Numerical studies to improve the aerodynamic efficiency of an airfoil using delta-shaped surface protrusions

A numerical study is conducted to analyse the effects that the delta-shaped surface protrusion will bring on to the NACA 0012 symmetrical airfoil, when flow takes around it at a Reynolds number of 105. 2D incompressible governing equations are solved using the CFD package Ansys. A grid independence study is conducted for getting the optimum grid size to be used. The numerical algorithm along with the the boundary conditions are validated with the help of existing papers. It is observed that the introduction of a delta-shaped protrusion has significant effects on the aerodynamic characteristics and can be treated as effective strategy to improve the lift of an airfoil for the Reynolds number studied here. Also we try to elucidate the effects of keeping the delta-shaped protrusions at different chord positions at different angle of attacks.