NACA 0012 foil research & optimization

A Naca 0012 research & optimization was performed for the Aerospace Engineering program of the Aviation Emirates University in United Arab Emirates. With an educational purpose for the students of the University. Turbulent steady state simulations of the NACA 0012 foil were performed for different angles of attack, ranging from 0° to 25°. The Cd, Cl and Cp graphs are compared with benchmark data both experimental and theoretical. The laminar to turbulent transition is good noticable in the pressure distribution of the foil. Additional a laminar transient Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) is provided to indicate the vortex shedding behind the airfoil for very low velocities. In this type of simulation the boundary layer is fully resolved and computed. A video of this simulation can be found here: https://youtu.be/uSUMC-1AQoA

Optimization parameters allow for automatic shape optimization of the naca 0012 airfoil. As an example a high lift / low drag foil was created using a special CFD solver.

The report includes the following subjects;

• Reynolds number range verification
• Theoretical background in the different turbulence models
• Grid independency study
• Benchmark data
• Validation results

An additional mesh sensitivity report including the following subjects;

• Verification vs Validation
• Overall verification and validation methodology
• Examining spatial grid convergence
• Richardson extrapolation
• Mesh sensitivity study