Author:
Bhavsar Kathan,Kartha Jessica
Abstract
<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">This paper focuses on a case study to compare the performances of Fowler wing
flaps that are used on the trailing edge of modern-day commercial airliners. The
aim is to observe trends in coefficients of lift (C<sub>l</sub>) and drag
(C<sub>d</sub>) with varying flap angles of release on a single-slotted
Fowler flap and arrive at the most efficient flap configuration for flight. A
series of two-dimensional analyses are carried out using computational fluid
dynamics (CFD) to examine the flow separation and occurrence of stalls between
the different angles of flap deflection. A two-equation, k-ω shear stress
transport (SST) turbulence model is used as it helps in better prediction of
flow separation and boundary layer studies. Since the study is carried out for
such passenger carriers, the study focuses on the lower transonic ranges of Mach
number 0.7-0.9 with a Reynolds number range of 400,000 to 500,000 considering a
scaled-down model and upon taking inspiration from related literature. The flaps
are analyzed at various angles of release (α) such as 0°, 15°, 25°and 50°, which
are selected considering the angles that they are commonly deflected to during
take-off and landing scenarios. A NACA0012 symmetrical airfoil is chosen with a
fixed chord length for the wing and kept at 0° Angle of Attack (AoA) with
subsequent trailing edge Fowler flaps employed for examination. A data-driven
approach is followed for the investigation of characteristics represented by the
different designs of the Fowler flap, thus typical lift curve plots
(C<sub>l</sub> vs α), drag plots (C<sub>d</sub> vs α), and lift-to-drag
ratio (C<sub>l</sub>/C<sub>d</sub>) plots (C<sub>l</sub>/C<sub>d</sub> vs α)
graphs are presented to understand the comparative study. The results are
discussed with respect to the data observed in the graphs and a viable
conceptual configuration for the single-slotted Fowler flap is selected. This
insight, research, and design have led to the development of the research paper
and it is hoped that this comparative study can be used to conduct further
research in the field of aeronautics.</div></div>