Airfoil flow control using vortex generators and a Gurney flap

Abstract

In order to carry out the experimental investigation on control of flow over airfoil, one form of the Gurney flap and one form of the vortex generator were designed. The comparative study is performed for different scenarios such as clean airfoil, clean airfoil with Gurney flap, clean airfoil with vortex generators and clean airfoil with both Gurney flap and vortex generators. Wind tunnel test shows that: (a) the lift at linear regime with the same attack is greatly increased by using a Gurney flap; (b) the stall performance is remarkably improved by using vortex generators; and (c) the lift at both linear and stall regimes are both improved by using combined Gurney flap and vortex generators, and drag is slightly increased at linear regime and greatly reduced at stall regime. In other words, the proper combination of Gurney flap and vortex generators can result in remarkable improvement of aerodynamic performance of an airfoil, and it is an ideal combinational control style.