The effect of eroded leading edge to the turbulent wake topology studied by PIV

The effect of leading edge erosion to the flow is studied experimentally by standard method of Particle Image Velocimetry. Three airfoil models are manufactured: the reference one, the homogenously eroded one, which is modeled by putting a sheet of sand-paper to its leading edge and the airfoil with large erosion, which is modeled by regular spikes and a valley in sub-stagnation area. The damaged airfoils support earlier transition to turbulence; in fully turbulent regime, their wake is wider than in the smooth case and, especially in the case of regular spikes, the spanwise fluctuations are reduced.