Numerical investigation with experimental validation of aerodynamics performance of NACA 2414 airfoil with passive momentum injection through channeling

• Split Airfoil Design: Multi-segment airfoils enhance the momentum of the upper flow direction and introduce secondary flow to mitigate separation. • Similar Effects as Slats and Flaps: The segmented airfoil effectively behaves like flaps and slats so it can be a logical alternative. • Validation of Results — Experiment and CFD results validation, results agreed fairly good, confirming the design with lift to drag ratio of 8.35 and 8.93 at Mach 0.1. Numerical Investigation Extensions: Mach 0.25 evaluates airfoil performance in a dynamic, realistic flow • Impact of Segment Gaps: This increases the lift-to-drag ratio from 48.12 to 51.37. The aerodynamics of a segmented airfoil was investigated through two-dimensional (2D)-based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The airfoil was segmented without changing its fundamental shape, letting secondary flows from its lower surface energize the upper surface. This method was to increase momentum and thus help shed flow near the trailing edge. The results show that the segmented airfoil behaves much like flaps and slats, which complement the airfoil at low Reynolds numbers. This indicates that segmented designs could be a good alternative to traditional high-lift devices. The airfoil type used in the analysis was NACA 2414, which was either divided into a two- or three-segment configuration, with small gaps between each segment. Initially, a 100 mm chord airfoil was designed and experimentally scaled to 254 mm to gather effective information similar to that present in the field using non-dimensional parameters. The lift-to-drag ratio obtained was 8.35 at Mach 0.1 in experiment and 8.93 in numerical simulations, which validated the accuracy of computational model. Simulations were conducted at Mach 0.25 to evaluate performance under practical aerodynamic conditions. The flow was subsonic and incompressible. Different attack angles were investigated - cruise (≈5°) and near-stall (≈16°) conditions. Two-segment configurations produced results in good agreement with flow physics. Current study also investigated segment spacing effect where the maximum lift to drag ratio was found to be 51.37 instead of 48.12 for base airfoil with a 5 mm spacer between segments. It seems that the airfoil designs with segmented wings can make a difference in aerodynamic applications.