Flow Control for an Airfoil with Leading-Edge Rotation: An Experimental Study

TLDR

The experiment tested a NACA 0024 airfoil with a leading‑edge rotating cylinder, varying the cylinder velocity ratio Uc/U, angle of attack, and e ap dee ection angle to quantify lift, drag, separated‑flow size, stall angle, boundary‑layer growth, and turbulence intensity. Results showed that the rotating cylinder increased the lift coefficient from 0.85 to 1.63 at Uc/U = 4 and delayed stall by about 160 %, while smoke‑wire visualization confirmed a substantial reduction in recirculation region size.

Abstract

An experimental investigation has been conducted on a two-dimensional NACA 0024 airfoil equipped with a leading-edgerotatingcylinder.Theairfoilwastestedfordifferentvaluesofleading-edgerotationsande apdee ection angles. The effects of the angle of attack ®, the cylinder surface velocity ratio Uc/U, and the e ap dee ection angle ± on lift and drag coefe cients, the size of the separated e ow region, and the stall angle of attack are included. The effect of Uc/U on the boundary-layer growth and turbulence intensity are also shown. Experimental results, for example, showed that the leading-edge rotating cylinder increases the lift coefe cient of a NACA 0024 airfoil from 0.85 at Uc/U = 0 to 1.63 at Uc/U = 4 and delays the stall angle of attack by about 160%. Smoke-wire e ow visualization results were also used to demonstrate the strong effect of the leading-edge rotating cylinder on the size of the recirculation region.