Highlights
1. Introduction
Advances in computing technology and software have revolutionized the design process of engineering vehicles such as aircraft and automobiles. In the area of fluid dynamics, there are many commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) packages available for modelling flow in or around objects. There are three main components to the implementation of CFD methodology: pre-processing, solving, and post-processing. Preprocessing includes the creation of geometry, mesh generation, physics and fluid properties, and boundary conditions. There are many ways to solve the pre-processing problem, ranging from transport equations to physical models and solver settings. Lastly, we can interpret and view the results in the form of XY plots, velocity vectors, contours and so on. Figure 1.1 below shows the flow chart of the overall analysis.
1.1. General
In the earliest days, when man was yet living in the lap of nature, the only means of locomotion was his legs. Gradually, we have achieved faster and more luxurious ways of travelling, latest being the air transport. Since their invention aeroplanes have been getting more and more popular as it is the fastest mode of transportation available. It has also gained popularity as a war machine since World War II. This popularity of air transport has led to many new inventions and research to develop faster and more economical planes. This project is an attempt to determine how we can derive maximum performance out of an airfoil section. An airfoil is a cross-section of the wing of the plane. Its main job is to provide lift to an aeroplane during take-off and while in flight. But, it has also a side effect called Drag which opposes the motion of the aeroplane. The amount of lift needed by a plane depends on the purpose for which it is to be used. Heavier planes require more lift while lighter planes require less lift than the heavier ones. Thus, depending upon the use of the aeroplane, the airfoil section is determined. Lift force also determines the vertical acceleration of the plane, which in turn depends on the horizontal velocity of the plane. Thus, by determining the coefficient of lift one can calculate the lift force and knowing the lift force and required vertical acceleration one can determine the required horizontal velocity.
1.2. Project Objectives
The foremost objective of this project is to reproduce published or experimental data for NACA 4412 to become familiar with the Ansys software interface and functions. This project aims to expand one's understanding of the concept of the software by creating a situation or environment of a real-life problem and also to find a suitable method to get the desired results by varying inputs supported by solid evidence.
1.3. Problem Statement
Lift and drag coefficient are the most fundamental parameters in the flight of an aircraft. It is to determine whether the wing would generate lift instead of induced drag, moving through the high rate mass flow with other parameters involved such as angle of attack (AoA) and shape and size of an airfoil. The motivation of this study is to know how to obtain the lift and drag coefficient using CFD software, FLUENT because it is convenient as the user can do many settings.
1.4. About Ansys
Ansys offers engineering simulation solution sets in engineering simulation that a design process requires. Companies in a wide variety of industries use ANSYS software. It uses CFD and FEM and various other programming algorithms for simulating and optimising various design problems.ANSYS has many sub parts out of which I will use FLUENT. ANSYS Fluent uses CFD for analysis and is mainly used for the simulation of fluid mechanics and thermodynamics problems. Data from various fluid and solid materials are already fed into the ANSYS database which we use.
2. Literature Review
This section contains a brief literature review of basic knowledge of what is needed for the project.
2.1. Naca AirFoils
The early NACA airfoil series, the 4-digit, 5-digit, and modified 4-/5-digit, were generated using analytical equations that describe the camber (curvature) of the meaning (geometric centerline) of the airfoil section as well as the section's thickness distribution along the length of the airfoil. Later families, including the 6-Series, are more complicated shapes derived using theoretical rather than geometrical methods. Before the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) developed these series, airfoil design was rather arbitrary with nothing to guide the designer except experience with known shapes and experimentation with modifications to those shapes. This methodology began to change in the early 1930s with the publishing of a NACA report entitled The Characteristics of 78 Related Airfoil Sections from Tests in the Variable Density Wind Tunnel. In this landmark report, the authors noted that there were many similarities between the airfoils that were most successful, and the two primary variables that affect those shapes are the slope of the airfoil mean camber line and the thickness distribution above and below this line. They then presented a series of equations incorporating these two variables that could be used to generate an entire family of related airfoil shapes. As airfoil design became more sophisticated, this basic approach was modified to include additional variables, but these two basic geometrical values remained at the heart of all NACA airfoil series.
NACA Four-Digit Series
The first family of airfoils designed using this approach became known as the NACA Four-Digit Series. The first digit specifies the maximum camber (m) in the percentage of the chord (airfoil length), the second indicates the position of the maximum camber (p) in tenths of the chord, and the last two numbers provide the maximum thickness (t) of the airfoil in the percentage of the chord. For example, the NACA 2415 airfoil has a maximum thickness of 15% with a camber of 2% located 40?ck from the airfoil leading edge (or 0.4c). Utilizing these m, p, and t values, we can compute the coordinates for an entire airfoil using the following relationships:
1. Pick values of x from 0 to the maximum chord c.
2. Compute the mean camber line coordinates by plugging the values of m and p into the following equations for each of the x coordinates.
where
x = coordinates along the length of the airfoil, from 0 to c (which stands for chord, or length)
y = coordinates above and below the line extending along the length of the airfoil, these are either yt for thickness coordinates or yc for camber coordinates
t = maximum airfoil thickness in tenths of the chord (i.e. a 15% thick airfoil would be 0.15)
m = maximum camber in tenths of the chord
p = position of the maximum camber along the chord in tenths of the chord
3. Calculate the thickness distribution above (+) and below (-) the mean line by plugging the value of t into the following equation for each of the x coordinates.
4. Determine the final coordinates for the airfoil upper surface (xU, yU) and lower surface (xL, yL) using the following relationships.
In this project, NACA 0012 is used. It was chosen because it has been used for many applications such as the Aeronca 11 Chief and Piper PA-21. The Carlet Helicopter as well as horizontal and vertical axis wind turbines. NACA 0012 has a maximum camber of 4% located 40% from the leading edge with a maximum thickness of 12% of the chord, which makes it an asymmetric airfoil.
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