Performance analysis and control of the flow over aircraft wing

Aerodynamic performance of bodies under external flow is an important research area in Fluid Mechanics. Due to the energy efficiency considerations of industrial branches such as aviation and automotive, better aerodynamic characteristics are desired when dealing with external flows. Flow control techniques are employed in order to reduce stall which is caused by flow separation and the drag force to enhance the convective heat transfer or to improve any other desired physical phenomenon linked to fluid flow. In the scope of this research, flow over NACA 0012 airfoil at a Mach number of 0.15 is investigated with the help of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and the results of the baseline case are validated with experiments. Once stall angle is determined for the baseline case, momentum addition inside the boundary layer and mass suction out of the boundary layer from points in the upstream and downstream of the separation point are applied as active flow control methods. The results show that, manipulation of viscous boundary layer by blowing and suction delays the separation and increases maximum lift coefficient, as well as decreasing the drag coefficient. Keywords: Aerodynamics, CFD, Separation, Stall, Flow control, Jet blowing, Suction