Numerical investigation on the aerodynamics of a WIG craft airfoil

with different turbulence models

M.H.Roozbahani, M.H. Shojaefard, M.Tahani, M.Nirooei
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iran University of Science & Technology, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Purpose airfoil in ground effect characteristics is important in aircraft take off and landing and
in WIG vehicle design. WIG crafts operate close ground. In to the water or ground surface by
utilizing an air cushion of relatively high pressurized air between airfoil and this paper, NACA
0015 in ground effect is studied. The purpose of this paper is to find that one of the k-c turbulent
models is better for this kind of studies and find the variations in lift and drag coefficients near to
ground.
Methodology/approach - flow over the NACA 0015 is investigated numerically with two
different models of k-c model, Realizable and RNG, the result compared with experimental
study. The pressure-velocity coupling is calculated by SIMPLE algorithm. Studies were
performing in 2.5 and 7.5 degree angles of attack and in three high from ground, H/C=0.2,0.4,0.6
with a CFD code.
Findings - It was found higher values of lift coefficient are obtained when the airfoil is close to
the ground and a loss of upper surface suction was recorded as the airfoil approached the ground
for all angles of attack, resulting in rapid decay of kinetic energy over the upper surface, leading
to a thicker wake and higher turbulence level and a higher drag. It's obtained that Realizable k-c
give closer result to experimental data than RNG (Renormalization group) k-c.
Originality/value this paper is valuable for researchers in ground effected airfoil. This work is
original.
Keywords Aerodynamics, Wing in ground effect (WIG), Turbulence modeling, k-c model,
NACA 0015
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
A WIG (wing-in-ground effect) craft is defined as a transport that has fixed wings
like an airplane and has the advantages of increasing lift and decreasing drag when it
flies above the water or ground surface at a sufficiently low level. WIG crafts operate
close to the water or ground surface (i.e., at a height of 30 % of its chord length or
lower) by utilizing an air cushion of relatively high pressurized air between airfoil and
ground.
There have been some successful attempts to develop WIG vehicles that fly overwater.
The initial success in the development of WIG vehicles was accomplished in Finland,
Sweden and the United States. A review of the various types of vehicles experimented at
various times is made by Ollila. Ando made a critical review of the design philosophies of
overwater transport WIG vehicles. Work on development of overwater WIG vehicles is
currently going on in many countries; the potential fuel savings and speed advantages over
other modes of water transport providing the impetus. Speeds of WIGs are much higher
than ship speeds, and overall operational expenses are lower than those of planes. Higher
speeds can be achieved with hydrofoil boats or so called surface effect ships. Definitely, a
marine vehicle without any water contact would be the solution for a very low drag
induced only by air.
A WIG boat is different from an aircraft because it cannot operate without the ground
effect. There are many papers related to WIGs construction or operation. Some of them
are Afremov et al. (1996), Chawla (1988), who present wind tunnel results, also Kornev
and Matveev (2003) who give details of their research on flight modeling problems. The
problems with implementation of WIG crafts are presented by Taylor (2000). Experiments
on aerodynamics of an airfoil subject to the ground effect have been recently carried out
by Ahmed and Sharma (2004), who tested a symmetrical NACA 0015 in a low speed wind
tunnel. The results of their investigations were lift and drag forces and detailed
characteristics of the flow. Another work is the paper of Rafiuddin (2005) who also
presents experimental studies of the NACA 4415 airfoil in ground proximity. A numerical
approach to the solution of the considered problem is presented by Park and Chun (1995).
2. Simulation
In this paper, turbulent flows around two-dimensional wing in ground effect are
analyzed with incompressible Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations which
are approximated by finite volume method. The main object of this paper is to clarify the
two-dimensional ground effect and its flow characteristics due to different ground
conditions at 7.5 degree angles of attack with two turbulence models. RNG and RKE k-c
turbulence model with Enhanced wall treatment, k-c turbulence model, Launder and
Spalding", Equations are approximated by finite volume method, and they are solved by
segregated method. The second order upwind method, "Barth, Jespersen et al.", is used for
the convection term, also for pressure interpolation the PRESTO, "Patankar et al.", method
is used.
3. problem setup
3.1 Computational domain and mesh generation
At first the computational domain extended 12.5C upstream of the leading edge of
the airfoil, 25C downstream of the trailing edge, and 12.5C above the pressure surface
and with attention to Firooz et all works, the computational domain extended 5C
upstream of the leading edge of the airfoil, 10C downstream of the trailing edge, and
5C above the pressure surface. The result of two domain grid was similar and
continues analysis on the second domain.
Distance of below the airfoil was defined with H/C where C is chord and H is ground
distance at the trailing edge, such as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 the dimensions and boundary conditions of the computational domain
Velocity inlet boundary condition was applied upstream (Inflow) with speed of U

