AERODYNAMIC INVESTIGATION ON THE EFFECT OF

LEADING-EDGE MODIFICATIONS ON AN AEROFOIL AT

LOW RE.

a project report submitted by

JOEL K REJI (URK18AE011)

in partial fulfilment for the award of the degree
of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
in

AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
under the supervision of

DR. SAMSON RATNA KUMAR

KARUNYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES

(Deemed-to-be-university)

Karunya Nagar, Coimbatore – 641 114. INDIA

APRIL 11
 ii

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project report entitled “AERODYNAMIC

INVESTIGATION ON THE EFFECT OF LEADING-EDGE
MODIFICATIONS ON AN AEROFOIL AT LOW RE” is the
bonafide work of “JOEL K REJI” who carried out the project work
under my supervision.

SIGNATURE SIGNATURE
Dr. G. JIMS JOHN WESSLEY Dr. SAMSON RATNAKUMAR
HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT SUPERVISOR
Assistant Professor Assistant Professor
Dept. of Aerospace Engineering Dept. of Aerospace Engineering

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Submitted for the full semester Viva Voce held on _____ 11/04/2022 ________
 iii

Internal Examiner External Examiner

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I praise and thank Almighty God whose blessings have
bestowed in me the will power and confidence to carry out this project.

I am grateful to our beloved founders (Late). Dr. D.G.S. Dhinakaran, C.A.I.I.B,

Ph.D., and Dr. Paul Dhinakaran, M.B.A, Ph.D., for their love and always
remembering us in their prayers.

I extend my thanks to Dr. Jims John Wessley, M.E, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
and Head of the Department of Aerospace Engineering for his encouragement and
guidance.

I will be always indebted to my guide Dr. Samson Ratnakumar, Assistant

Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering for his consistent help to
complete this project.

I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Zozimus Labana, Assistant Professor,

for his valuable help in doing this project.

Last but not the least I thank my parents and friends for their support and
encouragement in successfully completing my project work.
 iv

ABSTRACT

A computational study is conducted to look into the flow field and aerodynamics efficacies
of leading edge modified cambered wing based on s1223 airfoil. Computational analysis on
a baseline and above mentioned modified s1223 wings at Reynolds number = 10,000;
25,000; 50,000; 1,00,000 and Angle of Attack (α) = 0°,5°,7°,12° demonstrates that the
present cambered wing achieves more significant reductions in the flow separation.

The analytical results at 10,000 Reynolds number shows that the maximum lift coefficient
achieved by the modified s1223 wing is actually lower than that of the baseline wing. But
when in the cases of 25,000 – 1,00,000 Reynolds number the lift coefficient is higher than
that of the conventional model.

In addition, visualization of airflow over both the models were captured at consecutive
timesteps in CFD-Post so as to depict the flow over the airfoils. The plots for coefficient of
pressure were obtained to better understand the flow pattern over the airfoils.
 v

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Detail of Airfoils

Table 1.1 Dimensions of the Primary Domain

Table 1.2 Dimensions of Secondary Domain

Table 2. Cl vs AoA for 2 lakhs

Table 3. Cl values for Unmodified Airfoil for RE nos for RE nos at various AoA
Table 3.1 Cl values for Modified Airfoil (A7.5) for RE nos at various AoA
Table 3.2 Cl values for Modified Airfoil (A15) for RE nos at various AoA
Table3.3 Cl value for 10,000 RE no for all the airfoil models
Table3.4 Cl value for 25,000 RE no for all the airfoil models
Table3.5 Cl value for 50,000 RE no for all the airfoil models
Table3.6 Cl value for 1,00,000 RE no for all the airfoil models
 vi

LIST OF FIGURES

Fig 1. s1223 Airfoil

Fig 1.1 Baseline airfoil s1223
Fig 1.2 Baseline airfoil s1223 orthogonal view
Fig 1.3 s1223 A7.5W25 sketch
Fig 1.4 s1223 A7.5W25
Fig 1.5 s1223 A15W25 sketch
Fig 1.6 s1223 A15W25
Fig 1.7 C-Domain

Fig 1.8(a)

Fig 1.8(b)

Fig 2. (a) cl
Fig 2. (b) cd
Fig 2. (b) cl and cd
Fig 2.1(a) cl
Fig 2.1(b) cd
Fig 2.1(c) cl and cd
Fig 2.2(a) cl
Fig 2.2(b) cl
Fig 2.3(a) cl
Fig 2.3(b) cd
Fig 2.3(c) cl and cd
Fig 3. (a) Cp_U_10k_0°

