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Effects of Gurney Flaps on a NACA0012 Airfoil

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Abstract

Experimental measurements of surface pressure distributions and wake profiles were obtained for a NACA0012 airfoil to determine the lift, drag, and pitching-moment coefficients for various configurations. The addition of a Gurney flap increased the maximum lift coefficient from 1.37 to 1.74, however there was a drag increment at low-to-moderate lift coefficient. In addition, the boundary layer profile measurements were taken using a rake of total pressure probes at the 90% chord location on the suction side. The effective Gurney flap height is about 2% of chord length, which provides the highest lift-to-drag ratio among the investigated configurations when compared with the clean NACA0012 airfoil. In this case, the device remains within the boundary layer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Fluid Mechanics, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing, 100083, People's Republic of China

    Yachen Li, Jinjun Wang & Panfeng Zhang

Authors
  1. Yachen Li
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  2. Jinjun Wang
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  3. Panfeng Zhang
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Li, Y., Wang, J. & Zhang, P. Effects of Gurney Flaps on a NACA0012 Airfoil. Flow, Turbulence and Combustion 68, 27–39 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015679408150

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015679408150

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