A Computational Design Approach on KFm Based Modified NACA-4415 for Better Aerodynamic Efficiency

This research portrays a numerical investigation of various aerodynamic properties of Kline-Fogleman airfoils. This type of airfoils is mainly used for designing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) which generally operates at low Reynold's number. The objective of this work comprises two geometrically similar airfoils namely NACA-4415 and KFm-2 (Kline-Fogleman modified) based NACA-4415. This research was conducted using the ANSYS Fluent environment under the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model. The lift to drag ratio was not that kind of satisfactorily improved using the NACA-4415 based KFm-2 model in contrast to just NACA-4415. For a Mach number of 0.6, the point of separation was determined via CFD analysis. Computational studies were conducted to enhance the aerodynamic performance of the airfoil. The results produced show that as much as a 24% reduction in drag is possible by introducing the step. But at the same time, about 11% reduction in the lift was also observed. Predominantly the goal of this research is to numerically determine whether or not the aerodynamic performance of an airfoil can be enhanced by introducing a modified KFm-2 airfoil.