Harnessing Porous Gurney Flaps to Optimize Airfoil Performance in Ground Effect Conditions

For a variety of applications, such as airplanes, vehicles, and marine vessels, ground effect, an occurrence of altered aerodynamic behavior close to a surface, has major significance. Over the years, Gurney flap has been successfully used to increase airfoil's lift to drag ratio. Although its use to an airfoil successfully improves lift characteristics, it also increases drag by obstructing flow. Minimizing the drag penalty associated with ground effect is a focal point of ongoing research, aimed at enhancing the overall effectiveness of this aerodynamic phenomenon. Recognizing the pressing need to overcome this challenge, this research introduces an innovative approach by incorporating the concept of a porous Gurney flap. The aerodynamics of porous Gurney flap in ground effect has been studied using experimental and computational methods. NACA 0012 airfoil model with porous Gurney flaps is subjected to varied ground clearances and flow conditions in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) ANSYS Fluent and experimental wind tunnel test. The study has been done with various porosity levels on the flap height of 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 and 3% of the chord. Pressure distributions, lift coefficients, and drag coefficients are some of the performance parameters that are examined and contrasted with baseline examples without porous flaps. The results of this research indicate that porous Gurney flaps have a great potential to improve aerodynamic properties under ground effect situations. Due to the complex flow dynamics created by the porous structure, which enable efficient boundary layer control and vortex management, lift augmentation is observed. Improved flow attachment also reduces the negative impacts of flow separation while reducing drag. This study opens path for innovative techniques to enhance lift and minimize the induced drag in ground effect and the future study can be performed on the orientation and position of porous Gurney flap across the airfoil in ground effect. By providing insights into the complicated relationships between porous surfaces, ground effect, and flow dynamics, this research fills the knowledge gap between aerodynamic theory and real-world applications.