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Aerodynamic analysis of flapping foils using volume grid deformation code

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Abstract

Nature-inspired flapping foils have attracted interest for their high thrust efficiency, but the large motions of their boundaries need to be considered. It is challenging to develop robust, efficient grid deformation algorithms appropriate for the large motions in three dimensions. In this paper, a volume grid deformation code is developed based on finite macro-element and transfinite interpolation, which successfully interfaces to a structured multi-block Navier-Stokes code. A suitable condition that generates the macro-elements with efficiency and improves the robustness of grid regularity is presented as well. As demonstrated by an airfoil with various motions related to flapping, the numerical results of aerodynamic forces by the developed method are shown to be in good agreement with those of an experimental data or a previous numerical solution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea

    Jin Hwan Ko

  2. Department of Aerospace Information Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea

    Jee Woong Kim, Soo Hyung Park & Doyoung Byun

Authors
  1. Jin Hwan Ko
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  2. Jee Woong Kim
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  3. Soo Hyung Park
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  4. Doyoung Byun
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Soo Hyung Park.

Additional information

This paper was recommended for publication in revised form by Associate Editor Do Hyung Lee

Jin Hwan Ko received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from KAIST, Korea, in 1995. He then received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from KAIST in 1997 and 2004, respectively. Dr. Ko is currently a research professor at the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Seoul National University in Seoul, Korea. His research interests include fluid-structure interaction analysis, structural dynamics of a micro-scale resonator, and model order reduction.

Soo Hyung Park received his B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from KAIST, Korea, in 1996. He then received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from KAIST in 1999 and 2003, respectively. Prof. Park is currently an assistant professor at the Dept. of Aerospace Information Engineering at Konkuk University in Seoul, Korea. His research interests include computational fluid dynamics, fluid-structure interaction analysis, rotorcraft aerodynamics, and turbulence modeling.

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Ko, J.H., Kim, J.W., Park, S.H. et al. Aerodynamic analysis of flapping foils using volume grid deformation code. J Mech Sci Technol 23, 1727–1735 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-009-0411-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-009-0411-7

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