Fig 3. (b) Cl & Cd_U_10k_0°

Fig 3.1 (a) Cp_U_10k_5°
Fig 3.1 (b) Cl & Cd_U_10k_5°
Fig 3.2 (a) Cp_U_10k_7°
 vii

Fig 3.2 (b) Cl & Cd_U_10k_7

Fig 3.3 (a) Cp_U_10k_12°
Fig 3.3 (b) Cl & Cd_U_10k_12°
Fig 3.4 (a) Cp_U_25k_0°
Fig 3.4 (b) Cl & Cd_U_25k_0°
Fig 3.5 (a) Cp_U_25k_5°
Fig 3.5 (b) Cl & Cd_U_25k_5
Fig 3.6 (a) Cp_U_25k_7°
Fig 3.6 (b) Cl & Cd_U_25k_7°
Fig 3.7 (a) Cp_U_25k_12°
Fig 3.7 (b) Cl & Cd_U_25k_12°
Fig 3.8 (a) Cp_U_50k_0°
Fig 3.8 (b) Cl & Cd_U_50k_0°
Fig 3.9 (a) Cp_U_50k_5°
Fig 3.9 (b) Cl & Cd_U_50k_5°
Fig 4. (a) Cp_U_50k_7°
Fig 4. (b) Cl & Cd_U_50k_
Fig 4.1 (a) Cp_U_50k_12°
Fig 4.1 (b) Cl & Cd_U_50k_12
Fig 4.2 (a) Cp_U_1L_0°
Fig 4.2 (b) Cl & Cd_U_1L_0°
Fig 4.3 (a) Cp_U_1L_5°
Fig 4.3 (b) Cl & Cd_U_1L_5°
Fig 4.4 (a) Cp_U_1L_7°
Fig 4.4 (b) Cl & Cd_U_1L_7°
Fig 4.5 (a) Cp_U_1L_12°
Fig 4.5 (b) Cl & Cd_U_1L_12°
Fig 4.6 (a) Cp_7.5_10k_0°
Fig 4.6 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_10k_0°
Fig 4.7 (a) Cp_7.5_10k_5°
 viii

Fig 4.7 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_10k_5°

Fig 4.8 (a) Cp_7.5_10k_7°
Fig 4.8 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_10k_7°
Fig 4.9 (a) Cp_7.5_10k_12°
Fig 4.9 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_10k_12°
Fig 5 (a) Cp_7.5_25k_0°
Fig 5 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_25k_0°
Fig 5.1 (a) Cp_7.5_25k_5°
Fig 5.1 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_25k_5°
Fig 5.2 (a) Cp_7.5_25k_7°
Fig 5.2 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_25k_7°
Fig 5.3 (a) Cp_7.5_25k_12°
Fig 5.3 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_25k_12°
Fig 5.4 (a) Cp_7.5_50k_0°
Fig 5.4 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_50k_0°
Fig 5.5 (a) Cp_7.5_50k_5°
Fig 5.5 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_50k_5°
Fig 5.6 (a) Cp_7.5_50k_7°
Fig 5.6 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_50k_7°
Fig 5.7 (a) Cp_7.5_50k_12°
Fig 5.7 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_50k_12°
Fig 5.8 (a) Cp_7.5_1L_0°
Fig 5.8 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_1L_0°
Fig 5.9 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_1L_5
Fig 6 (a) Cp_7.5_1L_7°
Fig 6 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_1L_7°
Fig 6.1 (a) Cp_7.5_1L_12°
Fig 6.1 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_1L_12°
Fig 6.2 (a) Cp_15_10k_5°
Fig 6.2 (b) Cl & Cd_15_10k_5°
 ix

