Aerodynamic effects of leading edge (LE) slats and slotted trailing edge (TE) flaps on NACA-2412 airfoil in prospect of optimization

Abstract

Currently, various high lift devices are being employed in the general aviation industry. The performance of these high lift devices depends on various parameters, among which the geometrical or positional parameters are one of the most important as their influence is very prominent on the aerodynamics of the wing. Hence, attention is to be given to the optimization of these devices to increase their efficiency and performance. This article focuses on the optimization of high lift devices such as leading edge slats and trailing edge flaps. The optimization is achieved with four defined configurations for each high lift device and then compared their results with each other to find the best configuration; here the best performance refers to maximization of section coefficient of lift. A two-dimensional CFD (computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis performed on best three element airfoil using SolidWorks Flow Simulation tool with variation in aerodynamic parameters as lift and pitching moment. The obtained results have an accuracy of 1.09% for maximum coefficient of lift and 0.4% for landing condition respectively. Thus the optimized NACA2412 three-element airfoil gives good aerodynamic performance.