Passive flow separation control over NACA 63018

Study of the effect of vortex generators

Milad Rakhsha, Raymond Laoulache
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Introduction

Validation of the CFD model

Results

Flow field control around different objects which results in reduction of

drag coefficient and/or augmentation of lift coefficient is of great technological importance. By reducing the drag coefficient billions of dollars in
fuel costs for land, air and sea vehicles, will be saved [1], not to ignore the
impact on the performance of renewable energy devices.
Vortex generators introduced by Taylor [2] are known as passive devices to control the flow. These devices consist of triangular-shaped or
rectangular-shaped obstacles on the suction side of the airfoil and could
be permanently mounted on the surface or be stowed within the the airfoil
when not needed [3]. Vortex generators transfer the low-energy flow from
the surface into the mainstream and bring the flow with high energy from
the mainstream into the boundary layer. Therefore, they delay the stall
and increase the lift coefficient at higher angles of attack.

When compared to experimental data, results for a bare airfoil show good
agreement in the lift coefficient before the stall region while the data in the
stall and post stall regions are slightly overpredicted. The drag coefficient
is overestimated in low angles of attack since wall functions were used to
model the viscous sublayer.

Comparison of the bare airfoil with the airfoils that have a single vortex
generator on the suction side and double vortex generators on the suction and pressure sides shows that applying specific geometry of the VGs
on airfoils improves the performance of the airfoil in the stall region by
increasing the maximum lift as a result of decreasing the form drag.

Objective
CFD analysis of the effect of Vortex Generators (VG) on a NACA63-018 is
the objective of the present research. The effect of the geometry of the
VG is investigated and the best geometrical configuration (in terms of the
distance of the VG from the leading edge, height and length of the VG) is
found for high and low Re Numbers. These configuratins should be able
to increase the Cl/Cd ratio in the stall and post-stall regions.

CFD methods
The numerical simulation of the flow is carried out using OpenFOAM. The
structured parametric computational domain is created using "blockMesh"
dictionary along with C++ language and m4 GNU preprocessor. The
computational domain is comprised of multi-blocks that form an inner Cgrid and outer O-grid mesh. The "snappyHexeMesh" is used to refine the
mesh in the vicinity of the VG.
The k SST turbulent model is used with wall functions to model the
flow close to the airfoil (y+ 100). The steady-state "simpleFoam" solver
is used to model the problem for angle of attacks ranging from 0 to 18.

Cl

Cd

Experimental result [4]

CFD prediction of the present study

1.60

Experimental result [4]

CFD prediction of the present study

0.14

1.40

0.12

1.20

0.10

1.00
0.08

0.80

0.06

0.60
0.40

0.04

0.20

0.02

10

12

14

16

18

20

Cl
0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.2

1.4

1.6

Fig. 2: Validation of the CFD model with experimental data for 2D airfoil[4]
Fig. 5: Comparison of the lift and the drag coefficient of the bare airfoil and the airfoils VGs.
Left) Re = 3 106. Right) Re = 5 105.

Vortex Generators
When VGs are applied on the suction side of the airfoil, as seen below,
vortices are generated downstream and suppress the separation. This
benefits airfoil sections that exist on Vertical Axis Turbines (VAT) which
operate predominantly in the stall region.

It can be seen from the above figures that the presence of the VGs increases
the drag penalty in low angles of attack. The net effect of this unavoidable
drag penalty is reduced if VGs are used in proper applications such as in
VAT blades that operate mostly under high angles of attack conditionss.
Moreover, the presence of VGs for > 18 at Re = 5 105 is benign to
a great extent. This is because the flow separates after the leading edge
prior to encountering the VGs.

Conclusion

Fig. 3: Velocity Contours (m/s) at different sections of the wing

In this research 3D simulations are carried out using OpenFOAM, an open

source CFD package, in order to explore how VGs can be implemented on a
NACA-63018 airfoil to improve its performance. Results obtained for high
and low Reynolds numbers indicate that VGs enhance the performance of
the airfoil in high angles of attack.

References

Fig. 1: Computational grid domain

Fig. 4: Vortex Generators suppressing separation on the suction side of an airfoil.

(Left) The bare airfoil. (Right) The passive airfoil

[1] M. Gad-el Hak, Flow control, Applied mechanics reviews 42 (10) (1989) 261-293.
[2] H. Taylor, The elimination of diffuser separation by vortex generators, United Aircraft
Corporation Connecticut, Research Department Report No R-4012-3.
[3] J. C. Lin, Review of research on low-profile vortex generators to control boundary-layer
separation, Progress in Aerospace Sciences 38 (4) (2002) 289-420.
[4] I. H. Abbott, A. E. Von Doenhoff, Theory of wing sections: including a summary of airfoil
data, Courier Dover Publications, 2012.