Effect of Ground Clearance and Air Temperature on Drag and Lift for NACA 2412 Airfoil

Abstract

The flow behavior over a NACA 2412 airfoil is studied computationally. The pressure distribution and wall shear stresses over the airfoil were obtained through computational modeling. Total lift and drag forces were calculated by considering both friction and pressure effect over the airfoil. Simulation was carried out by changing the ground clearance from 0.1 to 1.5 m. Along with that the effect of wind temperature and velocity on drag and lift force was also studied at zero angle of attack. It has been observed that both the drag and lift force increases nonlinearly with linear variation of velocity. The air temperature does not affect the drag and lift significantly. It was also observed that a higher lift is obtained on the lower surface when the airfoil is away from the ground. However, if the ground clearance becomes very less, a negative lift has been observed. This is due to the narrow region of flow that increases the air velocity leads to create a lower pressure region at the bottom part of the air flow.