Leading-Edge Parametric Study of the NACA0012-IK30 Airfoil

In many research areas, such as rotor dynamics and biomimetics, the dynamics of oscillating airfoils are of great interest. The findings of this study provide great insight into the importance of the leading edge regarding the propulsive characteristics of flapping airfoils. The main objective of the present work is to analyze the influence of the leading-edge pitching amplitude of the NACA0012-IK30 airfoil at a Reynolds number of 1.4x10^4, constant Strouhal number of 0.15 with three different (k,h) combinations and five leading-edge pitching amplitudes (A_alpha=0º,5º,10º,15º,20º). Using a RANS approach with the turbulence model k-omega SST coupled with the Intermittency Transition Model, results show that changing the leading-edge pitching amplitude has great impact on thrust enhancement, although presenting a small influence when it comes to lower nondimensional amplitudes. The required power coefficient is typically reduced while increasing the leading-edge pitching amplitude which, in some cases, provides an increase up to 211% in propulsive efficiency.