CFD Analysis of Blunt Trailing Edge Airfoils




 
 
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técnica
 


 

 
Juan P. Murciaa, Álvaro Pinillab

PALABRAS CLAVES KEY WORDS


  
    

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aerodinámica, diseño de turbinas eólicas. design.

RESUMEN ABSTRACT
 

  
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 6
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generar bordes de salida con espesor ha probado que shown that a compromise between aerodynamic
es posible obtener buen rendimiento aerodinámico  
      6+
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sin comprometer los requerimientos estructurales. 7/ 
 6
  

8 6  
Dos diferentes métodos son analizados: el método de off method and the added thickness method. Two-
recorte y el método de adición de espesor. Simulaciones dimensional simulations were obtained in Ansys CFX®
bidimensionales fueron realizadas usando Ansys CFX® for a typical Reynolds number of 3.2 million. A Taguchi
para valores del número de Reynolds de 3.2 millones. Se Method experiment is conducted for the study of
presenta un estudio basado en los métodos de Taguchi the four-digit NACA airfoil family with the proposed

  
  
  
  
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   values was completed. The results obtained show that
4421 para distintos espesores de borde de salida es 6   6 %    6
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presentado. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que el  
6
     
 
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 curve displacement to higher angles of attack is caused
mientras que se probó que en el método de recorte by the loss of camber. Finally, it was proved that the
 
 
 
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  added thickness method produces larger maximum lift
de sustentación debida a las alteraciones geométricas  
    > 6 6
causadas. En general, el método de adición de cutting off method.
 
   '   
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crítico de ataque.

a M. Sc in Mechanical Engineering, Graduate student, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU). juanpablomurcia@gmail.com

b Ph.D. Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, Universidad de los Andes. Bogotá D.C., Colombia. apinilla@uniandes.edu.co

#33 revista de ingeniería. Universidad de los Andes. Bogotá D.C., Colombia. rev.ing. ISSN. 0121-4993. Enero - junio de 2011, pp. 14-24.
 técnica

# 33 revista de ingeniería
INTRODUCTION 1






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it difficult to distinguish their effects on the trailing
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perimental research of the effects of truncating a
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cation method consists of symmetrically adding thickness
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airfoil geometry in order to fulfill the aerodynamic 


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This paper presents a computational analysis of the cu-
Several research studies have shown that blunt trai- 


 
 
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ling edge (flatback) airfoils have a larger moment of 



 


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of airfoil modification to obtain blunt trailing edge 



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method consists in cutting off a segment from the  

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- der to perform a detailed comparison between the modi-
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ved performance compared to the other two-equa-
In the following section the parameters of the mesh

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VALIDATION CASES

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agreement between the experimental and computa-



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over the airfoil surface consists of a relative curvature


 
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lity of the lift curve near the critical angle of attack


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(lift-curve peak form) is known to be the function of

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the leading edge radius as discussed in the reference


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NACA 0015 - NACA 2212

(Re = 3.2 M, Ma = 0.1)

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Edge Thickness of 0.12 (2) Using Adding Thickness Method

Figure 2. Validation Cases Results

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 técnica

# 33 revista de ingeniería
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growing exponential function that has a zero value at 17
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MODIFICATION METHODS
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Two different airfoil modification methods were tant geometric aspects of the airfoil such as airfoil
considered: the cutting off method and the added 1+

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method consists of removing a segment from the
rear portion of the baseline airfoil and then re-scaling TAGUCHI METHOD


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A signal to noise ratio experiment as described by Ta-
airfoil cut off is interpolated in order to obtain the 
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the problem with this method is that the shape of the This family was selected because its airfoils can be pa-

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airfoils were studied (L"L
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ses that will be introduced if a series of experimen- The noise levels are obtained by modifying the Rey-
tal probes are manufactured with a removable trailing nolds number of the simulation group around the typi-
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Naca 2212 R 00  ;[<; \]^"_` ^^

Naca 4415 R 05  <{<= \]^"_` ^|

Naca 6621 R 10  {<=| \]^"_` =^

Figure 3. Cutting off Method Naca 7724 R 15  [;=< \]^"_` =|

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 <;<; \]^";` =^  ;{=< \]^"|` =^

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Figure 4. Added Thickness Methods Table 1. Airfoils Studied

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following output variables are studied: The lift curve

lift-drag ratio (L/D) and quarter chord moment
slope (m = dCl4 |7+

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coefficient (Cm) are calculated for each even angle of
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RESULTS

This experiment allows us to recognize the way the In this section the results from both studies are pre-
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FOUR-DIGIT NACA AIRFOIL FAMILY RESULTS

(FIGURES 5, 6)
NACA 4421 STUDY



 
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NACA 4421 RESULTS (FIGURE 7-10)

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The trailing edge thickness effect on the Cl curve for airfoil has a flow separation in the upper surface at
each method of modification is depicted in Figure &)O#






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ting off method reduces the maximum suction Cp
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the overall adverse pressure gradient on the upper
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Figure 7. Trailing Edge Thickness Effect on Lift Curve Linear Region

Figure 8. Trailing Edge Thickness Effect on Stall



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changes cause the following effects:

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increase in the drag coefficient and a decrease in the 

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increases are the result of an overlap effect between

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opposite effects: trailing edge thickness increases
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The cutting off method produces modified airfoils

 técnica

# 33 revista de ingeniería
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appear as the trailing edge thickness has an overall 


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llowing effects are recognized:

for modified airfoils with a trailing edge thickness of
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The lift coefficient curve is larger for the added CONCLUSIONS

thickness method over the entire angle of attack Two different blunt trailing edge airfoil modifica-
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cutting off method than for the added thickness namic performance of the cutting off method have
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been reported since this method leads to a change in
base drag caused by the pressure distribution in the +
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crepancy in the drag increase between the methods out as a method that allows the full differentiation
is caused by the smaller surface drag produced by between the effects of airfoil geometric parameters




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The zero lift moment coefficient does not vary for

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lift enhancement than the cutting off method becau-


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se it does not reduce the mean camber and does not


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 técnica

# 33 revista de ingeniería
A computational statistical study of the four-digit As more information and data on this topic have 23
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re efforts should focus on obtaining a complete range
The statistical analysis is a proper method of recog- of experimental data that will confirm the results of
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REFERENCES


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edge thickness airfoil obtained using the added thick- 3

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These improvements in the overall behavior near > 

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the stall point have implications on the wind turbine solar energy engineering)
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Drag increase and acoustic emissions could be consi-
perimental and Theoretical Study of Wings with Blunt
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Recibido 31 de agosto de 2009, aprobado 7 de marzo de 2011.