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Introduction
Principle behind gurney flap Experimental setup
Results of experiment
Hysterisis effect Advantages & Disadvantages Applications Research areas
TERMINOLOGY
AEROFOIL Generally wing section of the aeroplane which produces aerodynamic forces when air or any fluid flows around it AILERONS Ailerons are control surfaces at the outer part of the wing which operate differently to raise the lift on one side of the wing and to lower the other
FLAPS
Movable surface on the leading edge of the wing to permit higher lift during take off.
Lift
Drag
but a vertical tab attached to the pressure side of trailing edge of an aerofoil. It is used as a high lift device intended to perform at low speeds. This has been proposed by American aero dynamist DAN GURNEY as a spoiler in the rear of racing cars.
proportional to the velocity of flow. A high lift device can produce higher lift for the same velocity. A high lift device reduces the stalling speed(minimum speed) of aircrafts.
vortices are formed. Total circulation around the aerofoil gets increased which adds to the lift.
Experimental Setup
Rectangular plan form wing with
span=0.457m. Chord=0.154m Maximum thickness=10mm at 15% chord. Thickness chord ratio=0.065. Open jet low speed wind tunnel. Velocity range 4.1m/s to 15m/s.
Experimental Results
proportional to the flap height. Even after stall gurney flap produces lift greater than plain aerofoil. maximum lift coefficient is increased by 25%.
of drag increases with the flap height. Coefficient of lift increases faster then drag coefficient till a particular height of flap.
Overall performance
For Re=110,000 the
maximum performance is obtained at 5.5mm. Performance curve shows a negative trend thereafter.
Hysteresis Effect
Causes the lift curve slopes to be different for
to be separated in the laminar region itself. Flow reattaches in the turbulent region.
points is called a SEPARATION BUBBLE. If the flow is unable to reattach full separation or stalling occurs
decreasing the angle of attack(downstroke)flow reattaches at a lower angle than the stall angle. A clockwise hysterisis loop is formed in the lift curve.
bubble grows larger. Just below the stall angle long bubble bursts to a short bubble and lift drag ratio is improved. In the down stroke short bubble is transformed to a long bubble only at lower angles hence improved glide ratio at during down stroke.
No moving parts
Can easily be fitted Cheap Hysterisis effects are reduced to some
extend
Disadvantages
Cannot be used for high speed and
Applications
Rear spoilers for race cars Micro air vehicles
Wind turbines
Gliders
Conclusion
The gurney flap is found to be a very useful
element in aerospace and automobile industry which promises a bright future for MAVs, race cars.
Bibliography
The aeronautical journal(sept.2003) Aerodynamics
- L J Clancy The aerodynamic design of aircraft - D Kuchemann F R S http://aerodyn.org/HighLift/gurney.html www.allamericanracers.com http://www.as.go.dlr.de/Transsonium4 http://www.cfd.tu-berlin.de