Fig 6.3 (a) Cp_15_10k_7°

Fig 6.3 (b) Cl & Cd_15_10k_7°
Fig 6.4 (a) Cp_15_10k_12°
Fig 6.4 (b) Cl & Cd_15_10k_12°
Fig 6.5 (a) Cp_15_25k_0°
Fig 6.5 (b) Cl & Cd_15_25k_0°
Fig 6.6 (a) Cp_15_25k_5°
Fig 6.6 (b) Cl & Cd_15_25k_0°
Fig 6.7 (a) Cp_15_25k_7°
Fig 6.7 (b) Cl & Cd_15_25k_7°
Fig 6.8 (a) Cp_15_25k_12°
Fig 6.8 (b) Cl & Cd_15_25k_12°
Fig 6.9 (a) Cp_15_50k_0°
Fig 6.9 (b) Cl & Cd_15_50k_0°
Fig 7 (a) Cp_15_50k_5°
Fig 7 (b) Cl & Cd_15_50k_5°
Fig 7.1 (a) Cp_15_50k_7°
Fig 7.1 (b) Cl & Cd_15_50k_7°
Fig 7.2 (a) Cp_15_50k_12°
Fig 7.2 (b) Cl & Cd_15_50k_12°
Fig 7.3 (a) Cp_15_55k_0°
Fig 7.3 (b) Cl & Cd_15_55k_0°
Fig 7.4 (a) Cp_15_55k_5°
Fig 7.4 (b) Cl & Cd_15_55k_5°
Fig 7.5 (a) Cp_15_55k_7°
Fig 7.5 (b) Cl & Cd_15_55k_7°
Fig 7.6 (a) Cp_15_55k_12°
Fig 7.6 (b) Cl & Cd_15_55k_12°
Fig 7.7 (a) Cp_15_1L_0°
Fig 7.7 (b) Cl & Cd_15_1L_0°
 x

Fig 7.8 (a) Cp_15_1L_5°

Fig 7.8 (b) Cl & Cd_15_1L_5°
Fig 7.9 (a) Cp_15_1L_7°
Fig 7.9 (b) Cl & Cd_15_1L_7°
Fig 8 (a) Cp_15_1L_12°
Fig 8 (b) Cl & Cd_15_1L_12°
Fig 9. CFD-Post flow visualization for Unmodified Airfoil
Fig 9.1 CFD-Post flow visualization for Modified Airfoil (A7.5)
Fig 9.3 CFD-Post flow visualization for Modified Airfoil (A15)
 xi

LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVATIONS

AoA – Angle of Attack

A7.5 – Amplitude 7.5mm

A15 – Amplitude 15mm

Cd – Coefficient of Drag

Cl – Coefficient of Lift

Cp – Coefficient of Pressure

CFD – Computational Fluid Dynamics

RE no – Reynolds number

10k/25k/50k/1L – Reynolds number

10k_7.5/25k_7.5/50k_7.5/1L_7.5 - Reynolds numbers for Leading Edge
7.5mm amplitude modified Airfoil

10k_15/25k_15/50k_15/1L_15 - Reynolds numbers for Leading Edge

15mm amplitude modified Airfoil

0°/5°/7°/12° - Angle of Attacks

_U_ - Unmodified Airfoil
_7.5_ -Leading Edge Modified Airfoil for 7.5 Amplitude
_15_ -Leading Edge Modified Airfoil for 15 Amplitude
 CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT......................................................................................................iii
ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................................iv
LIST OF TABLES...................................................................................................................v
LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................................vi
LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVATIONS.....................................................................x
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................1
AIM OF THE PROJECT:......................................................................................................1
OBJECTIVES:.......................................................................................................................1
MOTIVE FOR THE PROJECT:............................................................................................1
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE SURVEY...............................................................................2
1. ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LEADING-EDGE MODIFICATIONS UPON
CAMBERED SD7032 WINGS.............................................................................................2
2. THE FORMATION MECHANISM AND IMPACT OF STREAMWISE VORTICES
ON NACA 0021 AIRFOIL’S PERFORMANCE WITH UNDULATING LEADING-
EDGE MODIFICATION.......................................................................................................3
3. HIGH-LIFT LOW REYNOLDS NUMBER AIRFOIL DESIGN..................................3
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY..........................................................................................4
MODELLING OF AIRFOIL USING SOLIDWORKS AND SIMULATION WITH
ANSYS FLUENT..................................................................................................................4
SOLIDWORKS MODELLING.........................................................................................4
DESIGN GEOMETRY......................................................................................................7
CHAPTER 4: VALIDATION FOR 2 LAKH REYNOLDS NUMBER WITH
COMPUTATIONAL DATA.................................................................................................11
CHAPTER 5: CFD ANALYSIS...........................................................................................16
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................16
Unmodified Airfoil...............................................................................................................16
Modified Airfoil with Amplitude 7.5 and Wavelength 25mm............................................23
Modified Airfoil with Amplitude 15mm and Wavelength 25mm.......................................29
CHAPTER 6: RESULTS.......................................................................................................36
COMPARITIVE STUDY....................................................................................................37
CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................41
SCOPE FOR FUTURE WORK...........................................................................................41
REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................42
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

AIM OF THE PROJECT:

Aerodynamic investigation on the effect of leading-edge modifications on

an aerofoil at low Reynolds Number.

