Applications of a discrete viscous adjoint method for aerodynamic shape optimisation of 3D configurations

Within the next few years, numerical shape optimisation based on high-fidelity methods is likely to play a strategic role in future aircraft design. In this context, suitable tools have to be developed for solving aerodynamic shape optimisation problems, and the adjoint approach—which allows fast and accurate evaluations of the gradients with...

Aerodynamic analysis of the wing flexibility and the clap-and-peel motion of the hovering DelFly II

In this paper, the influence of wing flexibility and the 'clap-and-peel' motion (one versus two wings) on the upward (lifting) force in hover is studied. CFD simulations based on the ALE Navier-Stokes equations together with radial basis function mesh interpolation are used. For the 'clap-and-peel' motion an immersed symmetry plane is introduced...

The near wake of the VAWT: 2D and 3D views of the VAWT aerodynamics

The analysis, modeling and design of the lift-driven Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) has challenged the wind energy community for many decades; this limited progress in knowledge has severely impaired the development of the VAWT, giving rise to the myth that the VAWT rotor is inherently inefficient (in comparison with the more conventional...