Enhancement on propulsion performance: Modifying angle of attack profile

Abstract

In this paper, numerical investigation was conducted for an oscillating NACA0012 foil combining the pitching and plunging motions. The plunging follows a sinusoidal motion while the pitching trajectory is controlled by achieving the resultant effective angle of attack (AOA) to be a harmonic cosine form. Computations were conducted over a range of the Strouhal number (St), different maximum effective AOA and different phase difference between pitching and plunging (ψ). Results show that, at higher St, significant improvement on propulsion performance has been achieved when the effective AOA profile maintains a harmonic cosine form by controlling the pitching motion of the foil. © 2010 World Scientific Publishing Company.