Effect of Gurney flap on the aerodynamic behavior of an airfoil in mutational ground effect

Abstract

In this research, the effect of Gurney flap on the aerodynamic behavior of an airfoil in mutational ground effect is investigated. To perform this, lift and drag coefficients of NACA 4412 airfoil section in the presence and absence of Gurney flap in mutational ground effect are evaluated and compared. To provide a better illustration of the effect of Gurney flap on the aerodynamic behavior of the airfoil section in the mutational ground effect, results are obtained during the takeoff and landing processes. Validation of the used numerical model is also performed by comparison of the obtained results with those of other works and reasonable agreements were seen. Results show that inclusion of Gurney flap to the airfoil leads to higher variations of lift and drag coefficients during takeoff and landing process. During the takeoff process, the flapped airfoil results in a higher lift decrement and drag increment although an increase in distance of airfoil from the ground or angle of attack causes the lift decrement of the flapped airfoil to get close to that of clean airfoil. It is shown that during takeoff process, downwash is generated around the airfoil as the airfoil leaves the step and as the airfoil gets away from the step, the generated downwash decreases. During the landing process, at each distance of airfoil form the ground and angle of attack, the lift decrement and drag increment of the flapped airfoil are significant compared to that of the clean airfoil. Results exhibit that during landing process, upwash is generated around the airfoil as the airfoil reaches the step and further airfoil move on the step leads to the decrease in the upwash. The decrement in lift coefficient and also the increment in drag coefficient during landing process are more remarkable than those in takeoff process.