On the effects of non-zero yaw on leading-edge tubercled wings

Abstract Steady-state numerical simulations were conducted to capture the aerodynamic characteristics and flow patterns resulting from a tubercled and non-tubercled wing subjected to various combined pitch and yaw conditions at $$Re=1.8 \times 10^{5}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>R</mml:mi> <mml:mi>e</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1.8</mml:mn> <mml:mo>×</mml:mo> <mml:msup> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> <mml:mn>5</mml:mn> </mml:msup> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> . Pitch angle ranged from $$0^{\circ }$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mn>0</mml:mn> <mml:mo>∘</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> to $$25^{\circ }$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mn>25</mml:mn> <mml:mo>∘</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> , while two different yaw angles of $$10^{\circ }$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> <mml:mo>∘</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> and $$30^{\circ }$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mn>30</mml:mn> <mml:mo>∘</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> were used. Results show that $$10^{\circ }$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> <mml:mo>∘</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> yaw angle does not impact upon the lift and drag characteristics significantly, while a $$30^{\circ }$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mn>30</mml:mn> <mml:mo>∘</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> yaw angle leads to substantial lift and drag losses. Additionally, the tubercled wing continues to confer favourable stall-mitigating characteristics even for the larger yaw angle. Finally, despite skewing the flow structures significantly, the $$30^{\circ }$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mn>30</mml:mn> <mml:mo>∘</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> yaw angle also reduces the formations of bi-periodic flow structures, flow separations and recirculating regions along the leading-edge tubercles, suggesting potentially better flow stability and controllability.