Vortex Simulation of Propagating Stall in a Linear Cascade of Airfoils

Abstract

A numerical simulation of propagating stall in a linear cascade of airfoils at high Reynolds numbers is conducted using a vortex method which was first developed by Spalart [7] for this problem. In this approach, the vorticity is discretized into a large collection of vortex blobs whose motion is tracked in time by the use of a well-known vortex tracing algorithm based on the Euler equation. The near-wall effects of viscosity are accounted for by the creation of discrete vortex sheets at the boundaries of the airfoils consistent with the no-slip condition. These boundary vortices are then released into the flow field downstream of the separation points which are obtained from a boundary-layer routine. Calculations are presented for a variety of flow geometries. It is demonstrated that (for a given cascade of airfoils, disturbance wavelength, and stagger angle) several different flow regimes are obtained: Attached flow at lower angles of attack and a chaotic deep stall configuration at larger angles of attack with a narrow intermediate range of such angles where propagating stall occurs. The physical characteristics of this propagating stall are parameterized and a quantitative study of the effects of camber and imposed wavelength is conducted. Comparisons are made with previous theoretical and experimental studies.