tr><td>laser level</td><td>BOSCH</td><td>GLL3-15X</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>angle meter</td><td>BOSCH</td><td>GAM220</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

experimental investigation of the flow structure over a delta wing via flow visualization methods

It is well known that the flow field over a delta wing is dominated by a pair of counter rotating leading edge vortices (LEV). However, their mechanism is not well understood. The flow visualization technique is a promising non-intrusive method to illustrate the complex flow field spatially and temporally. A basic flow visualization setup consists of a high-powered laser and optic lenses to generate the laser sheet, a camera, a tracer particle generator, and a data processor. The wind tunnel setup, the specifications of devices involved, and the corresponding parameter settings are dependent on the flow features to be obtained.
Normal smoke wire flow visualization uses a smoke wire to demonstrate the flow streaklines. However, the performance of this method is limited by poor spatial resolution when it is conducted in a complex flow field. Therefore, an improved smoke flow visualization technique has been developed. This technique illustrates the large-scale global LEV flow field and the small-scale shear layer flow structure at the same time, providing a valuable reference for later detailed particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurement.
In this paper, the application of the improved smoke flow visualization and PIV measurement to study the unsteady flow phenomena over a delta wing is demonstrated. The procedure and cautions for conducting the experiment are listed, including wind tunnel setup, data acquisition, and data processing. The representative results show that these two flow visualization methods are effective techniques for investigating the three-dimensional flow field qualitatively and quantitatively.

Figure 2d shows the time histories of the LEV breakdown locations. The black curve indicates the portside LEV and the red curve indicates the starboard LEV. The time scale is nondimensionalized by the free stream velocity and chord length. The correlation coefficient between these two time histories is r = &#8722;0.53, indicating a strong anti-symmetric interaction of the LEV breakdown location oscillations. This result agrees well with the work of o...

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Experimental Investigation of the Flow Structure over a Delta Wing Via Flow Visualization Methods

Here, we present a protocol to observe unsteady vortical flows over a delta wing using a modified smoke flow visualization technique and investigate the mechanism responsible for the oscillations of the leading-edge vortex breakdown locations.

It is well known that the flow field over a delta wing is dominated by a pair of counter rotating leading edge vortices (LEV). However, their mechanism is ...

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10.5K Views.  Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Here, we present a protocol to observe unsteady vortical flows over a delta wing using a modified smoke flow visualization technique and investigate the mechanism responsible for the oscillations of the leading-edge vortex breakdown locations.

Video: Experimental Investigation of the Flow Structure over a Delta Wing Via Flow Visualization Methods

Investigating the Three-dimensional Flow Separation Induced by a Model Vocal Fold Polyp

The fluid-structure energy exchange process for normal speech has been studied extensively, but it is not well understood for pathological conditions. Polyps and nodules, which are geometric abnormalities that form on the medial surface of the vocal folds, can disrupt vocal fold dynamics and thus can have devastating consequences on a patient&#39;s ability to communicate. Our laboratory has reported particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements, within an investigation of a model polyp located on the medial surface of an in&#160;vitro driven vocal fold model, which show that such a geometric abnormality considerably disrupts the glottal jet behavior. This flow field adjustment is a likely reason for the severe degradation of the vocal quality in patients with polyps. A more complete understanding of the formation and propagation of vortical structures from a geometric protuberance, such as a vocal fold polyp, and the resulting influence on the aerodynamic loadings that drive the vocal fold dynamics, is necessary for advancing the treatment of this pathological condition. The present investigation concerns the three-dimensional flow separation induced by a wall-mounted prolate hemispheroid with a 2:1 aspect ratio in cross flow, i.e. a model vocal fold polyp, using an oil-film visualization technique. Unsteady, three-dimensional flow separation and its impact of the wall pressure loading are examined using skin friction line visualization and wall pressure measurements.

Vocal fold polyps can disrupt vocal fold dynamics and thus can have devastating consequences on a patient&#39;s ability to communicate. Three-dimensional flow separation induced by a wall-mounted model polyp and its impact on the wall pressure loading are examined using particle image velocimetry, skin friction line visualization, and wall pressure measurements.

The fluid-structure energy exchange process for normal speech has been studied extensively, but it is not well understood for pathological conditions. ...

