Experimental research on control flow over airfoil based on vortex generator and Gurney flap

In order to carry out an experimental investigation on control of flow over airfoil, two forms of the Gurney flaps and one form of the vortex generator (VG) are designed and wind tunnel test is carried out combining the Gurney flaps and VG. Comparative study is performed for different scenarios such as clean airfoil, clean airfoil with Gurney flap, clean airfoil with VG and clean airfoil with both Gurney flap and VG. The results show that the lift at linear regime with the same angle of attack is greatly increased by using a Gurney flap, and the drag increases; the stall performance is remarkably improved by using VG, and the drag decreases a lot; the lifts at both linear and stall regimes are improved by using combined Gurney flap and VG, and drag is slightly increased at linear regime and greatly reduced at stall regime. In a word, the proper combination of Gurney flap and VG can result in remarkable improvement of aerodynamic performance of an airfoil, and it is an ideal combinational control style.