Numerical investigation of temperature effect on a free vibrating airfoil - Wind turbines application

Temperature effect on a free vibrating airfoil is investigated in this paper. Calculations are based on solving the Navier Stokes equations coupled to solid dynamic equations; the ALE formulation of RANS equations is applied. Turbulence is modeled by the SST k-ω model and the Flap/lead-lag motion is considered. Results show that high temperatures induce degradation of aerodynamic performances of the airfoil for the static cases, but for dynamic cases, when temperature increases, the amplitude of airfoil vibration decreases.