Aeroacoustic and aerodynamic characteristics of a morphing airfoil

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to assess the aeroacoustic and aerodynamic performance of a morphing airfoil with a flexible trailing edge (FTE). The objective is to make a comparison of the aerodynamic noise characteristics between the conventional airfoil with a flap and morphing airfoil and analyse the noise reduction mechanisms of the morphing airfoil. Design/methodology/approach The computational fluid dynamic method was used to calculate the aerodynamic coefficients of morphing airfoil and the Ffowcs-Williams and Hawking’s acoustic analogy methods were performed to predict the far-field noise of different airfoils. Findings Results show that compared with the conventional airfoil, the morphing airfoil can generate higher lift and lower noise, but a greater drag. Additionally, the noise caused by the one-unit lift of the morphing airfoil is significantly lower than that of the conventional airfoil. For the morphing airfoil, the shedding vortex in the trailing edge was the main noise resource. As the angle of attack (AoA) increases, the overall sound pressure level of the morphing airfoil increases significantly. With the increase of the trailing edge deflection angle, the amplitude and the period of sound pressure of the morning airfoil fluctuation increase. Practical implications Presented results could be very useful during designing the morphing airfoil with FTE, which has significant advantages in aerodynamic efficiency and aeroacoustic performance. Originality/value This paper presents the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic characteristics of the morphing airfoil. The effect of trailing edge deflection angle and AoA on morphing airfoil was investigated. In the future, using a morphing airfoil instead of a traditional flap can reduce the aircraft`s fuel consumption and noise pollution.

Effect of turbulence intensity on aerodynamic characteristics of extended trailing edge airfoil

“…Research advises modification over the wing surface will act as a flow control device (Arivoli and Ishan, 2016; Bofeng et al , 2018; Kang et al , 2020; Arunvinthan et al , 2020; Serder Genc and Kaynak, 2009). The wing combination of gurney flap at the leading edge and divergent trailing edge is tested and reported to improve aircraft aerodynamic efficiency (Li et al , 2006; Zi kan et al , 2021). Cheng and Wang (2018), Serder Genc and Kaynak (2009) demonstrated that increasing the wing surface area will increase the lift generated by the wing.…”