Paper detail

Biglobal resolvent analysis of separated flow over a NACA0012 airfoil

The effects of Reynolds number across $Re=1000$, $2500$, $5000$, and $10000$ on separated flow over a two-dimensional NACA0012 airfoil at an angle of attack of $α=14^\circ$ are investigated through the biglobal resolvent analysis. We identify modal structures and energy amplifications over a range of frequency, spanwise wavenumber, and discount parameter, providing insights across various timescales. Using temporal discounting, we find that the shear layer dynamics dominates over short time horizons, while the wake dynamics becomes the primary amplification mechanism over long time horizons. Spanwise effects also appear over long time horizon, sustained by low frequencies. At a fixed timescale, we investigate the influence of Reynolds number on response and forcing mode structures, as well as the energy gain over different frequencies. Across all Reynolds numbers, the response modes shift from wake-dominated structures at low frequencies to shear layer-dominated structures at higher frequencies. The frequency at which the dominant mechanism changes is independent of the Reynolds number. The response mode structures show similarities across different Reynolds numbers, with local streamwise wavelengths only depending on frequency. Comparisons at a different angle of attack ($α=9^\circ$) show that the transition from wake to shear layer dynamics with increasing frequency only occurs if the unsteady flow is three-dimensional. We also study the dominant frequencies associated with wake and shear layer dynamics across the angles of attack and Reynolds numbers, and present the characteristic scaling for each mechanism.