OBJECTIVES:
1. To perform low Reynolds number (Re) simulation (10,000-1,00,000) on a
symmetric aerofoil for varying angle of attack (AoA).
2. To understand the effect of leading-edge modification on the floe field
over an aerofoil for varying Re.
3. Compare the aerodynamic characteristics of various leading-edge
geometries

MOTIVE FOR THE PROJECT:

The main motive behind this project is to apply high-lift low Reynolds number
airfoil in UAVs and MAVs, so as to reduce the noise produce by the vortices,
which would improve reconnaissance missions and also by implementing
leading edge modification stalling conditions at high angles of attack (when
compared to the baseline) can be reduced. Also with the increased lift, chances
of increasing the payload can also be considered; this in fact could also help in
shortened take-offs.
 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE SURVEY

Literature survey was carried out, in finding literature papers in accordance with
the airfoil used in this project namely the s1223 airfoil. Three papers were
chosen that provided necessary information on the airfoil and could be used as a
reference for the project.

Fig 1. s1223 Airfoil

1. ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LEADING-EDGE

MODIFICATIONS UPON CAMBERED SD7032 WINGS.
 T.H. New, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
 Wei Z .Y., Temasek Laboratories, National university of Singapore.
 Cui Y.D, Nanyang technological university, Singapore.

The research paper discusses the experiments conducted on a cambered airfoil

named SD7032 in water and wind tunnels to access and analyze the flow
separation mitigation and aerodynamic performances.
The experiment shows that there is reduction in flow separation due to the
modification, which delays the flow separation and keep boundary layer
attached to the surface, which is responsible for changes on the aerodynamics of
the wing.
Wind tunnel test reveals that the use of leading-edge modifications is able to
prevent abrupt stall for the asymmetrical SD7032 test wings and provide
gradual transition in the lift behavior even if the maximum lift coefficient
achievable is reduced.
 2. THE FORMATION MECHANISM AND IMPACT OF
STREAMWISE VORTICES ON NACA 0021 AIRFOIL’S
PERFORMANCE WITH UNDULATING LEADING-EDGE
MODIFICATION.
 N. Rostamzadeh, K.L. Hansen, R.M. Kelso, B.B. Dally, School of
Mechanical Engineering, University of Adelaide, Australia.

The research paper is about the experiments done on a symmetrical airfoil

NACA 0021; they have implemented leading edge modifications on the wing as
in a form of tubercles as it closely matches that of a humpback whale.
A variety of airfoil models are designed using different dimensions of
wavelengths and amplitude on the leading edge, and have used CFD
(computational fluid dynamics) to understand the aerodynamic aspects.
In this experiment the Analyzation of Pre-stall Aerodynamic Behavior and Post-
stall Aerodynamic Behavior at different AoAs were carried out.

3. HIGH-LIFT LOW REYNOLDS NUMBER AIRFOIL DESIGN.

 Michael S. Selig & James J. Guglielmo
 University of Illinois at Urbana, USA.

The research paper discusses the experiments conducted with the airfoil s1223
in wind tunnel to test the possibility of higher Cl max with the implementation of
vortex generators and gurney flap and is compared.
It shows that the modified airfoils demonstrate gains in Cl max over those airfoils
used previously for high-lift low Reynolds number applications (2.2 – 2.3)
It provides, plots of Cl vs various angle of attack, also for the base design of
s1223.
 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

MODELLING OF AIRFOIL USING SOLIDWORKS AND

SIMULATION WITH ANSYS FLUENT.

The modelling of the Airfoil s1223 is done in Solid Works 2022. The co-
ordinates for the airfoil are taken from airfoiltools.com and is modified for the
dimensions according to table 1.1. The three airfoil is then exported into the
Ansys workbench individually for meshing and simulation.

Airfoil Chord Length Span Design Parameters

Baseline s1223
Amplitude Wavelength
s1223 A7.5W25
7.5mm 25mm
150mm 50mm
Amplitude Wavelength
s1223 A15W25
15mm 25mm

Table 1. Details of Airfoils

SOLIDWORKS MODELLING

Fig 1.1 Baseline airfoil s1223

Fig 1.2 Baseline airfoil s1223 orthogonal view

Fig 1.3 s1223 A7.5W25 sketch

Fig 1.4 s1223 A7.5W25

 Fig 1.5 s1223 A15W25 sketch

Fig 1.6 s1223 A15W25

The modelled Airfoils will be exported to Ansys Workbench for meshing and
simulation.
DESIGN GEOMETRY

The geometry is created for CFD analysis in ANSYS Workbench 18. The
airfoils were created with the dimensions given in table 1. and can be exported
into Ansys work bench by saving the file as IGS file type, the airfoil is then
generated. And a new plane is then created having the airfoils trailing edge at its
origin, a C-shaped 3-dimensional domain is made (as per the dimensions in
table 1.1) in which airfoil is placed.

