Comparative study of pitch-plunge airfoil aerodynamics at transitional reynolds number

This paper describes a combined numerical analysis and experimental study of flow characteristics on a pitching-plunging SD7003 airfoil at the transitional Reynolds number of 60,000. For experiments, we use particle image velocimetry to reveal the detailed flow structure at the vicinity of regions of interest. For numerical simulation, we solve the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations on a moving grid using a pressurebased method. Three models are used to simulate the transitional flows: the shear-stress transport model, an e ^N type transitional model, and a detached eddy simulation model. The solutions are compared with both phaseaveraged and snapshot experimental results. The motion under consideration is motivated by kinematics for maximum propulsive efficiency, with plunge-induced angle of attack partially cancelling the pitch, resulting in small excursions in angle of attack past static stall. Nevertheless there are significant post-stall effects, with individual velocity field snapshots differing markedly from the phase average.