=35
m/s for a Reynolds number of 0.24 * 10
6
and Pressure out let flow boundary condition
was applied downstream. The pressure and suction side of the airfoil and above and
below's boundaries of domain were used applied with no-slip condition and smooth
wall condition and fixed wall for below (Ground) the airfoil. The flow was assumed
Incompressible. At the outlet, zero-diffusion condition was applied. This is shown in
Figure 2,"Firroz, at al." An unstructured hybrid mesh arrangement with triangular
mesh elements was adopted to map the flow domain in ground effect. Particular
attention was directed to an offset 'inner region' encompassing the airfoil, and also
boundary layers mesh was applied on near the airfoil at above and bottom. A
structured mesh arrangement with quadrilateral mesh elements was adopted to map the
flow domain in trailing edge of airfoil until end wall, Tomasz Abramowski. All
applied physical models described above and grid topologies presented in Figure 3 and
Figure 4.
Figure 2 the Y plus," Y
p
", on airfoil edge
Figure 3 Zoom of refined hybrid grid around leading Edge
Figure 4 Zoom of refined hybrid grid around trailing Edge
By increasing the grid numbers and changing the type of arranging mesh, refining,
around the airfoil a proper Y
P
value is obtained, and with this value solution results
have good agreement with experimental data (Ahmed, at al.,2005) as shown as in
Figures 2 and 3.
For Enhanced wall treatment the Y
P
on the airfoil edge must be between 1 and 5 and a
proper Y
P
value is obtained on airfoil edges, shown as Figure. 1.
4. Governing equations
4.1 continuity and momentum equations
For calculation of viscous flow around an airfoil, a numerical method based on solving
equations describing the case under consideration, i.e. RANS equations, is used. These
equations have the following form for the incompressible, steady, two-dimensional flow.
p(u
0u
0x
+:
0u
0y
) p=F
1
-
0p
0x
(
0
2
u
0x
2
+
0
2
u
0y
2
)- p(
0u
'
u
'
0x
+
0u
'
v
'
0y
)
(1)
p(u
0u
0x
+:
0u
0y
) p=F
2
-
0p
0y
(
0
2
u
0x
2
+
0
2
u
0y
2
)- p(
0u
'
u
'
0x
+
0u
'
v
'
0y
)
In the above equations, u, v are components of the mean velocity vector, P is the pressure,
is the viscosity, , are fluctuation parts of the velocity vector, F1, F2 are volumetric
forces. Furthermore, the model must satisfy the continuity equation.
0u
0x
+
0u
0y
=0 (2)
The RANS approach calculates statistically averaged (Reynolds-averaged) variables for
both steady-state and dynamic flows and simulates turbulence fluctuation effect on the
mean airflow by using different turbulence models. Many turbulence models have been
developed since the 1970s. The RKE (Shih et al., 1995) and RNG (Yakhot and Orszag,
1986) k-c model is use in this paper.
4.2 The Realizable k -c model:
The turbulence kinetic energy, k, and its rate of dissipation, c, are obtained from following
transport equations:
0
0t
( k) +
0
0x

( ku

) =
0
0x
]
|I +
u
t
c
k
]
0k
0x
]
| +0
k
+ 0
b
- e -
M
+ S
k
(4.2.1)
o
ot
( e) +
o
ox
I
( eu

) =
o
ox
j
|| +

t
o
s
1
oe
ox
j
| + C
1
Se -C
2
e
2
k + Vve
+ C
1s
e
k
C
3s
0
b
+ S
s
Where
C
1
= m a x |0 .4 3 ,
n
n+5
| , n = S
k
s
, S =
.
2S
]
S
]
(4.2.2)
In these equations, 0
k
represents the generation of turbulence kinetic energy due to the
mean velocity gradients. 0
B
is the generation of turbulence kinetic energy due to
buoyancy.
M
represents the contribution of the fluctuating dilatation in compressible
turbulence to the overall dissipation rate. C
2
and C
1s
are constants. o
k
and o
s
are the
turbulent Prandtl numbers for k and c, respectively. S
k
and S
s
are user-defined source
terms.
Note that the k equation is the same as that in the standard k-c mode and the RNG k-c
model, except for the model constants. However, the form of the c equation is quite
different from those in the standard and RNG-based k-c models.
4.3 The RNG k-c model:
The turbulence kinetic energy, k, and its rate of dissipation, c, are obtained from following
transport equations:
o
ot
( k) +
o
ox
I
( ku