Bioengineering

Experimental Investigation of Secondary Flow Structures Downstream of a Model Type IV Stent Failure in a 180&#176; Curved Artery Test Section

The arterial network in the human vasculature comprises of ubiquitously present blood vessels with complex geometries (branches, curvatures and tortuosity). Secondary flow structures are vortical flow patterns that occur in curved arteries due to the combined action of centrifugal forces, adverse pressure gradients and inflow characteristics. Such flow morphologies are greatly affected by pulsatility and multiple harmonics of physiological inflow conditions and vary greatly in size-strength-shape characteristics compared to non-physiological (steady and oscillatory) flows 1 - 7.
Secondary flow structures may ultimately influence the wall shear stress and exposure time of blood-borne particles toward progression of atherosclerosis, restenosis, sensitization of platelets and thrombosis 4 - 6, 8 - 13. Therefore, the ability to detect and characterize these structures under laboratory-controlled conditions is precursor to further clinical investigations.
A common surgical treatment to atherosclerosis is stent implantation, to open up stenosed arteries for unobstructed blood flow. But the concomitant flow perturbations due to stent installations result in multi-scale secondary flow morphologies 4 - 6. Progressively higher order complexities such as asymmetry and loss in coherence can be induced by ensuing stent failures vis-&#224;-vis those under unperturbed flows 5. These stent failures have been classified as &#34;Types I-to-IV&#34; based on failure considerations and clinical severity 14.
This study presents a protocol for the experimental investigation of the complex secondary flow structures due to complete transverse stent fracture and linear displacement of fractured parts (&#34;Type IV&#34;) in a curved artery model. The experimental method involves the implementation of particle image velocimetry (2C-2D PIV) techniques with an archetypal carotid artery inflow waveform, a refractive index matched blood-analog working fluid for phase-averaged measurements 15 - 18. Quantitative identification of secondary flow structures was achieved using concepts of flow physics, critical point theory and a novel wavelet transform algorithm applied to experimental PIV data 5, 6, 19 - 26.

Stent implants in stenosed arterial curvatures are prone to "Type IV" failures involving the complete transverse fracture of stents and linear displacement of the fractured parts. We present a protocol for detection of secondary flow (vortical) structures in a curved artery model, downstream of clinically relevant "Type IV" stent failures.

The arterial network in the human vasculature comprises of ubiquitously present blood vessels with complex geometries (branches, curvatures and ...

Simultaneous Measurement of Turbulence and Particle Kinematics Using Flow Imaging Techniques

Numerous problems in scientific and engineering fields involve understanding the kinematics of particles in turbulent flows, such as contaminants, marine micro-organisms, and/or sediments in the ocean, or fluidized bed reactors and combustion processes in engineered systems. In order to study the effect of turbulence on the kinematics of particles in such flows, simultaneous measurements of both the flow and particle kinematics are required. Non-intrusive, optical flow measurement techniques for measuring turbulence, or for tracking particles, exist but measuring both simultaneously can be challenging due to interference between the techniques. The method presented herein provides a low cost and relatively simple method to make simultaneous measurements of the flow and particle kinematics. A cross section of the flow is measured using a particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique, which provides two components of velocity in the measurement plane. This technique utilizes a pulsed-laser for illumination of the seeded flow field that is imaged by a digital camera. The particle kinematics are simultaneously imaged using a light emitting diode (LED) line light that illuminates a planar cross section of the flow that overlaps with the PIV field-of-view (FOV). The line light is of low enough power that it does not affect the PIV measurements, but powerful enough to illuminate the larger particles of interest imaged using the high-speed camera. High-speed images that contain the laser pulses from the PIV technique are easily filtered by examining the summed intensity level of each high-speed image. By making the frame rate of the high-speed camera incommensurate with that of the PIV camera frame rate, the number of contaminated frames in the high-speed time series can be minimized. The technique is suitable for mean flows that are predominantly two-dimensional, contain particles that are at least 5 times the mean diameter of the PIV seeding tracers, and are low in concentration.

The technique described herein offers a low cost and relatively simple method to simultaneously measure particle kinematics and turbulence in flows with low particle concentrations. The turbulence is measured using particle image velocimetry (PIV), and particle kinematics are calculated from images obtained with a high-speed camera in an overlapping field-of-view.

Numerous problems in scientific and engineering fields involve understanding the kinematics of particles in turbulent flows, such as contaminants, marine ...

