International Review of Aerospace Engineering | 2019
Numerical Validation of NACA 0009 Airfoil in Ultra-Low Reynolds Number Flows
Abstract
Validation of the sectional airfoil performance is necessary to test a propeller. This study presents a numerical validation of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method for testing a symmetric NACA airfoil called NACA 0009. An ultra-low Reynolds number of 20000 is assumed and investigated. The implementation is performed using a commercial CFD solver ANSYS Fluent. The obtained results are compared with experimental data obtained from literature. A coarse grid is adopted as meshing technique and a realizable k-e turbulence model, which has provided the best results, is assumed. Results show favourable prediction for most of the considered angles of attack. Thus, an overall reliable model has been developed.