Analysis of Low Speed Flow over an Adaptive Airfoil with Oscillating Camber

This paper presents the investigation of low Reynolds number flow over an adaptive wing assembly. The wing assembly was constructed from a base profile NACA 4415 airfoil housing an array of unimorph piezoelectric actuators. The wing is then wrapped in a latex membrane to provide a flexible and smooth upper surface profile. The actuators deflect the upper airfoil surface in an oscillatory fashion. The flow characteristics over this airfoil were measured experimentally with Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) over a range of angles of attack and actuator oscillation frequencies. These results are compared to a series of CFD simulations that consider different oscillation patterns (as the precise oscillation pattern of the surface is not known) and provide the potential to more closely examine flow details and the effectiveness of the oscillating camber as a flow control mechanism.