Fig 1.7 C-Domain

DISTANCE FROM THE LEADING EDGE 2250mm (15% of chord)

DISTANCE FROM THE TRAILING EDGE 6000mm (40% of chord)
Table 1.1 Dimensions of the Primary Domain

Here the airfoil acts as a wall, while the sections on the front and back, top and
bottom in Fig 1.7 were kept as symmetry 1 and symmetry 2 respectively. The C
shaped semi-circle is taken as Velocity-Inlet and the rear end of the domain is
taken as Pressure-Outlet.

A new plane is created, origin located at the trailing edge, a secondary 3-

Dimensional domain is made with the dimensions given in table 1.2 at the rear
end of the airfoil, to capture the vortices during the post-CFD process. The
domain is rectangle in shape (Fig 1.8) and as shown in Fig 1.7 it extends toward
the very end of the primary domain.

Fig 1.8(a) Fig 1.8(b)

Trailing Edge Refining Area

Length 100mm(-x) & 6000mm(+x)
Breadth 30mm(+y) & 10mm(-y)
Width 50mm (+z)
Table 1.2 Dimensions of Secondary Domain

GENERATION OF MESH FILE

For the analysis, Triangular mesh is used. Edge sizing is given to the Airfoils
and the number of divisions are given as 300. Growth rate for the mesh is 1.2
i.e., the edge size for the elements will increase by a factor of 1.2 as we move
from the blade to the edges of the domain

CFD SOLVER:
 The CFD solver used for this problem is the Ansys Fluent 18.0. The
solution was solved in 3 dimensional and double precision for better accuracy
along with parallel processes were also chosen. The number of cores were given
as 4 as per the machine info and the GPUs per machine as 2. Pressure based
flow type is chosen as the flow is at a velocity of 10m/s at max, the flow thereby
will be an incompressible flow.

Fluid Properties:

Air Density, ( ρ ) = 1.225 kg/m3 viscosity, ( μ)= 1.7894*e05

Flow model: Viscous-(k-epsilon)

Boundary conditions:

1)Inlet: Velocity Inlet

2)Outlet – Pressure Inlet

3)Airfoil – Wall

4)Top and Bottom – symmetry 1

5)Front and Back – symmetry 2

To calculate Reynolds number, we use the formula:

ρ ×V × L
Re = ----Eq (1)
μ

Where, ρ is the density, v is the velocity, L is the chord length of the airfoil, μ is
the viscosity.

From this equation we find the various velocity for each Reynolds number
(i)10,000; (ii)25,000; (iii)50,000; (iv)1,00,000 in particular.

For e.g.: - for 10,000 Reynolds number to find the velocity we substitute the
values in Eq (1) to get the velocity as
 V = 0.973823129 m/s - (1)
Now in each of the Reynolds numbers there are 4 types of Angles of Attack to
experiment namely 0°,5°,7° and 12°.

At this instance instead of keeping the airfoil at say any angle to the freestream
velocity, we change the direction of the freestream itself. It can be done by
finding the x and y components and substituting the value of velocity in it for
the given Angle of attack, the components can be calculated using Eq (2) and
Eq (3).

x=V α ×cos ( α ) Eq (2)

y=V α × sin ⁡(α ) Eq (3)

In the case of 7° AoA, the x and y components are,

Substituting (1) in Eq (2) and Eq (3)

X = 0.973823129*Cos (7) = 0.96656 m/s

Y = 0.973823129*Sin (7) = 0.11868 m/s
These values are given as input values for boundary conditions as the inlet
(velocity) in the set-up by choosing the option: Components.

Similarly for every case of Reynolds number and their respective AoAs the
velocity is calculated as such.

Number of Timestep: 200

Timestep size: 0.05

Iteration per Timestep: 5

The simulation is set to calculate after giving the appropriate inputs mentioned
above.
CHAPTER 4: VALIDATION FOR 2 LAKH REYNOLDS
NUMBER WITH COMPUTATIONAL DATA

Experimental data and computational data do not always go hand in hand;

therefore, it is necessary to make sure that the values obtained are up to the
expected approximation.
The Lift Low Reynolds Number Airfoil Design- paper authored by Michael S.
Selig and James J.Guglielmo: experiments the airfoil (s1223) in wind tunnel test
carried out by the implementation of vortex generators and gurney flaps, besides
they experiment on other models of airfoil too.
However, they have tested the baseline s1223 in wind tunnel for 2×105 Reynolds
number and have acquired the cl VS Alpha data on a plot, which will be useful
for the validation against computationally acquired data. The data in the paper
was extracted using web-plotter and plotted on excel with the coordinates as
shown in table 2.

