Aerodynamic Analysis and Optimization of Airfoils Using Vortex Lattice Method

Abstract

Air transport is one of the fastest means of transport in the modern world. Aircraft’s efficiency depends on the efficiency of its subparts and its subsystems individually. For example, the gas turbine used as main source of thrust in aircrafts has to be largely efficient, which adds to the overall efficiency of the aircraft. The same way, another important part of the aircraft is the wing. Wings are the main reason for an air vehicle to fly. Aerodynamic parameters like lift, drag and the ratio of co-efficient of lift to drag which is CL/CD ratio determines the efficiency of the aircraft wing. This CL/CD ratio depends on the cross section of the wing, i.e. the airfoil. This paper emphasizes aerodynamic analysis on airfoils NACA 0018, NACA 2412, NACA 4412, USA 45, TSAGI-S12 and B737A used on different planforms of an aircraft wing like Rectangular, Elliptical, Delta and Swept back wing. The results are analyzed and the best airfoil corresponding wing shape is reported. This best airfoil is further refined effectively to get high CL/CD ratio. The complete analysis and airfoil optimization were carried on XFLR5 software which is governed by Naiver-Stokes equations. The airfoils were analyzed for a velocity of 50 m/s, at an angle of attack of 7°, up to a maximum Re (Reynolds Number) of 3e+06, the wing chord length at root, CR=1m and total wing span, L=10m was kept constant throughout the analysis for uniformity. Post analysis, the best three airfoils were further interpolated and refined to obtain higher CL/CD ratio.