CFD Analysis of Blunt Trailing Edge Airfoils




 
 
14







 



 


 

 

tcnica

Juan P. Murciaa, lvaro Pinillab

PALABRAS CLAVES

KEY WORDS


  
    



$  
 
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aerodinmica, diseo de turbinas elicas.

design.

RESUMEN

ABSTRACT

 

  
 

5   
  
 6
 6+

generar bordes de salida con espesor ha probado que

shown that a compromise between aerodynamic

es posible obtener buen rendimiento aerodinmico

 
      6+
"

sin comprometer los requerimientos estructurales.

7/ 
 6
  

8 6  

Dos diferentes mtodos son analizados: el mtodo de

off method and the added thickness method. Two-

recorte y el mtodo de adicin 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 nmero de Reynolds de 3.2 millones. Se

Method experiment is conducted for the study of

presenta un estudio basado en los mtodos de Taguchi

the four-digit NACA airfoil family with the proposed

  
  
  
 


 6
" 


'  6 

 !

 
" $ 

;;<= 

/6 +  
 6>





  

  

values was completed. The results obtained show that

4421 para distintos espesores de borde de salida es

6   6 %    6

'

presentado. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que el

 
6
     

 
  %
  


 
 6
 

 /6   +

  
 &  '
 
 

6  6    6

6  

 *  
  !

 


curve displacement to higher angles of attack is caused

mientras que se prob que en el mtodo de recorte

by the loss of camber. Finally, it was proved that the

 
 
 
   +
 

added thickness method produces larger maximum lift

de sustentacin debida a las alteraciones geomtricas

 
    > 6 6

causadas. En general, el mtodo de adicin de

cutting off method.

 
   '   
  %
   '    
crtico de ataque.

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

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

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

INTRODUCTION

 




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technologies in the energy sector and it is expected to


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and/or economical limits to wind turbine size have


 


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have shown that there seems to be no point where the

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This occurs despite the square-cube law that states

that the output power is proportional to the square of


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cost) is proportional to the cube of the rotor diame)




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restrictions it is a common practice to use thick air!

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requirements at these blade positions are obtaining

higher maximum lift coefficients at higher angles of
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tend to have a rather low aerodynamic performan)

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airfoil geometry in order to fulfill the aerodynamic

requirements along with obtaining a larger sectional

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Several research studies have shown that blunt trailing edge (flatback) airfoils have a larger moment of


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rodynamic performance as good as the one shown by


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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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blem is that the modified airfoil has a larger airfoil

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These two parameters play a key role in the aerody

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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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airfoils with cut trailing edge under Mach numbers

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 cation method consists of symmetrically adding thickness


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This paper presents a computational analysis of the cu


 
 
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presented to show the main effect on aerodynamic performance of the different trailing edge thicknesses under
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der to perform a detailed comparison between the modi
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# 33 revista de ingeniera

tcnica

15

16

METHODS

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A two-dimensional solution was obtained by modeling the airfoil using two symmetry boundary condi


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In the following section the parameters of the mesh





 
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COMPUTATIONAL MODEL

A two-dimensional grid was developed by creating a



 
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over the airfoil surface consists of a relative curvature


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shear stress transport (SST) model developed by


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dictions of separated flows from a smooth surface

 

 

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ved performance compared to the other two-equa
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VALIDATION CASES

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agreement between the experimental and computa

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Computational lift and drag coefficient curves tend




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lity of the lift curve near the critical angle of attack
(lift-curve peak form) is known to be the function of
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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 ;;<= /6  7
Edge Thickness of 0.12 (2) Using Adding Thickness Method
Figure 2. Validation Cases Results

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MODIFICATION METHODS

Two different airfoil modification methods were

considered: the cutting off method and the added
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method consists of removing a segment from the

rear portion of the baseline airfoil and then re-scaling

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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


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Another problem is that the chord line orientation


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and the change in the angle of attack definition reduce the lift coefficient over the entire range of angles
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The second method consists in symmetrically adding

thickness along the baseline airfoil starting from a

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ses that will be introduced if a series of experimental probes are manufactured with a removable trailing
 )

