PASSIVE FLOW CONTROL OVER NACA0012 AEROFOIL USING VORTEX GENERATORS

摘要

Numerical simulations of turbulent flow over a NACA0012 aerofoil attached with vortex generators (VG) are carried out over a wide range of angles of attack at Re=5.5×10~5 The three-dimensional Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations along with closure equations of Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model are solved using commercial package FLUENT. The addition of VG results in increased lift-coefficient and reduced drag-coefficient at large incident angles. The influence of VG on the fluid flow and aerodynamic forces acting on the aerofoil are reported in this paper, with the emphasis on how the addition of the small vanes helps to delay the onset of stall. Comparison of streamline patterns, pressure coefficient and contour plots of field variables between the clean aerofoil and VG fitted aerofoil help us to understand how the vortex generator energises the boundary layer flow and hence delay the stall.