A 2d aerodynamic study on morphing of the naca 2412 aerofoil

This paper investigates the potential of modifications in the NACA 2412 aerofoil’s geometry which could be implemented as a morphing wing in the Cessna 172SP. A 2D study on three morphing configurations: landing, take-off and stall maneuvering was conducted. The new geometries were designed using XFLR5. The initial aerodynamics characteristics were computed using XFOIL and compared to that of NACA 2412 in the Cessna 172SP. A selected configuration (landing) was tested at the University of Brighton wind tunnel facility, in comparison to XFOIL predictions. Moreover, the ESDU 07010 report was used to extrapolate the Reynold’s number to full scale, which was necessary to obtain an approximation of the aerodynamic characteristics at actual flight. The paper presents results of ANSYS FLUENT simulations for all three configurations. Results reveal that XFOIL is suitable for morphing airfoil configuration analysis but only at low Reynolds number (Re≈500,000). Adaptive aerofoil geometry improves the lift to drag (L/D) ratio by decreasing the drag coefficient; it also expands the flight envelope by delaying stall.