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Figure 3. Cutting off Method

growing exponential function that has a zero value at

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8

 
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tant geometric aspects of the airfoil such as airfoil
1+

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TAGUCHI METHOD

A signal to noise ratio experiment as described by Ta

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This family was selected because its airfoils can be pa,



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airfoils were studied (L"L

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camber (   7+



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airfoil thickness () .97
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The noise levels are obtained by modifying the Reynolds number of the simulation group around the typi
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Naca 2212 R 00

 ;[<; \]^"_` ^^

Naca 4415 R 05

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

Naca 6621 R 10

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

Naca 7724 R 15

 [;=< \]^"_` =|

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

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

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

 [<<; \]^"|` ^|

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

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

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

 <[=| \]^"|` =|

\  ^"| \  ^"; \ ^"_

Figure 4. Added Thickness Methods

Table 1. Airfoils Studied

9
8
 
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# 33 revista de ingeniera

tcnica

17

18


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lift-drag ratio (L/D) and quarter chord moment

coefficient (Cm) are calculated for each even angle of
1
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The output parameters derived are: angle of zero lift

.|}>lo7+
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.>l max7+


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1
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!!

(Cd min7+
@
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.*4Rmax7+


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This experiment allows us to recognize the way the

effects of main geometric parameters interact with
the modification parameters by analyzing the mean

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Although this does not permit us to derive equations




+






)

A complete detailed analysis of a single airfoil is required in order to quantify the effect of the modification and to fully understand its effects on aerody
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2
 


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following output variables are studied: The lift curve

slope (m = dCl4 |7+

!
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@mum lift coefficient (Cl max7+


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@
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nimum drag coefficient (Cd min7+

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moment coefficient at zero lift (Cmo7)

RESULTS

In this section the results from both studies are pre )

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sults are shown in terms of the mean of the output



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FOUR-DIGIT NACA AIRFOIL FAMILY RESULTS
(FIGURES 5, 6)

NACA 4421 STUDY



 
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airfoil was modified using the cutting off (R) and

 
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The airfoil modification effect on stall region is



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higher maximum lift coefficient than the cutting off

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1ness increases the maximum lift coefficient and the


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# 33 revista de ingeniera

tcnica

19

$ " [  ?

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min

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1
 


|}>lo for the cutting of
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>d for all the modification
 
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hence producing a higher Cl

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*4Rmax reduction and a gli 

.|}*4Rmax) increase as the trailing edge
1
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NACA 4421 RESULTS (FIGURE 7-10)

The trailing edge thickness effect on the Cl curve for

each method of modification is depicted in Figure
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the added thickness methods increase the lift slope




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The trailing edge thickness increases and delays the

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The trailing edge thickness effect on the lift to drag

ratio appears to be independent from the airfoil mo !
 )
8

 
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creases the L/Dmax and increases the gliding angle of

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> d augmentation is larger for added thickness methods as


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airfoil has a flow separation in the upper surface at

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8
ting off method reduces the maximum suction Cp
as the trailing edge thickness increases and produces
Cp distributions such that the overall adverse pres
 



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added thickness method maintains the Cp distribution



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 )
8

 

the overall adverse pressure gradient on the upper

surface and it alters the distribution near the trailing
 
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added thickness methods increase the maximum suction Cp

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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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DISCUSSION

For all the airfoil modification methods studied the

trailing edge thickness produces a larger maximum
!
!!




!
1+



increase in the drag coefficient and a decrease in the

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)
2


 


!
1+


!
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+




a reduction in the adverse pressure gradient in the up

!


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 )
The cutting off method produces modified airfoils



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8


changes cause the following effects:

R


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.,
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attack increase) is mainly caused by the chord line





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8
 
1


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!





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)

@
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!



!
1

increases are the result of an overlap effect between

opposite effects: trailing edge thickness increases
+

!
1





)
8

!!



