Title: Self-adaptive control of a bluff body wake by means of porous flaps

Authors: A. Feuvrier; N. Mazellier; A. Kourta

Addresses: PRISME Laboratory, University of Orléans, 8 rue Léonard de Vinci, 45072 Orleans Cedex 2, France ' PRISME Laboratory, University of Orléans, 8 rue Léonard de Vinci, 45072 Orleans Cedex 2, France ' PRISME Laboratory, University of Orléans, 8 rue Léonard de Vinci, 45072 Orleans Cedex 2, France

Abstract: The effects resulting from the use of an innovating self-adaptive passive control system are investigated. The system studied here, is constituted of a couple of hinged porous flaps positioned symmetrically on each side of a bluff body. Its originality consists on its design which relies on a biomimetic approach, as well as its ability to self-adapt to the flow conditions. The comparison between the results obtain for the controlled model and the uncontrolled one, over the range of Reynolds numbers 2.10⁴ to 8.10⁴, lead to an average mean drag reduction of 22%. An investigation of the mean pressure distribution in the near wake of the body confirmed that flow topology at large scale is strongly modified. This study focus on the attenuation of pressure fluctuations observed at the centre of the cylinder base. This parameter is considered a valid indicator of a strong reduction of the drag fluctuations.

Keywords: aerodynamics; bluff body wake; porous flaps; drag reduction; biomimetics; self-adaptive flow control; passive flow control; flow separation; adaptive control; pressure fluctuations.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESMS.2013.052379

International Journal of Engineering Systems Modelling and Simulation, 2013 Vol.5 No.1/2/3, pp.57 - 67

Published online: 29 Aug 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article