Effect of Airfoil Thickness on the Optimum Gurney Flap Height

최적 Gurney 플랩크기에 대한 익형두께의 영향

A numerical investigation was performed to determine the effect of airfoil thickness on the optimum Gurney flap height using NACA 00XX series airfoils. Seven airfoils which have 3% chord thickness difference were used. These were NACA 0006, 0009, 0012, 0015, 0018, 0021, and 0024. A Navier-Stokes code, FLUENT, was used to calculate the flow field about airfoil. The fully turbulent results were obtained using the standard $k-{\varepsilon}$ two-equation turbulence model. To provide a check case fur our computational method, numerical studies for NACA 4412 airfoil were made and compared with already existing experimental data for this airfoil by Wadcock. For every NACA 00XX airfoil, Gurney flap heights ranging from 0.5% to 2.0% chord were changed by 0.5% chord interval and their effects were studied. With the numerical solutions, the relationship between $(L/D)_{max}$ and airfoil thickness as a function of flap height and the relationship between $(L/D)_{max}$ and flap height as a function of airfoil thickness were investigated. The same relationship for $(C_l)_{max}$ also were shown. From these results, the optimum flap size for each airfoil thickness can be determined and vice versa.