Impact of Leading-Edge Tubercles on Airfoil Aerodynamic Performance and Flow Patterns at Different Reynolds Numbers

Dian Wang, Chang Cai (), Rongyu Zha, Chaoyi Peng, Xuebin Feng, Pengcheng Liang, Keqilao Meng, Jianyu Kou, Takao Maeda and Qing’an Li ()
Additional contact information
Dian Wang: CRRC Qi Hang New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing 100192, China
Chang Cai: National Energy Wind Turbine Blade R&D Center, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Rongyu Zha: CRRC Qi Hang New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing 100192, China
Chaoyi Peng: Zhuzhou Times New Materials Technology Co., Ltd., Zhuzhou 412007, China
Xuebin Feng: Zhuzhou Times New Materials Technology Co., Ltd., Zhuzhou 412007, China
Pengcheng Liang: Zhuzhou Times New Materials Technology Co., Ltd., Zhuzhou 412007, China
Keqilao Meng: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot 010051, China
Jianyu Kou: Inner Mongolia Energy Group Co., Ltd., Hohhot 010051, China
Takao Maeda: Division of Mechanical Engineering, Mie University, Tsu 514-8507, Japan
Qing’an Li: National Energy Wind Turbine Blade R&D Center, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-17

Abstract: In recent years, leading-edge tubercles have gained significant attention as an innovative biomimetic flow control technique. This paper explores their impact on the aerodynamic performance and flow patterns of an airfoil through wind tunnel experiments, utilizing force measurements and tuft visualization at Reynolds numbers between 2.7 × 10 5 and 6.3 × 10 5 . The baseline airfoil exhibits a hysteresis loop near the stall angle, with sharp changes in lift coefficient during variations in the angle of attack (AOA). In contrast, the airfoil with leading-edge tubercles demonstrates a smoother stall process and enhanced post-stall performance, though its pre-stall performance is slightly reduced. The study identifies four distinct flow regimes on the modified airfoil, corresponding to different segments of the lift coefficient curve. As the AOA increases, the flow transitions through stages of full attachment, trailing-edge separation, and local leading-edge separation across some or all valley sections. Additionally, the study suggests that normalizing aerodynamic performance based on the valley section chord length is more effective, supporting the idea that leading-edge tubercles function like a series of delta wings in front of a straight-leading-edge wing. These insights provide valuable guidance for the design of blades with leading-edge tubercles in applications such as wind and tidal turbines.

Keywords: leading-edge tubercles; flow control; airfoil; aerodynamic performance; flow visualization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/21/5518/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/21/5518/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:21:p:5518-:d:1513914

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().