• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.311-328
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• 2017

The characteristics of boundary layers have significant effects on the aerodynamic forces and vibration of the wind turbine blade. The incorporation of active trailing edge flaps (ATEF) into wind turbine blades has been proven as an effective control approach for alleviation of load and vibration. This paper is aimed at investigating the effects of external trailing edge flaps on the flow pattern and velocity distribution within a boundary layer of a NREL 5MW reference wind turbine, as well as designing a new type of velocity sensors for future validation measurements. An aeroelastic-aerodynamic simulation with FAST-AeroDyn code was conducted on the entire wind turbine structure and the modifications were made on turbine blade sections with ATEF. The results of aeroelastic-aerodynamic simulations were combined with the results of two-dimensional computational fluid dynamic simulations. From these, the velocity profile of the boundary layer as well as the thickness variation with time under the influence of a simplified load case was calculated for four different blade-flap combinations (without flap, with $-5^{\circ}$, $0^{\circ}$, and $+5^{\circ}$ flap). In conjunction with the computational modeling of the characteristics of boundary layers, a bio-inspired hair flow sensor was designed for sensing the boundary flow field surrounding the turbine blades, which ultimately aims to provide real time data to design the control scheme of the flap structure. The sensor element design and performance were analyzed using both theoretical model and finite element method. A prototype sensor element with desired bio-mimicry responses was fabricated and validated, which will be further refined for integration with the turbine blade structures.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.163-170
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• 2008

The aeroelastic stability analysis of a soft-in-plane, composite hingeless rotor blade in hover and in forward flight has been performed by combining the mixed beam method and the aeroelastic analysis system that is based on a moderate deflection beam approach. The aerodynamic forces and moments acting on the blade are obtained using the Leishman-Beddoes unsteady aerodynamic model. Hamilton's principle is used to derive the governing equations of composite helicopter blades undergoing extension, lag and flap bending, and torsion deflections. The influence of key structural modeling issues on the aeroelastic stability behavior of helicopter blades is studied. The issues include the shell wall thickness, elastic couplings and the correct treatment of constitutive assumptions in the section wall of the blade. It is found that the structural modeling effects are largely dependent on the layup geometries adopted in the section of the blade and these affect on the stability behavior in a large scale.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.1-10
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• 2016

This study analyzes the fabric skin of a wind turbine blade. The fabric skin is a membrane structure that was analyzed using a static Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) method. For this study the blade of large 5 MW wind turbine was selected. In order to examine the validity of the analysis, a variety of reference data were used. Before conducting static FSI analysis, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis and modal analysis were done. Then interaction analysis was conducted. FSI analysis was done with imported Aerodynamic data that resulted from the CFD analysis. The resulting observations about the membrane structure, inherent tensions, deformation of the final structure, and aerodynamic forces caused by deformation are reported.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.45-55
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• 2023

This study conducted aeromechanics modeling and structural load analyses of Tilt Rotor Aeroacoustic Model (TRAM), a 25% scaled V-22 tiltrotor model used in wind tunnel tests. A rotorcraft comprehensive analysis code, CAMRAD II, was used. Analysis results of this study in low-speed forward flights were compared with DNW test and previous analysis results. Blade flap bending moments were in good agreement with measured data. Mean values and oscillatory loads for lead-lag bending and torsion moments were slightly different from measured data. However, when mean values were removed, results of structural loads for one rotor revolution were moderately compared with wind tunnel tests and previous analyses. Total forces and half peak-to-peak forces of the pitch link reasonably well matched with previous analysis results and measured data. Finally, harmonic magnitudes of blade structural loads were investigated.

• Journal of KSNVE
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.99-106
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• 1997

Centrigugal fans are widely used due to their ability to achieve relatively high pressure ratios in a short axial distance compared to axial fans. Because of their widespread use, the noise generated by these machines causes one of serious problems. In general, centrigugal fan noise is often dominated by tones at BPF(blade passage frequency) and its higher harmonics. This is a consequence of the strong interaction between the periodic flow discharged radially from the impeller and the stator blades or the cutoff. But in vacuum cleaner fan the noise is dominated by not only the discrete tones of BPF but also broadband frequencies. In this study we investigate the mechanism of broadband noise and predict for the unsteady flow field and the acoustic pressure field associated with the centrifugal fan. DVM(discrete vortex method) is used to calculates the flow field and the Lowson's method is used to predict the acoustic pressures. From the results we find that the broadband noise of a circular casing centrifugal fan is due to the unsteady force fluctuation around the impeller blades related to the vortex shedding. The unsteady forces associated with the shed vortices at impeller and related to the interactions to the diffuser and the exit.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1998.12a
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• pp.42-48
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• 1998

