IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v347y2026ics0360544226005682.html

Aerodynamic enhancement and noise reduction of a composite bio-inspired airfoil based on Mode decomposition methods

Author

Listed:
  • Xin, Shenwei
  • Ye, Xuemin
  • Xiao, Wei
  • Li, Chunxi

Abstract

To address trade-offs in biomimetic designs, this study proposes a composite bio-inspired airfoil integrating stepped grooves and a serrated trailing edge. Using hybrid Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) to Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings (FW-H) analogy, synergistic mechanisms are investigated on a NACA 4412 baseline at Re ≈ 1.0 × 105 and a Mach number of 0.03. Notably, simultaneous aerodynamic enhancement and acoustic benefits are achieved within the angle of attack range of α = 0°–14°. In this regime, the optimized configuration achieves a 24.8% enhancement in lift-to-drag ratio and a 12 dB noise reduction in attached flow, while maintaining 2–4 dB attenuation at deep stall. Aerodynamically, the structure eliminates laminar separation bubbles via pressure modulation. Acoustically, the mechanism involves disrupting the spanwise coherence of vortex shedding. Analyses using Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD), Extended Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (EPOD), and Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) reveal that the control strategy suppresses the linear growth of dominant unstable waves, redistributing energy to small-scale modes with low radiation efficiency. This work offers a novel pathway for optimizing low-noise wind turbine blades.

Suggested Citation

  • 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).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:347:y:2026:i:c:s0360544226005682
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2026.140465
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544226005682
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2026.140465?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.

    More about this item

    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:347:y:2026:i:c:s0360544226005682. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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.