2.5

2
Coefficient of Lift

1.5

0.5

0
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Angle of Attack

Table 2. Cl vs AoA for 2 lakhs

As discussed earlier about the calculation of velocity and the manipulation of
freestream velocity, the same technique is applied in this section. Velocities for
Reynolds number 2×105 is found and simulations are run in Ansys fluent for all
the angle of attacks 0°,5°,7°,12°.

At 0°

Fig 2. (a) cl Fig 2. (b) cd

Fig 2. (b) cl and cd

At 5°

Fig 2.1(a) cl Fig 2.1(b) cd

Fig 2.1(c) cl and cd

At 7°
 Fig 2.2(a) cl Fig 2.2(b) cl

Fig 2.2(c) cl and cd

At 12°
 Fig 2.3(a) cl
Fig 2.3(b) cd

Fig 2.3(c) cl and cd

The results from the paper and the computational data are compared by using
excel as shown in fig 2.4

3
CL vs AoA
2.5

2
Cl

1.5

1 experimental Cl
before re-
0.5 finement

0
0 3 6 9 12
AoA (α)
Fig 2.4 validation of cl VS AoA for 2 lakh Reynolds number
from fig 2.4 it is evident that the experimental and computational analysis is
validated as they approximate close to the same values.

Therefore, the computational experiments on Reynolds number ranging from

10,000 – 1,00,000 can be initiated.
 CHAPTER 5: CFD ANALYSIS

INTRODUCTION
Simulations are carried out for Reynolds numbers
1. 10,000;
2. 25,000;
3. 50,000;
4. 1,00,000
and in each of these cases 4 Angles of Attack
I. 0°
II. 5°
III. 7°
IV. 12°
For these 4 conditions, coefficient of pressure is obtained corresponding to the
modified and unmodified airfoil.

Unmodified Airfoil.
10,000 RE
At 0°

Fig 3. (a) Cp_U_10k_0° Fig 3. (b) Cl & Cd_U_10k_0°

At 5°

Fig 3.1 (a) Cp_U_10k_5° Fig 3.1 (b) Cl & Cd_U_10k_5°

7°

Fig 3.2 (a) Cp_U_10k_7° Fig 3.2 (b) Cl & Cd_U_10k_7°

12°

Fig 3.3 (a) Cp_U_10k_12° Fig 3.3 (b) Cl & Cd_U_10k_12°

FOR 25,000 RE
At 0°

Fig 3.4 (a) Cp_U_25k_0° Fig 3.4 (b) Cl & Cd_U_25k_0°

At 5°

Fig 3.5 (a) Cp_U_25k_5° Fig 3.5 (b) Cl & Cd_U_25k_5°

At 7°

Fig 3.6 (a) Cp_U_25k_7° Fig 3.6 (b) Cl & Cd_U_25k_7°

At 12°

Fig 3.7 (a) Cp_U_25k_12° Fig 3.7 (b) Cl & Cd_U_25k_12°

FOR 50,000 RE
At 0°

Fig 3.8 (a) Cp_U_50k_0° Fig 3.8 (b) Cl & Cd_U_50k_0°

At 5°

Fig 3.9 (a) Cp_U_50k_5° Fig 3.9 (b) Cl & Cd_U_50k_5°

At 7°

Fig 4. (a) Cp_U_50k_7° Fig 4. (b) Cl & Cd_U_50k_7°

At 12°

Fig 4.1 (a) Cp_U_50k_12° Fig 4.1 (b) Cl & Cd_U_50k_12°

FOR 1,00,000 RE
At 0°

Fig 4.2 (a) Cp_U_1L_0° Fig 4.2 (b) Cl & Cd_U_1L_0°

At 5°

Fig 4.3 (a) Cp_U_1L_5° Fig 4.3 (b) Cl & Cd_U_1L_5°

At 7°

Fig 4.4 (a) Cp_U_1L_7° Fig 4.4 (b) Cl & Cd_U_1L_7°

At 12°

Fig 4.5 (a) Cp_U_1L_12° Fig 4.5 (b) Cl & Cd_U_1L_12°

Modified Airfoil with Amplitude 7.5 and Wavelength 25mm
For 10,000 RE
0°

Fig 4.6 (a) Cp_7.5_10k_0° Fig 4.6 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_10k_0°

5°

Fig 4.7 (a) Cp_7.5_10k_5° Fig 4.7 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_10k_5°

