Investigation into Active and Passive Methods to Enhance Aerofoil Aerodynamic Performance

The objective of this study is to investigate the active and passive mechanisms to improve the aerodynamic performances of an aerofoil at different flight phases. The objective is achieved through the Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver using the K-Omega Shear Stress Transport turbulence model by obtaining the impact of different flow control mechanisms through the evaluation of the coefficient of lift, drag, and pressure to calculate the aerodynamic efficiency. This concluded that the active flow control mechanism effectively controls the boundary layer and increases the aerodynamic efficiency compared to the passive method. The results are proved that passive methods of inward dimple are used to enhance the stall angle 50% and active method of Improved Blowing Suction System (IBSS) improves the aerodynamic efficiency of 100% compared to baseline model, respectively. The present study is to identify the suitable flow control mechanism, which is used to effectively control the boundary layer using various passive methods, and that passive method is compared with the active flow control mechanism. This concept can be used for any aircraft wing to select the suitable boundary layer control mechanism to improve the aerodynamic performances.