Aerodynamic characteristic of wind turbine with the leading edge slat and Microtab

Abstract

The leading edge slat can increase the flow energy of airfoil suction surface, and Microtab can hinder the flow of pressure surface. In order to combine the advantages of two passive flow control methods, this paper creatively proposed to combine the leading edge slat with Microtab to simulate the S809 airfoil, which slat had the contour characteristics of S809 airfoil. The transition SST turbulence model was applied to estimate the aerodynamic characteristics of the S809 airfoil. According to research, the flow control approach of the leading edge slat combined with Microtab could effectively restrain the flow separation and ameliorate the aerodynamic characteristics of the S809 airfoil. For Case-12, when the airfoil angle of attack was 16.22°, the boundary layer flow separation was restrained completely, Cl was increased to 3.06 from 1.79 and increased by 171% compared with clear airfoil. Research shown that the position of slat, the position and height of the Microtab were significant factors for the aerodynamic characteristics of the S809 airfoil. Microtab position at 0.95c and height at 0.03c performed the best effect to inhibit flow separation and improve lift coefficients.