This paper experimentally investigates the turbulence resilience of the NACA0012 airfoil with bio-inspired leading-edge undulations (LEUs) at a chord-based Reynolds number of , under two inflow conditions with turbulence intensities Tu of 0.5 and 8.9%. Aerodynamic results show that the airfoil with LEUs (LEUA) exhibits delayed and moderated stall compared to the baseline airfoil (BSLA) under turbulent inflow with and reduces fluctuating loads by up to 23%. More importantly, LEUA exhibits significantly more stable aerodynamic performance across varying inflow conditions, with improvements in turbulence resilience for lift, drag, lift-to-drag ratio, pitching moment, and resultant load fluctuations of 45.7, 53.6, 56.8, 45.6, and 10.2%, respectively, compared to BSLA. Two-dimensional time-resolved particle image velocimetry results reveal that under turbulent inflow LEUA maintains energized boundary layers at the crests and localized separation bubbles at the troughs. The three-dimensional flow characteristics enable LEUA to suppress flow separation and delay stall onset, leading to more stable flow patterns compared to BSLA. Synchronized phase-locked measurements between the flowfield and aerodynamic forces further confirm that LEUA stabilizes flow structures and mitigates unsteady fluctuations in aerodynamic loads. Overall, LEUA exhibits improved turbulence resilience, highlighting its potential for future aerodynamic applications in disturbed flow environments.
Improving Airfoil Turbulence Resilience Through Leading-Edge Undulations
AIAA Journal ; 1-11
2025-07-01
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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