• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.32-41
• /
• 2006

In this study, the thrust generation by simultaneous flapping airfoils in tandem configuration is parametrically studied with respect to flapping frequency, amplitude and relative location. Navier-Stokes solver with overset grid topology is employed to calculate the unsteady flowfields. The computation results indicate that when the two airfoils stroke in-phase - flapping phase lag is zero - the maximum propulsive efficiency and thrust can be obtained for most frequency and amplitude range. At a flapping amplitude of 0.2 chord and a reduced frequency of 0.75, the propulsive efficiency of aft airfoil is enhanced by about 37 % compared with that of forward airfoil. However, if flapping frequency exceeds some critical value, the strength of the leading edge vortex of aft airfoil is fortified by the trailing edge vortex of the forward airfoil, resulting in poor propulsive efficiency. It is also found that out-of-phase flapping has relatively low propulsive efficiency and thrust since vortical wake of the forward airfoil interacts with the leading edge vortex of aft airfoil in the unfavorable fashion. The total thrust and propulsive efficiency are shown to decrease with the horizontal miss distance of the aft airfoil. On the contrary, the vertical miss distance has little effect on the overall aerodynamic performance.