Airfoil Behavior: Pressure Distribution over a Clark Y-14 Wing

Source: David Guo, College of Engineering, Technology, and Aeronautics (CETA), Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), Manchester, New Hampshire
An airfoil is a 2-dimensional wing section that represents critical wing performance characteristics. The pressure distribution and lift coefficient are important parameters that characterize the behavior of airfoils. The pressure distribution is directly related to the lift generated by airfoils. A Clark Y-14 airfoil, which is used in this demonstration, has a thickness of 14% and is flat on the lower surface from 30% of chord length to the back.
Here we will demonstrate how the pressure distribution around an airfoil is measured using a wind tunnel. A Clark Y-14 airfoil model with 19 pressure ports is used to collect pressure data, which is used to estimate the lift coefficient.

Source: David Guo, College of Engineering, Technology, and Aeronautics (CETA), Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), Manchester, New Hampshire
An ...

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Aeronautical Engineering

Turbulence Sphere Method: Evaluating Wind Tunnel Flow Quality

Source: Jose Roberto Moreto and Xiaofeng Liu, Department of Aerospace Engineering, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
Wind tunnel tests are useful in the design of vehicles and structures that are subjected to airflow during their use. Wind tunnel data are generated by applying a controlled air flow to a model of the object being studied. The test model usually has a similar geometry but is a smaller scale compared to the full-sized object. To ensure accurate and useful data is collected during low speed wind tunnel tests, there must be a dynamic similarity of the Reynolds number between the tunnel flow field over the testing model and the actual flow field over the full-sized object.
In this demonstration, wind tunnel flow over a smooth sphere with well-defined flow characteristics will be analyzed. Because the sphere has well-defined flow characteristics, the turbulence factor for the wind tunnel, which correlates the effective Reynolds number to the test Reynolds number, can be determined, as well as the free-stream turbulence intensity of the wind tunnel.

Turbulence Measurements at Varying Air Speeds

Source: Jose Roberto Moreto and Xiaofeng Liu, Department of Aerospace Engineering, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
Wind tunnel tests are useful ...

Cross Cylindrical Flow: Measuring Pressure Distribution and Estimating Drag Coefficients

Source: David Guo, College of Engineering, Technology, and Aeronautics (CETA), Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), Manchester, New Hampshire
The pressure distributions and drag estimations for cross cylindrical flow have been investigated for centuries. By ideal inviscid potential flow theory, the pressure distribution around a cylinder is vertically symmetric. The pressure distribution upstream and downstream of the cylinder is also symmetric, which results in a zero-net drag force. However, experimental results yield very different flow patterns, pressure distributions and drag coefficients. This is because the ideal inviscid potential theory assumes irrotational flow, meaning viscosity is not considered or taken into account when determining the flow pattern. This differs significantly from reality.
In this demonstration, a wind tunnel is utilized to generate a specified airspeed, and a cylinder with 24 ports of pressure is used to collect pressure distribution data. This demonstration illustrates how the pressure of a real fluid flowing around a circular cylinder differs from predicted results based on the potential flow of an idealized fluid. The drag coefficient will also be estimated and compared to the predicted value.

Cross Cylindrical Flow: Pressure Distribution &amp; Drag Coefficients

Source: David Guo, College of Engineering, Technology, and Aeronautics (CETA), Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), Manchester, New Hampshire
The ...

Schlieren Imaging: A Technique to Visualize Supersonic Flow Features

Source: Jose Roberto Moreto, Jaime Dorado, and Xiaofeng Liu, Department of Aerospace Engineering, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
Military jet fighters and projectiles can fly at incredible speeds that exceed the speed of sound, which means they are traveling at a supersonic speed. The speed of sound is the speed at which a sound wave propagates through a medium, which is 343 m/s. Mach numbers are used to gauge the flight speed of an object relative to the speed of sound.
An object traveling at the speed of sound would have a Mach number of 1.0, whereas an object traveling faster than the speed of sound has a Mach number greater than 1.0. The compressibility effects of air must be accounted for when traveling at such speeds. A flow is considered compressible when the Mach number is greater than 0.3. In this demonstration, Mach 2.0 supersonic flow over a cone will be analyzed by visualizing the formation of shock waves and compression waves in compressible flow using a Schlieren system.

