Numerical Study of the Effect of the Trailing-Edge Devices (Gurney Flap and Divergent Trailing-edge Flap) on the Aerodynamic Characteristics of an Airfoil in Transonic Flow for Drone Applications

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of mini Trailing-Edge Devices (mini TEDs) on the aerodynamic characteristics of the RAE 2822 airfoil. Using ANSYS Fluent software, numerical simulations were conducted to analyze the compressible flow around the airfoil at Mach number (Ma) 0.73, considering different angles of attack. The mini TEDs used in the simulation were a Gurney flap and a divergent trailing-edge. The results show that the integration of these mini TEDs at the trailing edge leads to a significant increase in both lift coefficient (CL) and drag coefficient (CD) but, for certain angles of attack, an improvement in the lift-to-drag ratio of the airfoil was obtained. The results showed the potential benefits of using mini TEDs to improve aerodynamic performance in aerospace drone applications.

Keywords

• drone
• transonic flow
• trailing-edge devices
• gurney flap
• divergent trailing-edge flap