Interest in powered flight on Mars has been growing in recent years, and as such new developments are being made in determining the effects the Martian atmosphere has on the flow physics and performance, specifically with regards to similarity parameters: the Reynolds number & the Mach number. This paper aimed to investigate whether the onset of transonic flight could result in decreased separation while improving aerodynamic performance due to the presence of a smeared shock. 2-D URANS simulations of a NACA-0012-34 airfoil were conducted with a SST k-w, y-intermittency model. The results find that an expansion fan delays separation, while the smeared shock weakens the adverse pressure gradient, similar to a shock control bump. The result is a minute increase in the lift-to-drag performance. The development of coherent structures within the separated shear-layer have also been seen to be impacted due to the stabilizing effect of compressibility on the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability.

With new rovers landing on Mars, like the Perseverance rover in 2020, the interest in Mars has grown recent years. The atmospheric conditions on Mars result in challenging conditions due to its low density atmosphere and extremely low temperatures. With a density on Mars that is 1% of that on Earth, creating sufficient lift for vehicles to fly becomes a challenge. The low density results in low Reynolds numbers. The low temperature has an effect on the speed of sound, due to which the Mach number is significantly higher at the same flow velocity compared to Earth. Airfoil data at these conditions, low Reynolds number - high Mach number, are sparse, but crucial for design of aerial vehicles. Next to the aerodynamic conditions, dunes on Mars are formed and migrate. The parameter of interest which defines the conditions required for transportation of particles is the threshold shear velocity. This parameter has been determined by different analytical expressions. However, the outcome remains a broad range, which point out the difficulty and inaccuracy of the results. Therefore, in this document, the design of a carousel wind tunnel is investigated to determine its feasibility to perform aerodynamic and aeolian measurements. The carousel wind tunnel consists of two concentric drums, of which the inner one rotates. The carousel wind tunnel is analysed by a computational fluid dynamics analysis with the k - ω turbulence model. The results indicate that due to secondary flow effects and the wake of a test object, no accurate aerodynamic measurements can be performed. Aeolian measurements are deemed feasible, with increased accuracy at sufficiently high rotational velocities.

Big wind farms with big wind turbines are more cost effective and produce greener electricity compared to smaller ones. This is one of the reasons for the growth of wind turbine size during the last 3 decades. However, as wind turbines become bigger, their blades become longer, thicker and heavier. This results in larger unsteady loads on blades which is an important limitation for their life time and their size growth. Flow control has emerged as the promising solution both for improving the aerodynamic efficiency and controlling the unsteady loads on wind turbine blades. DBD plasma actuator is an active flow control mechanism that has shown high potentials for unsteady load control with the capability to change lift coefficient to a significant amount with a very fast response time. The current research first intends to identify the variations of angle of attack and lift coefficient on wind turbine blades as a result of gravitational loads, mass and aerodynamic imbalances, turbulence, wind shear, yawed inflow and tower shadow and investigate their corresponding frequencies and the fatigue damage from the blade root bending moments. Then, (single and multi) DBD plasma actuator with different configurations will be used on three different trailing-edge shapes (round, half-round and sharp) of modified version of ’NACA64-2-A015’ airfoil to control the aerodynamic loads via circulation control. This is managed either by manipulation of Kutta condition or acting as a virtual Gurney flap. Furthermore, it is intended to investigate the correlation between the frequency of actuation, frequency of vortex shedding and the amount of lift enhancement.