This is a NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY CA report procured by the Pentagon and made available for public release. It has been reproduced in the best form available to the Pentagon. It is not spiral-bound, but rather assembled with Velobinding in a soft, white linen cover. The Storming Media report number is A544213. The abstract provided by the Pentagon follows: The wake of an airfoil which oscillates in pure plunge mode is investigated in a water tunnel over a wide range of reduced frequency and amplitude. The main focus of this study is the comparison of the experimentally determined wake geometry with numerical results from a potential flow code. The wake vortices are visualized by two-color dye injection and velocity profiles are measured with LDV upstream and downstream of the airfoil. Wake signatures are examined with regard to thrust or drag generation. There is a good agreement between calculated and experimental data of the vortical wavelength. At high plunge velocities both approaches show a loss of wake symmetry and the emergence of a dual mode wake behavior.
