Study on the Influence of Mass Flow Rate over a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 6321 Airfoil Using Improved Blowing and Suction System for Effective Boundary Layer Control

The numerical analysis of the three-dimensional (3D) flow over a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) 6321 airfoil to evaluate the mass flow rate by using a novel method Improved Blowing and Suction System (IBSS) to control the boundary layer is presented in this study. Analysis is performed based on 3D Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equation with a K-omega SST solver. The aerodynamic performance of the NACA 6321 is analyzed at a Mach number of 0.10 with three different mass flow rates, namely, 0.08 kg/s, 0.10 kg/s, and 0.12 kg/s. From the study, it is seen that when the mass flow rate decreased, the aerodynamics performance also reduced, and the aerodynamic performance improved with the increase in mass flow rate. Results also show that a mass flow rate of 0.10 kg/s improved the stalling angle of attack (AoA) by 60% and coefficient of lift (C_L) by 50%, enabling optimum efficiency of the aircraft wing in all aspects compared to the baseline airfoil model. The mass flow for optimum efficiency is computed based on the velocity at the separation point on the airfoil.