Passive Blowing on NACA 0012 Profile with Attached Gurney Flap

Abstract

Computational investigations are conducted in order to determine the effectiveness of a passive control technique, which is employed in order to decay the drag forces induced by the flap placed in the trailing edge of a profile NACA0012. This work is divided into two parts; the first one is a validation of the experimental study of a flow around an airfoil with a flap setup in the trailing edge with an angle of 90 degrees for heights between 0.5 to 3% of Chord. The second part focuses on the analyses of the passive control implemented method. This technique is employed by introducing a cylinder between the leading edge and the extrados of the profile in order to give energy to air passing over the surface of the airfoil by two blowing configurations. RANS simulation is used to investigate and analyze the flow turbulence. A good agreement is noted between the predicted and the experimental results. The results show that passive blowing importantly reduces the effects of the flap on the drag coefficient. Furthermore, the pressure distribution, the wake velocity profile, and the trailing edge flow structure of the profile are illustrated, helping to comprehend the mechanisms blowing with GFs to enhance the aerodynamic performance of the NACA 0012 profile.