7°

Fig 4.8 (a) Cp_7.5_10k_7° Fig 4.8 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_10k_7°

12°

Fig 4.9 (a) Cp_7.5_10k_12° Fig 4.9 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_10k_12°

For 25,000 RE
0°

Fig 5 (a) Cp_7.5_25k_0° Fig 5 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_25k_0°

5°
 Fig 5.1 (a) Cp_7.5_25k_5° Fig 5.1 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_25k_5°

7°

Fig 5.2 (a) Cp_7.5_25k_7° Fig 5.2 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_25k_7°

12°

Fig 5.3 (a) Cp_7.5_25k_12° Fig 5.3 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_25k_12°

For 50,000 RE
0°

Fig 5.4 (a) Cp_7.5_50k_0° Fig 5.4 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_50k_0°

5°

Fig 5.5 (a) Cp_7.5_50k_5° Fig 5.5 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_50k_5°

7°
 Fig 5.6 (a) Cp_7.5_50k_7° Fig 5.6 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_50k_7°

12°

Fig 5.7 (a) Cp_7.5_50k_12° Fig 5.7 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_50k_12°

For 1,00,000 RE
0°

Fig 5.8 (a) Cp_7.5_1L_0° Fig 5.8 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_1L_0°

5°
 Fig 5.9 (a) Cp_7.5_1L_5° Fig 5.9 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_1L_5°

7°

Fig 6 (a) Cp_7.5_1L_7° Fig 6 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_1L_7°

12°

Fig 6.1 (a) Cp_7.5_1L_12° Fig 6.1 (b) Cl & Cd_7.5_1L_12°

Modified Airfoil with Amplitude 15mm and Wavelength 25mm
For 10,000 RE
0°

Fig 6.1 (a) Cp_15_10k_0° Fig 6.1 (b) Cl & Cd_15_10k_0°

5°

Fig 6.2 (a) Cp_15_10k_5° Fig 6.2 (b) Cl & Cd_15_10k_5°

7°

Fig 6.3 (a) Cp_15_10k_7° Fig 6.3 (b) Cl & Cd_15_10k_7°

12°

Fig 6.4 (a) Cp_15_10k_12° Fig 6.4 (b) Cl & Cd_15_10k_12°

For 25,000 RE
0°

Fig 6.5 (a) Cp_15_25k_0° Fig 6.5 (b) Cl & Cd_15_25k_0°

5°

Fig 6.6 (a) Cp_15_25k_5° Fig 6.6 (b) Cl & Cd_15_25k_0°

7°

Fig 6.7 (a) Cp_15_25k_7° Fig 6.7 (b) Cl & Cd_15_25k_7°

12°

Fig 6.8 (a) Cp_15_25k_12° Fig 6.8 (b) Cl & Cd_15_25k_12°

For 50,000 RE
0°

Fig 6.9 (a) Cp_15_50k_0° Fig 6.9 (b) Cl & Cd_15_50k_0°

5°

Fig 7 (a) Cp_15_50k_5° Fig 7 (b) Cl & Cd_15_50k_5°

7°

Fig 7.1 (a) Cp_15_50k_7° Fig 7.1 (b) Cl & Cd_15_50k_7°

12°

Fig 7.2 (a) Cp_15_50k_12° Fig 7.2 (b) Cl & Cd_15_50k_12°

For 55,000 RE
0°

Fig 7.3 (a) Cp_15_55k_0° Fig 7.3 (b) Cl & Cd_15_55k_0°

5°

Fig 7.4 (a) Cp_15_55k_5° Fig 7.4 (b) Cl & Cd_15_55k_5°

7°

Fig 7.5 (a) Cp_15_55k_7° Fig 7.5 (b) Cl & Cd_15_55k_7°

12°

Fig 7.6 (a) Cp_15_55k_12° Fig 7.6 (b) Cl & Cd_15_55k_12°

For 1,00,000 RE
0°

Fig 7.7 (a) Cp_15_1L_0° Fig 7.7 (b) Cl & Cd_15_1L_0°

5°

Fig 7.8 (a) Cp_15_1L_5° Fig 7.8 (b) Cl & Cd_15_1L_5°

7°

Fig 7.9 (a) Cp_15_1L_7° Fig 7.9 (b) Cl & Cd_15_1L_7°

12°

Fig 8 (a) Cp_15_1L_12° Fig 8 (b) Cl & Cd_15_1L_12°

CHAPTER 6: RESULTS

The results were plotted in excel for each of the airfoil models as shown in
Table 3, Table 3.1 and Table 3.2