# 33 revista de ingeniera

tcnica

21

$  "    ?6

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76> ?6
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appear as the trailing edge thickness has an overall

opposite effect to mean camber and airfoil thick


 
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The added thickness method produces airfoils that


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tion and chord line orientation; consequently the
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allows separating the effect of the modification pa



 
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8
!llowing effects are recognized:

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for modified airfoils with a trailing edge thickness of

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22

$  ==" H  7 H

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$  =<" H  7 H

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The lift coefficient curve is larger for the added

thickness method over the entire angle of attack
X

+



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The drag coefficient increase is smaller for the

cutting off method than for the added thickness
 )
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base drag caused by the pressure distribution in the


 
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crepancy in the drag increase between the methods
is caused by the smaller surface drag produced by




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The zero lift moment coefficient does not vary for


 
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CONCLUSIONS

Two different blunt trailing edge airfoil modifica

 



 )
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cutting off method was typically considered in the

)
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 namic performance of the cutting off method have
been reported since this method leads to a change in
+
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)
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added thickness method has been formerly pointed

out as a method that allows the full differentiation
between the effects of airfoil geometric parameters

 !
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The added thickness method proved to have better

lift enhancement than the cutting off method because it does not reduce the mean camber and does not


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A computational statistical study of the four-digit

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The statistical analysis is a proper method of recog,

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posite effects in the aerodynamic performance of


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The improvement in the lift coefficient of blunt trai

 
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maximum lift coefficient and a larger stall angle of

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edge thickness airfoil obtained using the added thick

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These improvements in the overall behavior near

the stall point have implications on the wind turbine
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root section of the blade may conduct to improve




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they will replace non-efficient thick airfoils and will





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 +






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thick trailing edge airfoils in wind turbine blade designs will produce wind turbines with stall control abili+





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ratio curves without the undesired loss in power; a

 
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Drag increase and acoustic emissions could be considered as a drawback of blunt trailing edge modifica)
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drag in flatback airfoils using different trailing edge

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for example a splitter plate on the trailing edge can

 
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As more information and data on this topic have





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!re efforts should focus on obtaining a complete range
of experimental data that will confirm the results of


 
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search should focus on the modification of commer


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REFERENCES

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.#&&67+
PV2R
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#&#&Q)

3
))4! 4 4

44V?"#4!"#<#&&6) !

'#(
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)
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8

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8
,Q+
Sun
& Wind Energy+
)
"+
#&&I+
)
";L<";=)
'9(
G)
H)

GN

V))
8)
PG


> 
!
81
G
K 
!Q+
Journal of
solar energy engineering)
)
"#6+
)
;+
#&&9+
)
;LI<;OI)
';(
J))


G)?)
!)
>
8
#&O;3
Aerodyna"#$$%' ()"*$+
,%
,+
.$%$
(/ 0 $"1'#+

2$ 
%" 0$ ".$3 $ +
.)%#%%$
(
Section)
*

*+
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"=6&)
'6(
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V))
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>
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6&U&=3
Lift and
4 "#$$/* 4)"*$
0 $3$cent Thick Airfoil Sections of Varying Trailing Edge Thickness+



*+
>+
"=6&)
'L(
)?)
J

)J)
K)
Fluid-Dynamic Lift)
J

?
R+
"=I6)
'O(
)
GN+
))
81

)
K1)
@perimental and Theoretical Study of Wings with Blunt
8
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Journal of Aircraft+
)
#9+
)
;+
"=IL+
)

9;=96#)
'I(
)
H)
*

)
+
1)
)%/%#556778
.(9:( 
.$)%#%;%$
(
$
Wind Turbine Applications)
 +
"=IO)

# 33 revista de ingeniera

tcnica

23

24

'=(
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8)
New Section Shapes for Wind Turbines: a Literature Study)
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8

!%%
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=#<&&#;+
"==#)

'"L(
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> 

)
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Taguchis Quality Engineering Handbook)
J1+
)U3
U
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+
#&&6)
'"O(
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P8<\
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8

 
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AIAA Journal+
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)
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)
"6=I"L&6)
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K +
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J

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Turbulence

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AIAA Journal+
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Modeling Validation Testing and Development+

 
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=.#$$
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ASME Journal of Solar

test in the Variable-Density Wind Tunnel)

*


Energy Engineering+
)
"#6+
)
;+

#&&9+
)

*+
>+
"=99)

;O=;IO)

'#&(
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Aerodynamics of blunt trailing edge modified airfoils)

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Recibido 31 de agosto de 2009, aprobado 7 de marzo de 2011.