Numerical investigation of the thickness and camber effects on aerodynamic characteristics for two-dimensional airfoils with ground effect in viscous flow

Wing-in-ground (WIG) effect was a popular problem in the past twenty years because of its special aerodynamic characteristics and applications. In this paper, the steady two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equation is solved by finite volume method to obtain the solution for WIG problem. Some numerical results for different NACA four-digit airfoils are presented to investigate the thickness and camber effects on aeorodynamic characteristics of 2-D airfoils with ground effect. The numerical results indicate that the lift and drag coefficients of airfoils with ground effect are influenced strongly by the shape of region between the lower surface of the airfoil and the ground. In general, the airfoil with larger camber and smaller thickness is more suitable for the applications of WIG vehicles.