Investigation of unsteady flow development over a pitching airfoil by means of TR-PIV

Abstract

The flow over an OA209 airfoil subjected to a sinusoidal pitching motion under dynamic stall conditions is investigated experimentally by means of time resolved particle image velocimetry (TR-PIV) and surface pressure measurements. Dynamic stall is distinguished by the formation and convection of large scale coherent structures and a delay in massive flow separation. A vortex detection scheme based on an identification function derived directly from the velocity fields is adopted to identify vortex cores. The combination of global time resolved imaging and an automated vortex identification algorithm allows for the investigation of the spatial and temporal evolution of vortical structures within a single oscillation. Furthermore, the mechanisms associated with the dynamic stall delay are considered.