Numerical Analysis of the Effect of Vortex Generator on the Aerodynamic Performance of NACA 6412 Airfoils Using Large Eddy Simulation

Dedet Hermawan Setiabudi, Joan Bayuaji Nugroho, Eli Kumolosari, Lazuardy Rahendra Pinandhita, Okto Dinaryanto

Abstract


Aerodynamic performance of an airfoil is significantly affected by flow separation, especially at high angles of attack. One common strategy to control flow separation is adding a triangular vortex generator (VG), which creates small vortices that help keep the airflow attached. The present study investigated the impact of triangular vortex generators on a NACA 6412 airfoil using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method. Large Eddy Simulation (LES) was applied due to its ability to show the vortices more clearly than other methods. It can also accurately capture the flow separation. To obtain the lift, drag, and lift-to-drag ratio (CL/CD) data, four angles of attack (0°, 5°, 10°, and 15°) and four velocities (10, 15, 20, and 25 m/s) were examined. The results indicate that at low AoA, VG increases drag and decreases aerodynamic efficiency. VG, on the other hand, makes flow attachment better, delays separation, and narrows the wake region at medium to high angles of attack. The most improvement in CL/CD, up to 83%, occurred at AoA of 15°. These results show that adding triangular VG can improve aerodynamic efficiency in critical situations close to stall and lay the groundwork for creating more advanced flow-control systems in more complicated aerodynamic situations.

Keywords


Aerodynamic performance, CFD, large Eddy simulation, vortex generator.

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17977/um016v9i2p479

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