Numerical Analysis of the Unsteady Subsonic Flow around a Plunging Airfoil

Much numerical and experimental research has been done for the flow around an oscillating airfoil. The main research topics are vortex shedding, dynamic stall phenomenon, MAV's lift and thrust generation. Until now, researches mainly have been concentrated on analyzing the wake flow for the variation of frequency and amplitude at a low angle of attack. In this study, wake structures and acoustic wave propagation characteristics were studied for a plunging airfoil at high angle of attack. The governing equations are the Navier-Stokes equation with LES turbulence model. OHOC (Optimized High-Order Compact) scheme and 4th order Runge-Kutta method were used. The Mach number is 0.3, the Reynolds number is , and the angle of attack is from 20 ° to 50°. The plunging frequency and the amplitude are from 0.05 to 0.15, and from 0.1 to 0.2, respectively. Due to the high resolution numerical method, wake vortex shedding and pressure wave propagation process, as well as the propagation characteristics of acoustic waves can be simulated. The results of frequency analysis show that the flow has the mixed characteristics of the forced plunging frequency and the vortex shedding frequency at high angle of attack