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Abstract

The effects of vortex behaviour on the aerodynamic performance of airfoils have been widely discussed over the years and serve as motivation for many research studies. This study takes two symmetrical airfoils into account, namely NACA 0012 and NACA 0024. Computational fluid dynamics simulations carried out involve low Reynolds number air flow over the airfoils at several angles of attack. The attention is given mainly on the separation bubble and vortex shedding phenomena, and the effects of vortex behaviour on airfoils’ aerodynamic performance as represented by lift and drag coefficients. The results show that the vortex-influenced velocity curl shows alternating vortex behaviour along the airfoils’ surfaces and at downstreams. The angles of attack influence such behaviour by developing specific separation bubbles with contrasting fixed points, in particular those along the airfoils’ surfaces.