Schlieren Imaging: Visualization of Supersonic Flow Features

Source: Jose Roberto Moreto, Jaime Dorado, and Xiaofeng Liu, Department of Aerospace Engineering, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
Military jet ...

Flow Visualization in a Water Tunnel: Observing the Leading-edge Vortex Over a Delta Wing

Source: Jose Roberto Moreto, Gustaaf Jacobs and Xiaofeng Liu, Department of Aerospace Engineering, San Diego State University, San Diego, California
The delta wing, shown in Figure 1D, is a popular design in high-speed airplanes due to its superb performance in transonic and supersonic flight regimes. This type of wing has a small aspect ratio and high sweep angle, which reduces drag at high subsonic, transonic and supersonic flight regimes. The aspect ratio is defined as the wing span divided by the average chord <img align="middle" src="/files/ftp_upload/10459/10459eq1a.jpg" />.
An important advantage of the delta wing is its high stall angle. The stall of a delta wing is delayed compared to the stall of a high aspect ratio wing. This is because the lift of a delta wing is enhanced by the leading-edge vortex over the wing.
An effective way to observe this vortex flow phenomenon and study the vortex breakdown in a delta wing is by visualizing the flow in a water tunnel. By injecting dye in the flow surrounding a model from dye ports on the leading-edge, the vortex development and breakdown can be observed and its position measured. The data can also be used to estimate the stall angle.
<img src="/files/ftp_upload/10459/10459fig1.jpg" />
Figure 1. Typical wing planform shapes: A) Rectangular, with constant chord along span, B) elliptical, C) tapered, with variable chord along the span, and D) delta wing, an aft-swept wing with zero taper ratio.

Flow in a Water Tunnel: Leading-edge Vortex over a Delta Wing

Source: Jose Roberto Moreto, Gustaaf Jacobs and Xiaofeng Liu, Department of Aerospace Engineering, San Diego State University, San Diego, California
The ...

Surface Dye Flow Visualization: A Qualitative Method to Observe Streakline Patterns in Supersonic Flow

Flow visualization around or on a body is an important tool in aerodynamics research. It provides a method to qualitatively and quantitatively study flow structure, and it also helps researchers theorize and verify fluid flow behavior. Flow visualization can be divided into two categories: off-the-surface visualization and surface flow visualization. Off-the-surface flow visualization techniques involve determining the flow characteristics around the body of interest. They include but are not restricted to particle image velocimetry (PIV), Schlieren imaging, and smoke flow visualization. These techniques can provide qualitative as well as quantitative data on the flow around a body. However, these techniques are generally expensive and difficult to set-up. Surface flow visualization techniques, on the other hand, involve coating the body of interest with a dye to study flow on the surface. These techniques, which are more invasive in practice, include dye flow visualization and, more recently, use pressure-sensitive paint, which gives a detailed image of the flow on the body&#39;s surface. This allows researchers to visualize different flow features, including laminar bubbles, boundary layer transitions, and flow separation. Dye flow visualization, the technique of interest in the current experiment, provides a qualitative picture of the surface flow and is one of the simplest and most cost-effective surface flow visualization methods, specifically for visualizing gaseous flows on a body.
In this experiment, the surface flow behavior on six bodies are studied in supersonic flow. The streakline patterns are obtained using the dye flow visualization technique, and the flow paths, degree of flow attachment and separation, and location and type of shocks are identified and studied from the flow images.

Surface Dye Flow: Streakline Patterns in Supersonic Flow

Flow visualization around or on a body is an important tool in aerodynamics research. It provides a method to qualitatively and quantitatively study flow ...

Measuring Turbulent Flows

Source: Ricardo Mejia-Alvarez and Hussam Hikmat Jabbar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Turbulent flows exhibit very high frequency fluctuations that require instruments with high time-resolution for their appropriate characterization. Hot-wire anemometers have a short enough time-response to fulfill this requirement. The purpose of this experiment is to demonstrate the use of hot-wire anemometry to characterize a turbulent jet.
In this experiment, a previously calibrated hot-wire probe will be used to obtain velocity measurements at different positions within the jet. Finally, we will demonstrate a basic statistical analysis of the data to characterize the turbulent field.

Measuring Turbulent Flows Using Hot-Wire Anemometers

Source: Ricardo Mejia-Alvarez and Hussam Hikmat Jabbar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Turbulent flows ...