Numerical investigation of co-flow jet airfoil with parabolic flap

Abstract

Both the Active Flow Control (AFC) and the variable-camber technology are considered as efficient ways to enhance the aerodynamic performance of an aircraft. The present study investigated the feasibility of the combination of a Co-Flow Jet (CFJ) airfoil and a parabolic flap, where the Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations and the Spalart-Allmaras (S-A) turbulence model were exploited for the numerical simulation. Several significant geometric parameters, including the injection slot location, the suction slot location, the injection slot angle, the suction slot angle and the airfoil Suction Surface Translation (SST), were selected to study their effects on the aerodynamics of the proposed configuration. Then, an optimized design was created and compared with the baseline airfoil. The results show that the CFJ airfoil combined with the parabolic flap is more beneficial to the aerodynamic performance enhancement at small angles of attack. It is preferable to locate the injection slot at a 2% chord-wise location and the suction slot at a 75% chord-wise location. Both the decrease of the injection slot angle and the augmentation of the suction slot angle could reduce the drag. Furthermore, the SST of 0.5% chord is selected due to its high gain in the corrected aerodynamic efficiency at small angles of attack. Compared with the baseline, the optimized design could increase the lift coefficient and the corrected lift-to-drag ratio by 32.1% and 93.8% respectively at the angle of attack α = 4°.