Experimental and computational study on a morphed trailing edge airfoil for enhanced lift and stall characteristics

The current study presents a morphed trailing edge methodology applied to a Clark-Y airfoil in order to improve the effective stall angle of the specific airfoil under definite conditions. A morph of 2° was provided to the trailing edge of the Clark-Y airfoil in consideration. The performance of the morphed wing was analysed by varying two parameters, the angle of attack (AOA) and the freestream flow velocity. The AOA was varied from 0° to 50°, while the flow stream velocity was 10 m/s and 12 m/s. The morphed airfoil showed a maximum increase in the lift-to-drag ratio at 15° and 10 m/s flow velocity. Although at the cost of lift force and a minor increase in drag, the stall angle of the airfoil is improved from 22° to 25°. Numerical simulations showed a maximum deviation of 12.7% with the experimental data, affirming the reliability of the simulations and the methodology.