The Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the E361 Airfoil Equipped with the Gurney Flap and Vortex Generator

In this study the effects of the Gurney flap and the vortex generator on the aerodynamic characteristics of the E361 airfoil has been investigated experimentally and numerically at the Reynolds numbers of 105 and 1.5x105. The Gurney flap with the height of 2.6% C is attached to the airfoil windward side at the trailing edge. Then adding the cylindrical vortex generators located at 12% C to the mentioned configuration, the combination of these two control devices have been investigated. The height and diameter of the vortex generators are 0.4 mm and 4 mm respectively. The results show that the Gurney flap increases both the lift and drag coefficients and decreases the stall and zero-lift angles. The vortex generator increases the stall angle due to delaying the separation. Therefore the drag coefficients are reduced at high angles of attack.