Study on aerodynamics characteristics of the effect of leading-edge radius of FDM printed (ABSi material) supersonic aerofoil

Abstract

Currently, supersonic vehicles are studied as future civil transports. The selection and design of aerofoils plays an important step in the aircraft design process. NACA 64-008A aerofoil is chosen for the investigation which is produced using ABSi (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) by Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM). The focus of this work is to investigate numerically the aerodynamic characteristics of supersonic aerofoil, NACA 64-008A, for the effect of varying the leading-edge radii along with variations in angle of attacks. The simulation is carried out using commercial CFD code ANSYS Fluent. The closure for the Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes equations is achieved by using the k-ω SST turbulence model. The coefficients of lift and drag for three distinct leading-edge radii, namely 4.8 mm, 5 mm, and 5.2 mm at Mach 2.25 with a varied angle of attack (-5°to 5°) are investigated. k-ω SST turbulence model is selected to deal with the flow turbulence and achieve the closure for Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes equations. The CL/CD ratio increases as the leading radius increases. The maximum value of CL/CD ratio is observed for 5.2 mm leading edge radius at an angle of attack, α = 5°. Moreover, the drag decreases with increase in lift values. It is clearly seen that increase in the leading-edge radii of the supersonic profile has a considerable effect in the increase in coefficient of lift. Thus, the variations in the leading-edge radii of the supersonic aerofoil enhances the aerodynamical characteristics.