Contribution to finite element modelling of airfoil aeroelastic instabilities

Abstract

Nonlinear equations of motion for a flexibly supported rigid airfoil with additional degree of freedom for controlling of the profile motion by a trailing edge flap are derived for large vibration amplitudes. Preliminary results for numerical simulation of flow-induced airfoil vibrations in a laminar incompressible flow are presented for the NACA profile 0012 with three-degrees of freedom (vertical translation, rotation around the elastic axis and rotation of the flap). The developed numerical solution of the Navier – Stokes equations and the Arbitrary Eulerian-Lagrangian approach enable to consider the moving grid for the finite element modelling of the fluid flow around the oscillating airfoil. A sequence of numerical simulation examples is presented for Reynolds numbers up to about Re 105, when the system loses the aeroelastic stability, and when the large displacements of the profile and a post-critical behaviour of the system take place.