Chordwise propagation of dynamic stall cells on an oscillating airfoil

The dynamic stall phenomenon was examined in detail by analyzing a set of unsteady pressure data obtained on an airfoil oscillating in pitch. These data were for sinusoidal oscillations which penetrated the stall region in varying degrees, and here the effort was concentrated on the chordwise propagation of pressure waves associated with the dynamic stall. It was found that this phenomenon could be quantified in terms of a pressure wave velocity which is consistently much less than free-stream velocity, and which varies directly with frequency. It was also found that even when the stall region has been deeply penetrated and a substantial dynamic stall occurs during the downstroke, stall recovery near minimum incidence will occur, followed by a potential flow behavior up to stall inception.