An experimental and numerical investigation on the formation of stall-cells on airfoils

Stall Cells (SCs) are large scale three-dimensional structures of separated flow that have been observed on the suction side of airfoils designed for or used on wind turbine blades. SCs are unstable in nature but can be stabilised by means of a localized disturbance; here in the form of a zigzag tape covering 10% of the wing span. Based on extensive tuft flow visualisations, the resulting flow was found macroscopically similar to the undisturbed flow. Next a combined investigation was carried out including pressure recordings, Stereo-PIV measurements and CFD simulations. The investigation parameters were the aspect ratio, the angle of attack and the Re number. Tuft and pressure data were found in good agreement. The 3D CFD simulations reproduced the structure of the SCs in qualitative agreement with the experimental data but had a delay of ~3deg in capturing the first appearance of a SC. The error in Cl max prediction was 7% compared to 19% for the 2D cases. Tests show that SCs grow with Re number and angle of attack. Also analysis of the time averaged computational results indicated the presence of three types of vortices: (a) the trailing edge line vortex (TELV) in the wake, (b) the separation line vortex (SLV) over the wing and (c) the SC vortices. The TELV and SLV run parallel to the trailing edge and are of opposite sign, while the SC vortices start normal to the wing suction surface, then bend towards the SC centre and later extend downstream, with their vorticity parallel to the free stream.