Computational Optimization of Flow Control over Aircraft Wing Section using Vortex Generators

This study investigates passive flow control mechanisms to delay flow separation and enhance aerodynamic performance on wing surfaces.The NACA 2412 airfoil is selected for its high lift characteristics at low angles of attack.A flow velocity of 12 m/s is maintained, aligning with the rated wind speed of the subsonic wind tunnel and relevant non-dimensional parameters.The wing surface dimensions are set to 200 mm 600 mm to comply with tunnel blockage ratio constraints during experimental analysis.To improve flow control, vortex generators (VGs) are employed as passive devices due to their proven effectiveness and design simplicity.The optimization focuses on two key parameters: chordwise placement (x/c) and VG height relative to boundary layer thickness (h/).Geometric modeling is performed using SOLIDWORKS, followed by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations in ANSYS-CFX using the k- SST turbulence model.Preliminary analysis on the clean wing establishes a baseline and subsequent simulations with various VG configurations reveal that placing the VG at 70% of the chord length yields a significant improvement in lift coefficient (CL,max) increases by 33.2%, reaching a value of 1.64.While other configurations also enhance lift, they incur higher drag penalties, reducing the effective flow separation delay.Future work will extend this research to experimental and computational evaluations of unconventional VG designs under varied flow conditions, aiming to further optimize passive flow control strategies for enhanced aerodynamic efficiency.