Cross-Flow Instability Control through Base-Flow Modification using AC-DBD Plasma Actuators: An Experimental Investigation

Following recent proof of swept wing laminar-to-turbulent boundary layer transition delay through base-flow modification using AC-DBD plasma actuators, an experimental investigation is performed to study the responsible physical mechanism. An experiment is conducted on a 45° swept wing in the anechoic wind tunnel at the Delft University of...

Experimental investigation of transonic buffet on swept wings: A comparative study between 2D and 3D flow and analysis of sweep angle influence using stereoscopic PIV and Background Oriented Schlieren

Transonic buffet is an aerodynamic instability that appears on aerofoils and wings at certain combinations of Mach number and angle of attack, and which limits the aircraft flight envelope. This thesis project presents an experimental<br/>investigation of buffet employing stereoscopic PIV and Background Oriented Schlieren. By using four...

Investigation of passive root flaps on HAWT: An experimental analysis of different configurations of root flaps on the performance of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines

Passive root flaps and in particular the Gurney flaps have been employed for improving aerodynamic characteristics for various applications since the 1970's. The effects of passive flaps on two dimensional airfoils have therefore been studied extensively, however, research on their application to Horizontal axis wind turbine blades (HAWT) is...

Effects of a fence on pollutant dispersion in a boundary layer exposed to a rural-to-urban transition

Simultaneous particle-image velocimetry and laser-induced fluorescence combined with large-eddy simulations are used to investigate the flow and pollutant dispersion behaviour in a rural-to-urban roughness transition. The urban roughness is characterized by an array of cubical obstacles in an aligned arrangement. A plane fence is added one...

Pollutant dispersion in boundary layers exposed to rural-to-urban transitions: Varying the spanwise length scale of the roughness

Both large-eddy simulations (LES) and water-tunnel experiments, using simultaneous stereoscopic particle image velocimetry and laser-induced fluorescence, have been used to investigate pollutant dispersion mechanisms in regions where the surface changes from rural to urban roughness. The urban roughness was characterized by an array of...