Pressure based active load control of a blade in dynamic stall conditions

Abstract

A proportionate controller is investigated experimentally for unsteady load alleviation purposes on a 2D wing model with a trailing-edge flap. The controller acts on the velocity of the flaps, and pressure sensors are used to detect the unsteady loads, which are generated by actuating the wing model in a sinusoidal motion. Two different regimes are considered: attached flow and dynamic stall. The influence of actuation frequency and controller time lag is also studied. A reduction of 87.5% in the standard deviation of the lift is obtained for a frequency of 0.2Hz and time lag in the control system of 12ms for attached flow conditions. The reduction of the standard deviation of the lift deteriorates for increased frequency and time lag. The proposed controller is also able to reduce the loads during dynamic stall, although the reduction is smaller, close to 40%, and can negatively affect the aerodynamic damping of the model. The flap actuation is also shown to delay the onset of dynamic stall, by increasing the static stall angle with respect to the case without flap deflection.