The accuracy of Theodorsen's lift model for pure-pitch, pure-plunge and combined pitch-plunge oscillations of a two-dimensional model is compared with wind tunnel results. The reduced frequency of the oscillation was in the range of 0.01 < k < 0.15, and the freestream Reynolds number was in the range of 130 000 < R e < 400 000. The lift response to an uncoupled combined pitch-plunge motion (for which the frequency of pitch and plunge motions were not the same) is discussed using experimental results. The Theodorsen's lift model is rewritten for the general uncoupled pitch-plunge motions by a linear superposition of all components of the airfoil bound circulation. Both amplitude and phase from the Theodorsen's function are compared with those of the wind tunnel data, and the results are discussed. The Theodorsen's function is found to be a good estimator for both pure-pitch and pure-plunge motions. It further appropriately estimates the lift amplitude for the case of coupled pitch-plunge motion; however, the prediction is not accurate for the uncoupled pitch-plunge motion. A motion amplitude ratio is defined, which shows the level of aperiodicity of the motion. Discrepancy between experimental and analytical results increase with the reduction of the lift amplitude ratio and with the deviation of frequency ratio from unity.

Hot-film sensors have been used to measure the boundary-layer fluctuations and subsequently to determine the boundary-layer states. In this paper, it is proposed to use hot-film sensors as a tool to measure the effects of plasma-induced ionic wind on the boundary-layer fluctuations which can be used to find the influence of the plasma actuator far downstream of the actuator. Time history and frequency response of the hot-film output voltage are investigated to explore the effects of plasma-induced wind downstream of the actuator. Also, the effects of the peak-to-peak voltage of a DBD plasma actuator on the fluctuations of the hot-film output voltages are discussed. It is showed that as far as the effects of ionic wind can be sensed by the hot-films, the control authority of the actuator is higher. It is concluded that induced velocity in the vicinity of the plasma actuator alone does not indicate the control authority of the plasma actuator.

Well-known polars in classical shock wave theory, that is, flow deflection angle-shock angle (θ-β), hodograph (u*,v*), and pressure deflection (θ-P*) diagrams, are investigated for the rarefied gas flows using a recently proposed shock wave detection technique by Akhlaghi and coworkers. The agreement between the obtained polars with the analytical relations in classical shock wave theory has been shown in the continuum limit for the cases of supersonic flow over the wedge and cylinder geometries. Investigations are performed using the RGS2D direct simulation Monte Carlo solver for supersonic gas flows over a circular cylinder at continuum limit and Kn = 10−4, 10−3, 0.01, 0.03, 0.07, and 0.10. Two species of nitrogen and argon at various Mach numbers of 1.5, 3.0, and 10.0 are considered. The shock polars are investigated along bow shock waves in front of the cylinder. The results indicate that rarefaction significantly affects the shock polars. As Knudsen number increases, shock angle, maximum flow deflection angle, and aft shock pressure increase. However, velocity components after the shock wave decrease as the flow becomes more rarefied. These effects are stronger for θ-β polar under the weak shock condition. Meanwhile, they are stronger for θ-P* and hodograph polars in strong shock situations.

The boundary-layer control authority of a DBD plasma actuator using surface mounted hot-film sensors is evaluated. Wind tunnel experiments on a wind-turbine blade section were established at a Reynolds number of 0.27× 106. Aerodynamic performance of the wind-turbine blade section for both plasma-ON and plasma-OFF modes are evaluated using measurements made by both surface pressure and wake survey behind the model. Two distinct boundary-layer states are recognized. A state which occurs at the onset and in proximity of the deep stall, which is affected by the low-frequency instabilities of the separated flow. In this case, the steady actuation of plasma imparts local momentum on the nearby flow, eliminating the instabilities, hence, reattaching the detached flow. The other state happens beyond the static stall angle of attack of the airfoil where the flow over the suction side of the airfoil is fully separated and coexistence of both the leading edge and the trailing edge shear-layer instabilities and natural trailing edge vortex shedding is the underlying mechanism. In this case, although the plasma actuator eliminates the instabilities, to some extent, but the corresponding momentum injection is not efficient to stabilize and reattach the flow.

Dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators have attracted a lot of attention to use as new technologies for active flow control. In this paper, an experimental investigation of a single unsteady plasma actuator driven by two simultaneous sinusoidal high voltages is carried out. The aerodynamic performance of this plasma actuator is investigated for flow control of a wind turbine blade. Leading edge separation control at Reynolds number of 0.26 × 10 6 and in a wide range of angles of attack including linear, stall, and post-stall regions is considered as the test case. The momentum imparted by the plasma actuator to flow is investigated via measuring induced electric wind velocity, which represents that the induced velocities in the steady mode, with v max ≅ 5 m / s, are higher than that of the unsteady mode. The important aspect of exciting the unsteady dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator in this new approach is improving its efficiency through increasing the authority of momentum addition to flow and reducing the minimum input power for discharge ignition relative to its typical grounded structure. This can be very important practically in flow control applications where the amount of consumed energy is a substantial factor in determining the actuator's efficiency. The obtained aerodynamic results reveal that the unsteady plasma actuator has the best operation in post-stall angles of attack, which is of great importance for operation characteristics of wind turbine blades. The power spectral density of pressure time series illustrates that the unsteady plasma actuator affects the flow through instabilities of the separation layer and vortex shedding structure.

Feasibility of an innovative buzz detection technique through measuring the static pressure outside a mixed-compression supersonic inlet is studied. The buzz is an instability phenomenon that occurs almost in all supersonic inlets. During the buzz, shock oscillation along with pressure and mass flow fluctuations affects the performance characteristics of the inlet. The main objective of this paper is to introduce a simple and easy-to-implement method for investigation of the buzz phenomenon in a supersonic inlet. The experimental data for far field-based are compared with those of the model-based one at free stream Mach numbers of 1.8, 2.0, and 2.2 and at zero degrees angle of attack for a mixed-compression inlet. The results show that this technique can measure exact value of buzz frequency as well as its onset. The present method uses pressure data obtained from the wind-tunnel wall instead of measuring the pressure inside or on the model surfaces which in most cases is very hard. However, to sense flow oscillations, caused by the buzz onset the sensors on the wind-tunnel wall must be located downstream of the point where the oblique shock from the spike impinges on the tunnel wall. The location of the measurement point as well as the distance between the sensor and the origin of the shock wave system are very important.