Numerical study is presented for the analysis of three-dimensional incompressible turbulent flows in multiblade centrifugal fan. Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with standard k - $\epsilon$ turbulence model are transformed to non-orthogonal curvilinear coordinates, and are discretized with finite volume approximations. Linear Upwind Differencing Scheme(LUDS) is used to approximate the convection terms in the governing equations. SIMPLEC algorithm is used as a velocity-pressure correction procedure. The computational area is divided into three blocks; core, impeller and scroll, which are linked by multi-block method. The flow inside of the fan is regarded as steady flow, and mathematical formula established from the cascade theory and empirical coefficient are employed to simulate tile flow through the impeller. From comparisons between the computational results and the experimental data, the validity of the mathematical formula for the blade forces was examined and good results were obtained qualitatively. Hence, we can get the flow characteristics of multi-blade centrifugal fan and it will be a corner stone of the development of the multiblade centrifugal fan.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.39-45
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• 2012

Underwater robots are generally used for the construction of seabed structures, deep-sea ecosystem research, ocean energy development, etc. A ducted marine propulsor is widely used for the thruster of an underwater robot because of its collision protection, efficiency increase, cavitation reduction, etc. However, the flow of a ducted propeller is very complex because it involves strong flow interactions between the blade impeller and duct. The present work aimed to design a ducted propeller using 2-D strip theory and CFD analysis. The hydrodynamic forces (i.e. and ) were computed to set the local angle of attack in a spanwise direction of the propeller blade. After the propeller design, performance coefficients such as the thrust, torque, and efficiency were computed to check whether the designed performance was achieved. To validate the present analysis, the thrust was compared with experimental data and good agreement was obtained.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.93-101
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• 2000

In a gas-turbine engine, fan blades in flow path are confronted with many kinds of loading. The study of the excited force by the wake of struts has proposed and the possibility of fatigue failure about rotating fan blades by the excited force at the steady state is evaluated. Equations of the excited force of wakes has been derived at the steady state and the maximum pressure distributions measured at the transient state are proposed. Dynamic characteristics and the fatigue strength of fan blades by experimental test were obtained. To evaluate HCF(High Cycle Fatigue) damage of fan blades, FEM analysis was performed with a steady state harmonic response, which was followed by high cycle fatigue damage factor from goodman diagram.

• Journal of Hydrospace Technology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.29-40
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• 1995

This paper describes the procedure to predict steady and unsteady performances of a contrarotating propeller(CRP) by a mixed formulation of the boundary value problem(BVP) far the flow around a CRP. The blade BVP is treated by a classical vortex lattice method, whereas the hub BVP is solved by a potential-based panel method. Blades and trailing wakes are represented by a vortex and/or source lattice system, and hubs are represented by normal dipole and source distributions. Both forward and aft propellers are solved simultaneously, thus treating the interaction effect without iteration. The unsteady performance is computed directly in time domain. The new numerical procedure requires a large amount of storage and computing time, which is however no longer a limit in a modern computer system. Sample computations show that the steady performance compares very well with the experiments. The predicted unsteady behavior shows that the dominant harmonics of the total forces are multiples of not only the number of blades of the forward and aft propellers but also the product of both blade numbers. The magnitude of the latter harmonics, present also in uniform oncoming flow, may reach abort 50% of the mean torque for the aft propeller, which in turn may cause a serious vibration problem in the complicated contrarotating shafting system.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.53-72
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• 2024

The interaction of the blade of surface-piercing propellers (SPPs) with the water/air surface is a physical phenomenon that is difficult to model mathematically, so that such propellers are usually designed using empirical approaches. In this paper, a newly developed mechanism for measuring the torque of SPPs in an open water circuit is presented. The mechanism includes a single-component load cell and a deformable torque sensor to detect the forces exerted on the propeller. Deformations in the sensor elements lead to changes in the strain gauge resistance, which are converted into voltage using a Wheatstone bridge. The amplified signal is then recorded by a 16-channel data recording system. The mechanism is calibrated using a 6-DoF calibration system and a Box-Behnken design, achieving 99% accuracy through multivariate regression and ANOVA. Finally, the results of performance tests on a 4-blade propeller were presented in the form of changes in the torque coefficient as a function of feed rate. The results show that the new mechanism is 8% more accurate than conventional empirical methods.