Aerodynamic loading on a two-dimensional airfoil during dynamic stall.

Abstract

A general theory is developed for the unsteady aerodynamic loading on an airfoil during dynamic stall. The dynamic stall process is represented by the shedding of vorticity from the vicinity of the airfoil leading edge. The theory is subsequently applied to the prediction of the stall-induced airloading on an airfoil experiencing a sudden onset of flow and on an airfoil performing oscillatory pitching motion. Satisfactory agreement between theoretical and experimental pressure distributions, forces and moments, and vortex trajectories is demonstrated.