INVESTIGATION OF GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS ON FLAP AND SLAT AERODYNAMICS IN A THREE-ELEMENT AIRFOIL

Three-element airfoils are commonly employed in airplanes to provide additional lift, reduce runway lengthrequirements, and improve cargo capacity. Due to the small distances between its components and flow interactions,the three-element airfoil has complex flow dynamics. The aerodynamic characteristics of an airfoil system comprisingof three elements are greatly influenced by the geometric positioning of the flap and slat. The present study uses thecomputational techniques to examine how the geometric characteristics affect the aerodynamics of specific pieces,particularly the flap and slat. In this work, computational techniques are used to examine how geometric characteristics,particularly those affecting the flap and slat, affect the aerodynamics of individual components of the multielementairfoil. The chosen design space is generated through the sampling based on the Sobol sequence. The flow physicsaround each element due to the change in position of individual elements of the three-element airfoil is investigated indetail. Furthermore, it was shown that the leading-edge components greatly influence the flow behavior of the trailingedge components, while the opposite is not significant. Finally, the study reveals that the most significant effect on theaerodynamics characteristics of the three-element airfoil is governed by the gap in the flap.