Computational Study of Fluid Flow Behavior Over Bio-Inspired Corrugated Airfoil for Micro Aerial Vehicles

Abstract

Comprehensive computational fluid dynamic study of bio-inspired corrugated airfoil is performed at low Reynolds number typical of gliding flight of micro aerial vehicles. Two-dimensional computational models of corrugated airfoil and flat plate of same chord length are generated using ANSYS modeling tools. The models are meshed using ICEMCFD with rectangular block meshing. Numerical simulations are performed at Reynolds number of 3.5x104 and angles of attack ranging from -40 to 120. K-e turbulence model is used to implement the turbulent condition in flow domain. The boundary conditions and size of flow domain are taken as per the available experimental data to facilitate future experimental verification. The flow parameters such as velocity and pressure of the corrugated airfoil are obtained computationally and compared with baseline flat plate of same chord length and plate thickness. The flow parameters such as velocity and pressure obtained over the corrugated and flat plate profiles indicate that the corrugated wing outperforms the flat plate aerodynamically. Flow conditions such as formation of leading edge vortex in the first valley of corrugated airfoil and formation of trailing edge vortices at higher angles of attack compared to the flat plate. The corrugated profile produced lower drag, higher lift and hence better aerodynamic efficiency than flat plate.