IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v324y2025ics0360544225014008.html

Turbulent separation control with a tilted wavy wall: A promising approach for energy savings in aerodynamic systems

Author

Listed:
  • Kamiński, Piotr
  • Tyliszczak, Artur
  • Elsner, Witold
  • Niegodajew, Paweł

Abstract

Recently, Kamiński et al. (2024) demonstrated that a two-dimensional streamwise waviness with carefully selected amplitude and period can be effectively used in postponement of a flow separation at high Reynolds number which is out of reach for other commonly known passive flow control strategies. This paper demonstrates that this approach can be substantially improved by introducing a novel type of surface waviness characterized by tilting the subsequent waves. The research is performed by applying the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) method allowing for a detailed analysis of both instantaneous and time-averaged flow characteristics. It is shown that the tilting eliminates the occurrence of separation zones in waviness troughs, which minimizes the shape drag and maximizes the wall shear stress. In particular, compared to an optimal classical sinusoidal waviness shape the drag coefficient drops 14%. Simultaneously, 70% better performance in separation control is achieved. Moreover, it is also shown that when this issue is a priority, even further improvement can be achieved, though at the expense of greater drag.

Suggested Citation

  • Kamiński, Piotr & Tyliszczak, Artur & Elsner, Witold & Niegodajew, Paweł, 2025. "Turbulent separation control with a tilted wavy wall: A promising approach for energy savings in aerodynamic systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:324:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225014008
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.135758
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225014008
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2025.135758?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ye, Xuemin & Hu, Jiami & Zheng, Nan & Li, Chunxi, 2023. "Numerical study on aerodynamic performance and noise of wind turbine airfoils with serrated gurney flap," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PB).
    2. Xu, He-Yong & Qiao, Chen-Liang & Yang, Hui-Qiang & Ye, Zheng-Yin, 2017. "Delayed detached eddy simulation of the wind turbine airfoil S809 for angles of attack up to 90 degrees," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 1090-1109.
    3. Shojaeefard, Mohammad Hassan & Saremian, Salman, 2024. "Analyzing the impact of blade geometrical parameters on energy recovery and efficiency of centrifugal pump as turbine installed in the pressure-reducing station," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    4. Ni, Lulu & Miao, Weipao & Li, Chun & Liu, Qingsong, 2021. "Impacts of Gurney flap and solidity on the aerodynamic performance of vertical axis wind turbines in array configurations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(PA).
    5. Zhu, Chengyong & Chen, Jie & Wu, Jianghai & Wang, Tongguang, 2019. "Dynamic stall control of the wind turbine airfoil via single-row and double-row passive vortex generators," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    6. Cui, Wenyao & Xiao, Zhixiang & Yuan, Xiangjiang, 2020. "Simulations of transition and separation past a wind-turbine airfoil near stall," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    7. Sharma, Sanjay K. & Kalamkar, Vilas R., 2016. "Computational Fluid Dynamics approach in thermo-hydraulic analysis of flow in ducts with rib roughened walls – A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 756-788.
    8. Wang, Haipeng & Zhang, Bo & Qiu, Qinggang & Xu, Xiang, 2017. "Flow control on the NREL S809 wind turbine airfoil using vortex generators," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 1210-1221.
    9. Zhang, Zhihao & Kuang, Limin & Han, Zhaolong & Zhou, Dai & Zhao, Yongsheng & Bao, Yan & Duan, Lei & Tu, Jiahuang & Chen, Yaoran & Chen, Mingsheng, 2023. "Comparative analysis of bent and basic winglets on performance improvement of horizontal axis wind turbines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    10. Wang, Ying & Li, Gaohui & Shen, Sheng & Huang, Diangui & Zheng, Zhongquan, 2018. "Influence of an off-surface small structure on the flow control effect on horizontal axis wind turbine at different relative inflow angles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 101-121.
    11. Wang, Haipeng & Jiang, Xiao & Chao, Yun & Li, Qian & Li, Mingzhou & Zheng, Wenniu & Chen, Tao, 2019. "Effects of leading edge slat on flow separation and aerodynamic performance of wind turbine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 988-998.
    12. Khaled, Mohamed & Ibrahim, Mostafa M. & Abdel Hamed, Hesham E. & AbdelGwad, Ahmed F., 2019. "Investigation of a small Horizontal–Axis wind turbine performance with and without winglet," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    13. Lowrey, Preston & Harasha, Jeff, 1991. "A preliminary assessment of the feasibility of using riblets in internal flows to conserve energy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 631-642.
    14. Jeong, Jae Sung & Bong, Seon Woo & Lee, Sang Woo, 2022. "An efficient winglet coverage for aeroengine turbine blade flat tip and its loss map," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    15. Abdolahifar, Abolfazl & Karimian, S.M.H., 2022. "A comprehensive three-dimensional study on Darrieus vertical axis wind turbine with slotted blade to reduce flow separation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    16. Mostafa, Wafaa & Abdelsamie, Abouelmagd & Sedrak, Momtaz & Thévenin, Dominique & Mohamed, Mohamed H., 2022. "Quantitative impact of a micro-cylinder as a passive flow control on a horizontal axis wind turbine performance," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 244(PA).
    17. Zhong, Junwei & Li, Jingyin & Liu, Huizhong, 2023. "Dynamic mode decomposition analysis of flow separation control on wind turbine airfoil using leading−edge rod," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    18. Nguyen, Duc-Anh & Kim, Jin-Hyuk, 2024. "Co-adjustable guide vane and diffuser vane to improve the energy generation potential of an axial-flow pump as turbine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    19. Bhardwaj, Saurabh & Dalal, Amaresh & Pati, Sukumar, 2015. "Influence of wavy wall and non-uniform heating on natural convection heat transfer and entropy generation inside porous complex enclosure," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 467-481.
