Determining the flow separation near a small UAV by unsteady pressure sensors

Abstract

Abstract Experimental studies of pressure pulsations on the surface of a small unmanned aerial vehicle (SUAV) are carried out in a wind tunnel. The onset of the separation flow is determined on the basis of PIV and loads measurements. It is found that an increase of pressure pulsations does not always correspond to flow separation. The paper proposes to use correlation analysis to determine the flow separation by finding large-scale coherent structures generated by the separation.