Effects of Trailing Edge Thickness on NACA 4412 Airfoil Performance at Low Reynolds Numbers: A CFD Analysis

TL;DR

This study uses CFD to analyze how changing the trailing edge thickness of the NACA 4412 airfoil affects its aerodynamic performance at low Reynolds numbers, finding an optimal thickness for improved lift and efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces a CFD-based analysis of trailing edge modifications on NACA 4412 airfoil performance, identifying optimal thickness for enhanced aerodynamics.

Findings

0.8% trailing edge thickness improves lift and lift-to-drag ratio

0.2% thickness reduces overall performance

CFD with Spalart Almaras model effectively evaluates airfoil modifications

Abstract

Due to the augmentation of the significance of wind energy, giving a high priority to the \text{airfoil's} efficiency enhancement is obligatory. To improve the performance of airfoils, many impressive techniques are already invented. In this article, the trailing edge of the NACA 4412 airfoil is modified by changing the thickness. CFD is used in this study, which aids in the identification of several important details. For our investigation, we choose the reliable Spalart Almaras model and the Reynolds number is 300k. Overall, the results demonstrate that using \(0.8\%\) thickness at the trailing edge of the NACA 4412 airfoil is viable to obtain the best output. The predominant reason is that not only the better coefficient of lift but also the preferable lift-to-drag \(\frac{C_L}{C_D}\) ratio is found in this configuration. However, using \(0.2\%\) thickness at the trailing edge reduces performance as a whole. So, it is recommended to utilize \(0.2\%\) thickness on the trailing edge of the NACA 4412 airfoil.