Low Reynolds number acceleration of flat plate wings at high incidence (Invited)

This paper discusses the force history and flow topology of accelerating flat plate wings. The work is a collaborative effort to study fundamental, unsteady low Reynolds number flows under the umbrella of the NATO AVT-202 task group. The motion kinematics are designed to be relevant to the Micro-Air Vehicle (MAV) flight regime. A combination of empirical and computational techniques are used to obtain data for comparison. There is a striking correlation of lift history data and flow topology from both experimental and computational datasets. In an effort to source inputs for a low-order model, a Leading Edge Vortex (LEV)/Trailing Edge Vortex (TEV) relative advection velocity of 0:5.U∞ has been estimated based on the data