Effects of Extent of Smooth Camber-Morphed Flap on Aerodynamics of NACA 64<sub>1</sub>-612 Airfoil

This computational study investigates lift augmentation in subsonic flow at a Reynolds number of 1×106 for a low-drag NACA 641-612 airfoil with discrete (hinged flap) and continuous trailing-edge morphing. In this work, we focus on the effects of changing the starting (root) location of the smooth camber-morphing flap on the aerodynamics of the airfoil. Specifically, three different starting locations are investigated: 60%, 70%, and 80% of the chord length. Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations are performed with Menter’s Shear Stress Transport (SST) k-ω turbulence model coupled with the γ-transition model. Simulation results indicate enhanced aerodynamic efficiency when employing a smooth cambermorphed flap, positioned at 80% chord, relative to a hinged flap for deflections of 5° and 10°. Among all airfoil configurations, the smooth camber-morphed airfoil exhibits reduced flow separation compared to the hinged flap configuration, as evident for both deflection angles.