Dynamic airfoil stall investigations

Experimental and computational investigations of the dynamic stall phenomenon continue to attract the attention of various research groups in the major aeronautical research laboratories. There are two reasons for this continued research interest. First, the occurrence of dynamic stall on the retreating blade of helicopters imposes a severe performance limitation and thus suggests to search for ways to delay the onset of dynamic stall. Second, the lift enhancement prior to dynamic stall presents an opportunity to achieve enhanced maneuverability of fighter aircraft. A description of the major parameters affecting dynamic stall and lift and an evaluation of research efforts prior to 1988 has been given by Carr. In this paper the authors' recent progress in the development of experimental and computational methods to analyze the dynamic stall phenomena occurring on NACA 0112 airfoils is reviewed. First, the major experimental and computational approaches and results are summarized. This is followed by an assessment of our results and an outlook toward the future.