2.0

1.5
Cl value

1.0

0.5

0.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
AoA
Table 3. Cl values for Unmodified Airfoil for RE no at various AoA

2.0

1.5
Cl value

1.0

0.5

0.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
10k 25k 50k 1Lakh
AoA
Table 3.1 Cl values for modified airfoil (A7.5) for RE no at various AoA
 2.0

1.5

1.0
Cl value

0.5

0.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
10k 25k 50k 1L
AoA

Table 3.2 Cl values for modified airfoil (A15) for RE no at various AoA

COMPARITIVE STUDY
A comparative study is done on various Reynolds numbers for all the airfoils as
show in table3.3, table3.4, table3.5 and table3.6
2.0

1.5

1.0
Cl value

0.5

0.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
10K 10K_7.5 10K_15
AoA
Table3.3 Cl value for 10,000 RE no for all the airfoil models
 2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
Cl value

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
25K 25K_7.5 25K_15
AoA
Table3.4 Cl value for 25,000 RE no for all the airfoil models

2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
Cl value

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
50K 50K_7.5 50K_15
AoA
Table3.5 Cl value for 50,000 RE no for all the airfoil models
 2.0

1.5
Cl value

1.0

0.5

0.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1L_U 1L_7.5 1L_15
AoA

Table3.6 Cl value for 1,00,000 RE no for all the airfoil models

Visualization of flow over the airfoil is done for each model of airfoil in CFD-
Post, for timestep 5, 20, 100, 200 for 50,000 Reynolds Number at 12°. This
helps us to visually see the boundary separation occurring on each airfoil at the
same instance,

Fig 9. CFD-Post flow visualization for Unmodified Airfoil

in this case we see that the boundary layer separates after a certain chord length,
 Fig 9.1 CFD-Post flow visualization for Modified Airfoil (A7.5)

Here it is observed that the boundary layer separation has delayed,

Fig 9.3 CFD-Post flow visualization for Modified Airfoil (A15)

but in this case for airfoil having an amplitude 15mm we see that the flow is
completely attached to the surface of the airfoil with comparatively very less
boundary layer separation.
CONCLUSION
By the data obtained in the results, for 10,000 – 25,000 Reynolds number the
baseline and the A15 airfoil models are more preferred as they show better
results for Cl.
And for 25,000 Reynolds number and above the modified airfoils shows an
improvement in lift around 8-9% therefore it is more ideal for the application in
UAVs and MAVs which works in the range 25,000 to 1,00,000 Reynolds
number.

SCOPE FOR FUTURE WORK

The analysis was done for 12° Angle of Attack, simulations can be
made on higher AoA.
Analysis can be done on variable sweep aircraft with the leading-edge
modifications.
 REFERENCES

1. High-Lift Low Reynolds Number Airfoil Design Michael S. Selig* and

James J. Guglielmo† University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign,
Urbana, Illinois 61801
2. The formation mechanism and impact of streamwise vortices on NACA
0021 airfoil’s performance with undulating leading edge modification N.
Rostamzadeh, K. L. Hansen, R. M. Kelso, and B. B. Dally School of
Mechanical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005,
Australia
3. On the Effectiveness of Leading-Edge Modifications upon Cambered
SD7032 Wings New T. H.1,* , Wei Z. Y.1 , Cui Y. D.2
4. Improve energy production by using high efficiency smart wind turbine
blade by jiale li.
5. F. E. Fish and J. M. Battle, “Hydrodynamic design of the humpback
whale flipper,” J. Morphol. 225, 51–60 (1995).
6. B. L. Woodward, J. P. Winn, and F. E. Fish, “Morphological
specializations of baleen whales associated with hydrodynamic
performance and ecological niche,” J. Morphol. 267, 1284–1294 (2006).
7. P. Watts and P. E. Fish, “The influence of passive leading edge tubercles
on wing performance,” in Proceedings of the Twelfth International
Symposium on Unmanned Untethered Submersible Technology (UUST)
(Autonomous Undersea Systems Institute, Durham NH, 2001).
8. D. S. Miklosovic, M. M. Murray, L. E. Howle, and F. E. Fish, “Leading
edge tubercles delay stall on humpback whale flippers,” Phys. Fluids,
16(5) L39–L42 (2004).
9. K. L. Hansen, R. M. Kelso, and B. B. Dally, “Performance variations of
leading-edge tubercles for distinct airfoil profiles,” AIAA J. Aircr. 49,
185–194 (2011).
10.H. Johari, C. Henoch, D. Custodio, and A. Levshin, “Effects of leading
edge protuberances on airfoil performance,” AIAA J. 45, 2634–2642
(2007).