    20. Azlan, F. & Tan, M.K. & Tan, B.T. & Ismadi, M.-Z., 2023. "Passive flow-field control using dimples for performance enhancement of horizontal axis wind turbine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    21. Abbaspour, Pouyan & Alipoor, Alireza, 2024. "Numerical study of wavy-wall effects on premixed H2/air flammability limits, propagation modes, and thermal performance of micro combustion chambers," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 359(C).
    22. Hao, Wenxing & Li, Chun, 2020. "Performance improvement of adaptive flap on flow separation control and its effect on VAWT," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    23. Zaki, Abanoub & Abdelrahman, M.A. & Ayad, Samir S. & Abdellatif, O.E., 2022. "Effects of leading edge slat on the aerodynamic performance of low Reynolds number horizontal axis wind turbine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PD).
    24. Yossri, W. & Ben Ayed, S. & Abdelkefi, A., 2023. "Evaluation of the efficiency of bioinspired blade designs for low-speed small-scale wind turbines with the presence of inflow turbulence effects," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhong, Junwei & Li, Jingyin & Liu, Huizhong, 2023. "Dynamic mode decomposition analysis of flow separation control on wind turbine airfoil using leading−edge rod," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    2. Sun, Yukun & Qian, Yaoru & Wang, Tongguang & Wang, Long & Zhu, Chengyong & Gao, Yang, 2024. "Investigation of the wind turbine aerodynamic performance via the combining blowing and suction flow control," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    3. Wang, Longjun & Alam, Md. Mahbub & Rehman, Shafiqur & Zhou, Yu, 2022. "Effects of blowing and suction jets on the aerodynamic performance of wind turbine airfoil," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 52-64.
    4. Liu, Yangwei & Wang, Guangyu & Tang, Yumeng, 2025. "Investigation of flow and heat transfer characteristics in a ribbed channel using grid-adaptive simulation method," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    5. Azlan, F. & Tan, M.K. & Tan, B.T. & Ismadi, M.-Z., 2023. "Passive flow-field control using dimples for performance enhancement of horizontal axis wind turbine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    6. Mustafa Özden & Mustafa Serdar Genç & Kemal Koca, 2023. "Passive Flow Control Application Using Single and Double Vortex Generator on S809 Wind Turbine Airfoil," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-17, July.
    7. Sun, Yukun & Qian, Yaoru & Gao, Yang & Wang, Tongguang & Wang, Long, 2024. "Stall control on the wind turbine airfoil via the single and dual-channel of combining bowing and suction technique," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    8. Gambuzza, Stefano & Sunil, Puja & Felli, Mario & Young, Anna M. & Broglia, Riccardo & McCarthy, Edward D. & Viola, Ignazio Maria, 2025. "Power and thrust control by passive pitch for tidal turbines," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).
    9. Liu, Qingsong & Miao, Weipao & Li, Chun & Hao, Winxing & Zhu, Haitian & Deng, Yunhe, 2019. "Effects of trailing-edge movable flap on aerodynamic performance and noise characteristics of VAWT," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    10. Huang, Shengxian & Hu, Yu & Wang, Ying, 2021. "Research on aerodynamic performance of a novel dolphin head-shaped bionic airfoil," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    11. Md Zishan Akhter & Farag Khalifa Omar, 2021. "Review of Flow-Control Devices for Wind-Turbine Performance Enhancement," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-35, February.
    12. Zhu, Chengyong & Chen, Jie & Qiu, Yingning & Wang, Tongguang, 2021. "Numerical investigation into rotational augmentation with passive vortex generators on the NREL Phase VI blade," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    13. Akhter, Md Zishan & Ali, Ahmed Riyadh & Jawahar, Hasan Kamliya & Omar, Farag Khalifa & Elnajjar, Emad, 2023. "Performance enhancement of small-scale wind turbine featuring morphing blades," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    14. Xin, Shenwei & Ye, Xuemin & Xiao, Wei & Li, Chunxi, 2026. "Aerodynamic enhancement and noise reduction of a composite bio-inspired airfoil based on Mode decomposition methods," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 347(C).
    15. Zhang, Jiahua & Wang, Haoyuan & Yan, Qingdong & Khoo, Boo Cheong & Liu, Cheng & Guo, Meng & Wei, Wei, 2024. "Effect of blade length on unsteady cavitation characteristics of hydrodynamic torque converter," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    16. Song, Ke & Huan, Hui-Ting & Wei, Liu-Chuang & Liu, Chun-Xia, 2025. "Performance analysis of a modified Archimedes spiral wind turbine having winglet on blade," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    17. Fan, Menghao & Sun, Zhaocheng & Dong, Xiangwei & Li, Zengliang, 2022. "Numerical and experimental investigation of bionic airfoils with leading-edge tubercles at a low-Re in considering stall delay," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 154-168.
    18. Ye, Zhou & Yu, Hao & Wu, Hong & Li, Chun & Wang, Ying, 2025. "Numerical investigation on the aerodynamic performance of vertical axis wind turbines utilizing a biomimetic fish tail paddle configuration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    19. Chengyong Zhu & Tongguang Wang & Jie Chen & Wei Zhong, 2020. "Effect of Single-Row and Double-Row Passive Vortex Generators on the Deep Dynamic Stall of a Wind Turbine Airfoil," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-13, May.
    20. Elsayed, Ahmed M. & Khalifa, Mohamed A. & Benini, Ernesto & Aziz, Mohamed A., 2023. "Experimental and numerical investigations of aerodynamic characteristics for wind turbine airfoil using multi-suction jets," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:324:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225014008. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.