Experimental and Numerical Analysis of the Effect of Vortex Generator Installation Angle on Flow Separation Control

Abstract

In order to explore the effect of the installation angle of vortex generator (VG) on boundary-layer flow control, the vortex characteristics of plate VG and their effect on the aerodynamic characteristics of an airfoil was studied numerically and using wind tunnel experiments. The effects of five VG installation angles (β) of 10°, 15°, 20°, 25°, and 30° on the characteristics of vortices were studied. The results show that the strength of vortices on the leeward side of VG increases with an increased installation angle until, eventually, the vortex core breaks down. During the downstream development of the VG leading-edge separation vortices, these vortices deviate in the radial direction. The larger the installation angle, the larger this deviation distance in the radial direction becomes. The effects of installation angle on the aerodynamic performance of airfoils were studied in a wind tunnel using the same five VG installation angles. The results show that VG can delay flow separation on the airfoil suction surface, thereby increasing lift and reducing drag. The stall angle of the airfoil with VG was increased by 10°. When the installation angle of the VG was 20°, the maximum lift coefficient of airfoil increased by 48.77%. For an airfoil angle of attack (AoA) of 18°, the drag of the airfoil decreased by 88%, and the lift-drag ratio increased by 1146.04%. Considering the best overall distribution of lift-drag ratio, the positive effect of the VG was found to be when β = 20° and the worst VG effectiveness was observed at β = 30°.

Improving the Aerodynamic Performance of WIG Aircraft with a Micro-Vortex Generator (MVG) in Low-Speed Condition

“…For MVG, important parameters we considered were the angle and height of the vortex generator (VG). These were consistent with the findings of previous studies [32,33]. Concerning the effect of MVG on drag coefficient and on the fuselage of WIG, the effects of the angle and height of VGs were tested for different configurations.…”

Quantitative Analysis of Drag Reduction Methods for Blunt Shaped Automobiles

“…In their other [81] work, they studied the height and boundary layer ratio for wind turbines. The requirements and goals were different, but they concluded that the drag was reduced by the most (84.9-83.2%) when the height of the VG height was between the 66-100% of the total height of the boundary layer, while the installation angle did not affect the C D [82]. Rectangular, triangular, and symmetrical NACA0012 shaped VG were examined on a flat plat in the work of Gutierrez-Amo et al [83].…”

Investigation of the aerodynamic effects of bio-inspired modifications on airfoil at low Reynolds number

“…Nowadays, passive control techniques have garnered preference over their active counterparts due to their inherent energy efficiency [4]. A selection of these controllers can be organized such as vortex generators [5][6][7][8], employing roughness material [9,10], using flexibility [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20], utilizing the dimple [21], riblet [22,23], considering the bio-inspired tubercles [24][25][26][27][28][29] and performing bio-inspired applications [30][31][32].…”