Numerical Investigation of Parietal Pressure Distribution on NACA0012 Wing Controlled by Micro-cylindrical Rod Arranged in Tandem

Abstract

The primary aim of this study is to investigate the influence of an upstream cylindrical rod on the laminar separated boundary layer that develops on a symmetrical profile wing operating at a Reynolds number of Re c = 4 . 45 × 10 5 . To get further insight onto the aerodynamic performances of this wing at low Reynolds number, numerical simulations with a transitional turbulence model are performed with the ANSYS-Fluent software. The passive flow control technique is applied by setting up a cylindrical rod of diameter d upstream of a NACA-0012 airfoil of chord lenght c . The dimensionless rod diameter with respect to the chord length is d/c = 2 / 150. Simulations are carried out over a wide range of angles of attack for both the baseline case and the controlled case by the passive proposed technique. The effects of the wing incidence on the parietal pressure distributions on the suction surface of the wing are examined. The results show that the Laminar Separation Bubble that is formed on the upper surface is moving upstream toward the leading edge as the incidence is increased. Moreover, qualitative analysis of the transition zone revealed that presence of the wing in the rod wake exerted considerable effect on the pressure coefficient. Particularly, this passive turbulence generator contributes to eliminate the boundary layer separation by forcing the shear layer to stick to the wing surface over a significant extent, resulting in a mean drag drop-ping of 73% at 12 ◦ incidence, and a lift enhancement of about 23% at an angle of attack of 15 ◦ .