Wingtip device | EPFL Graph Search

Wingtip devices are intended to improve the efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft by reducing drag. Although there are several types of wing tip devices which function in different manners, their intended effect is always to reduce an aircraft's drag. Wingtip devices can also improve aircraft handling characteristics and enhance safety for following aircraft. Such devices increase the effective aspect ratio of a wing without greatly increasing the wingspan. Extending the span would lower lift-induced drag, but would increase parasitic drag and would require boosting the strength and weight of the wing. At some point, there is no net benefit from further increased span. There may also be operational considerations that limit the allowable wingspan (e.g., available width at airport gates). Wingtip devices help prevent the flow around the wingtip of higher pressure air under the wing flowing to the lower pressure surface on top at the wingtip, which results in a vortex caused by the forw

Growth, timing, & trajectory of vortices behind a rotating plate

Diego Francescangeli

The presence of aerodynamic vortices is widespread in nature. They can be found at small scales near the wing tip of flying insects or at bigger scale in the form of hurricanes, cyclones or even galaxies. They are identified as coherent regions of high vorticity where the flow is locally dominated by rotation over strain. A better comprehension of vortex dynamics has a great potential to increase aerodynamic performances of moving vehicles, such as drones or autonomous underwater vehicles. An accelerated flat plate, a pitching airfoil or a jet flow ejected from a nozzle give rise to the formation of a primary vortex, followed by the shedding of smaller secondary vortices. We experimentally study the growth, timing and trajectory of primary and secondary vortices generated from a rectangular flat plate that is rotated around its centre location in a quiescent fluid. We systematically vary the rotational speed of the plate to get a chord based Reynolds number \Rey that ranges from 800 to 12000. We identify the critical \Rey for the occurrence of secondary vortices to be at 2500. The timing of the formation of the primary vortex is \Rey independent but is affected by the plate's dimensions. The circulation of the primary vortex increases with the angular position

\alpha

of the plate, until the plate reaches 30°. Increasing the thickness and decreasing the chord lead to a longer growth of the primary vortex. Therefore, the primary vortex reaches a higher dimensionless limit strength. We define a new dimensionless time

T^*

based on the thickness of the plate to scale the age of the primary vortex. The primary vortex stops growing when

T^* \approx 10

, regardless of the dimensions of the plate. We consider this value to be the vortex formation number of the primary vortex generated from a rotating rectangular flat plate in a Reynolds number range that goes from 800 to 12000. When

\alpha

> 30°, the circulation released in the flow is entrained into secondary vortices for

\Rey > 2500

. The circulation of all secondary vortices is approximately 4 to 5 times smaller than the circulation of the primary vortex. We present a modified version of the Kaden spiral that accurately predicts the shear layer evolution and the trajectory of primary and secondary vortices during the entire rotation of the plate.We model the timing dynamics of secondary vortices with a power law equation that depends on two distinct parameter:

\chi

and

\alpha_{0}

.The parameter

\chi

indicates the relative increase in the time interval between the release of successive secondary vortices.The parameter

\alpha_{0}

indicates the angular position at which the primary vortex stops growing and pinches-off from the plate.We also observe that the total circulation released in the flow is proportional to

\alpha^{1/3}

, as predicted by the inviscid theory.The combination of the power law equation with the total circulation computed from inviscid theory predict the strength of primary and secondary vortices, based purely on the plate's geometry and kinematics.The strength prediction is confirmed by experimental measurements.In this thesis we provided a valuable insight into the growth, timing and trajectory of primary and secondary vortices generated by a rotating flat plate. Future work should be directed towards more complex object geometries and kinematics, to confirm the validity of the modified Kaden spiral and explore the influence on the formation number.

EPFL2022

Multifunctional molecular modulators for perovskite solar cells with over 20% efficiency and high operational stability

Dongqin Bi, David Lyndon Emsley, Dominik Józef Kubicki, Xiong Li, Jingshan Luo, Pierre Mettraux, Jovana Milic, Norman Pellet, Shaik Mohammed Zakeeruddin

Perovskite solar cells present one of the most prominent photovoltaic technologies, yet their stability, scalability, and engineering at the molecular level remain challenging. We demonstrate a concept of multifunctional molecular modulation of scalable and operationally stable perovskite solar cells that exhibit exceptional solar-to-electric power conversion efficiencies. The judiciously designed bifunctional molecular modulator SN links the mercapto-tetrazolium (S) and phenylammonium (N) moieties, which passivate the surface defects, while displaying a structure-directing function through interaction with the perovskite that induces the formation of large grain crystals of high electronic quality of the most thermally stable formamidinium cesium mixed lead iodide perovskite formulation. As a result, we achieve greatly enhanced solar cell performance with efficiencies exceeding 20% for active device areas above 1 cm(2) without the use of antisolvents, accompanied by outstanding operational stability under ambient conditions.

2018