Vortex Trapping by Different Cavities on an Airfoil

The paper presents the flow over an airfoil with different cavity shapes placed on the suction surface of a symmetric airfoil. Unsteady simulations of flow over the airfoil with and without cavities were performed by Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver. Lift and drag were checked and the separation point identified at different Reynolds numbers and different angles of attack. The airfoil with cavity produced more drag and less lift as compared to the airfoil without cavity. The cavity with both sharp edges showed better results in terms of lift and drag as compared to other shapes of the cavity.