) =
o
ox
j
|(o
k

c]]
)
ok
ox
j
| + 0
k
+ 0
b
- e -
M
+ S
k
(4.3.1)
0
0t
( e) +
0
0x
]
(eu
]
) =
0
0x
]
|(o
k

c]]
)
0s
0x
]
| + C
1s
s
k
( 0
k
+C
3s
0
b
) - C
2s

s
2
k
- R
s
+S
In these equations, the quantities o
k
and o
s
are the inverse effective Prandtl numbers for k
and c.
4.4 Modeling the Turbulent Viscosity for Realizable model:
In k - c models, the eddy viscosity is computed from

t
= pC
k
2
c
(4.4.1)
It can be seen that C is a function of the mean strain and rotation rates, the angular
velocity of the system rotation, and the turbulence fields (k and c).
4.5 Turbulence model constants
The turbulence model constants C
1c
and C
2c
in equation (4.3.1) have value derived
analytically by the RNG theory. These values for RNG model are C
1c
=1.42 and C
2c
=1.68
and for Realizable model are C
1c
=1.44, C
2
=1.9,
k
=1.0,
c
=1.2 (Launder and Spalding,
1972;Wilcox,1998). In this study, these values for the constant of RNG k-e have been used
(Askari, Shojaeefard, 2009).
The overall of the applied technique is based on the finite volume method with segregated
formulation and second-order upwind discretization schemes. The SIMPLE algorithm is
employed for the coupling of velocity and pressure. Flow conditions around the airfoil
were built up by steady analysis using a commercial code.
4.6 Wall treatment
The application of wall functions to modeling the near-wall region may significantly
reduce both the processing and storage requirements of a numerical model, while
producing an acceptable degree of accuracy. The non-dimensional wall parameter is
defined as:
y
+
=
p
i
v
o
v
y
o
u
(4.6.1)
In "Eq. (4.6.1)", Y
p
is the distance from the first computational node to the wall and the
subscript w denotes wall properties, "Speziale, Abid, Anderson et al.".The standard wall
functions are based on the proposal of Launder and Spalding (1974), and have been widely
used for industrial flow. Kim and Choudhury (1995) proposed the use of the non-
equilibrium wall functions in order to improve the accuracy of the standard wall functions.
The key elements in non-equilibrium wall functions are pressure-gradient sensitized
Launder and Spalding (1974) loglaw for mean velocity and the two layer- based concept
to compute the turbulence kinetic energy in the wall-adjacent cells. In the two-layer
model, the whole domain is subdivided into a viscosity affected region and a fully-
turbulent region. The one equation model of Wolf stein (1969) is employed in the
viscosity- affected region.
Enhanced wall treatment is a method of near-wall modeling that utilizes the combination
of a two-layer zonal model with enhanced wall functions. If the mesh is fine enough to
resolve the laminar sub layer within the order of Y
P
- 1), then the wall treatment is
identical to the two-layer zonal model, however, this mesh requirement can place
significant demands on computational processing and storage infrastructure.
5. Results & discussion
Figure 5 shows predicted lift coefficients with RKE and RNG K-c turbulence model
at u = 2.5, 7.5 and also compared with experimental data. It can be seen C
L
increases with
decreasing H/C and increasing angles of attack. It's obtained that this tow kind of k-c
models earned reasonable result for C
L
in comparison with experimental data. Also with
RNG model the iterations of calculations increased to 2 or 3 time of Realizable model and
in time too.
Figure 5 Coefficient of lift at varying ground clearances for different angles of attack.
Figure 6 shows predicted drag coefficients with RKE and RNG k-c turbulence model at
same angle of attack and also compared with experimental data. It can be seen C
D
increases with increasing H/C and increasing angles of attack. Its obtained that the result
of RKE model is better than RNG model. Also in C
L
calculations the RNG result with
Realizable result have a similarity but in C
D
calculations it's different.
Figure 6 Coefficient of drag at varying ground clearances for different angles of attack.
By comparing the pressure fields in unbounded flow and ground effect, it can be noticed
that a dramatic pressure increases in the region between the lower surface of the airfoil and
