Numerical study of variable camber continuous trailing edge flap at off-design conditions

Abstract

Numerical simulations are performed to study the outboard airfoil of advanced technology regional aircraft (ATRA) wings with five different variable camber continuous trailing edge flap (VCCTEF) configurations. The computational study aims to improve the aerodynamic efficiency of the airfoil under cruise conditions. The design of outboard airfoil complies with the hybrid laminar flow control design criteria. This work is unique in terms of analysis of the effects of VCCTEF on the ATRA wing’s outboard airfoil during the off-design condition. The Reynolds–Averaged Navier–Stokes equations coupled with the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model are employed to perform the simulations for the baseline case and VCCTEF configurations. The current computational study is performed at an altitude of 10 km with a cruise Mach number of 0.77 and a Reynolds number of 2.16 × 107. Amongst all five configurations of VCCTEF airfoils studied, a flap having a parabolic profile (VCCTEF 123) configuration shows the maximum airfoil efficiency and resulted in an increase of 6.3% as compared to the baseline airfoil.