Study of flow around bio-inspired corrugated aerofoil at different angle of attacks in low Reynolds number regime

MAV’s operate in the region of low Reynolds-Number i.e 8000-10000. The use of scaled down models of traditional NACA aerofoil for the same have proven to be ineffective. This can be resolved by bio-mimicking the corrugated aerofoil structure found in the wings of the insects like Locusts, Damselflies and Dragonflies. The corrugated aerofoils can delay the flow separation and give higher lift to drag ratio than the traditional symmetric aerofoils at higher angle of attacks in region of low Reynolds Number, thus facilitating complex maneuverability. Keeping this as the objective of study, simulation analysis of flow over three different models of bio-inspired corrugated aerofoil at low Reynolds Number of 8000 has been carried out by varying the height and position of the corrugations. From this study it is evident that, by changing the height and position of the corrugations, the flow remains attached to the surface of the aerofoil at higher angles of attacks and delaying stall by limiting flow recirculation to only 0.3%C from the trailing edge, indicating stable flight during complex maneuvers in MAVs when implemented.