High fidelity numerical simulation of airfoil thickness and kinematics effects on flapping airfoil propulsion

High-fidelity numerical simulations with the spectral difference (SD) method are carried out to investigate the unsteady flow over a series of oscillating NACA 4-digit airfoils. Airfoil thickness and kinematics effects on the flapping airfoil propulsion are highlighted. It is confirmed that the aerodynamic performance of airfoils with different thickness can be very different under the same kinematics. Distinct evolutionary patterns of vortical structures are analyzed to unveil the underlying flow physics behind the diverse flow phenomena associated with different airfoil thickness and kinematics and reveal the synthetic effects of airfoil thickness and kinematics on the propulsive performance. Thickness effects at various reduced frequencies and Strouhal numbers for the same chord length based Reynolds number (=1200) are then discussed in detail. It is found that at relatively small Strouhal number (=0.3), for all types of airfoils with the combined pitching and plunging motion (pitch angle 20°, the pitch axis located at one third of chord length from the leading edge, pitch leading plunge by 75°), low reduced frequency (=1) is conducive for both the thrust production and propulsive efficiency. Moreover, relatively thin airfoils (e.g. NACA0006) can generate larger thrust and maintain higher propulsive efficiency than thick airfoils (e.g. NACA0030). However, with the same kinematics but at relatively large Strouhal number (=0.45), it is found that airfoils with different thickness exhibit diverse trend on thrust production and propulsive efficiency, especially at large reduced frequency (=3.5). Results on effects of airfoil thickness based Reynolds numbers indicate that relative thin airfoils show superior propulsion performance in the tested Reynolds number range. The evolution of leading edge vortices and the interaction between the leading and trailing edge vortices play key roles in flapping airfoil propulsive performance.