the ground occurs, resulting in the lift increase. As the airfoil approaches the ground, the
pressure on the pressure side of wing gradually increases due to slow-down of flow,
"Chun, Chang.", (Figures 7,8,10&11), although the pressure on the suction side of airfoil
gradually increases, but the increase rate of the pressure on the pressure side is much
larger than that of suction side, resulting in lift increase that is regarded as the advantage
of the WIG vehicle. The velocity fields around NACA 0015 in unbounded flow (u =2.5
o
,
Re = 2 *106) are shown in Figure. 9 and for u =7.5
o
are shown in Figure. 12.
Figure 7 Contours of static pressure around NACA 0015 in unbounded flow (u =2.50,H/C=0.2, Re=0.24 * 10
6
)
Figure 8 Contours of static pressure around NACA 0015 in unbounded flow (u =2.50,H/C=0.4,Re=0.24 * 10
6
)
Figure 9 Velocity fields around NACA 0015 in unbounded flow (u =2.50, H/C=0.4, Re=0.24 * 10
6
)
Figure10 Contours of static pressure around NACA 0015 in unbounded flow (u =7.50,H/C=0.2, Re=0.24 * 10
6
)
Figure 11 Contours of static pressure around NACA 0015 in unbounded flow (u =7.50,H/C=0.4, Re=0.24 * 10
6
)
Figure 12 velocity fields around NACA 0015 in unbounded flow (u =7.50, H/C=0.4, Re=0.24 * 10
6
)
.
6. Conclusion
The flow characteristics for two-dimensional wings in ground proximity are analyzed with
RANS equations, and approximated by finite volume schemes, with RKE and RNG K-c
turbulence models. Based on this study, some conclusions can be drawn as:
1. For very low ground clearances, the lift force was found to be always high, due to
higher pressure on the lower surface of the airfoil. At higher angles of attack, high
values of pressure coefficient were recorded on the lower surface with the high
pressure region extending almost till the trailing edge of the airfoil, which resulted
in higher lift force. The pressure distribution on the upper surface did not show
significant variation with ground clearance, especially for higher angles of attack;
hence, the higher lift force was mainly due to modification of pressure distribution
on the lower surface.
2. Both kinds of K-c model, Realizable and RNG, for C
L
calculations of ground
affected airfoil is good but for C
D
predictions observably the Realizable give better
result.
3. The time consuming in Realizable model is very lower from RNG. For example for
H/C 0.6 in angle of attack 2.5 degree, Realizable was converged in 812 iteration but
RNG solution was converged in 3015 iteration.
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About the authers
M.H. Shojaeefard is a prof essor of Mechanical Engineeri ng, Depart ment of Mechanical
Engineering, Iran Universit y of Science and Technology, Narmak, Tehran, Iran. He obt ained his BSc
in Ir an Uni ver sit y of Science and Technology, and M Sc and PhD in Bir mingham Univer sit y, UK. His
f ields of r esearch are f luid mechanics, gas t urbine, t urbomachines and design of machines, and
heat t r ansf er.
M. Tahani is a PhD st udent of Mechanical Engineering, Depar t ment of Mechanical Engineering,
Iran Universit y of Science and Technology, Narmak, Tehran, Iran. He obt ained his BSc i n Semnan
Univer sit y, and M Sc and PhD i n Iran Univer sit y of Science and Technology. His f ields of research ar e
f luid mechanic, t her modynamic, gas t urbine, t urbomachine and t urbulence.
M.H. Roozbahani is a MSc st udent of Aer odynamic Engineering, Depar t ment of Mechanical
Engineering, Ir an Univer sit y of Science and Technology, Nar mak, Tehran, Iran. He obt ained his BSc
in Malek-e-Asht ar Universit y. His f ields of research are aerodynamics, t hermodynamic,
t urbomachine, t wo phase f low and t urbulence. M.H. Roozbahani is t he corr esponding aut her and
can be cont act ed at : rozbahani@mecheng.iust .ac.ir
M. Ni r ooei is a MSc st udent of Aerodynamic Engineer ing, Depart ment of Aerospace Engineering,
Shar if Universit y of t echnology, Azadi Av., Tehran, Iran. He obt ained his BSc in Malek-e-Asht ar
Univer sit y. His f i elds of r esearch ar e aerodynamics, f luid mechanics, t urbomachine and t urbulence.