Numerical Simulation of Aerodynamics Effect by Surface Modification in S1210 and S1223 Airfoils Under Martian Conditions

The performance analysis of airfoil in extraterrestrial atmosphere is very important to create design of future drones and aircrafts intended for working in Martian conditions, and to learn the best airfoil performance for Martian condition. In this study, we have performed numerical simulation of the aerodynamic behaviour of modified S1210 and S1223 airfoil. The modifications made is in the form of geometric surface modification like dimples and protrusions to improve the aerodynamic characteristics. Analysis has been done on an airfoil of 1m chord length with modifications, which were implemented on the upper surface of a 2-dimensional airfoil model and placed at 70% of chord length. CFD was used to evaluate how well the S1223 and S1210 Airfoils performed in terms of aerodynamics. The Airfoils were put through tests at different AOA to figure out the lift and drag coefficients, the Cl/Cd ratio determined the increase in aerodynamic performance in various flight scenarios. Reynolds Number 20000-40000 was taken into consideration and the AOA is between -4 to 20 Degree for both S1210 and S1223 airfoil. S1210 and S1223 Airfoils both show delayed stall traits. The modifications helped to increase the stall trait and improve the Cl/Cd performance specially the semicircular and V-shaped inward and outward bulge. In the initial experiment considering S1210 airfoil five different modification taken into consideration such as normal outward bulge, V-shaped Inward and outward bulge and Semicircular inward and outward bulge. As the normal outward bulge geometry didn’t show much promising result as compared to the S1210 airfoil without modification, while experimenting modification in S1223 airfoil it was not taken into consideration and the modification applied was the other four which includes V-Shaped and Semicircular modification. In conclusion, protrusion on the surface of the airfoil benefits the aerodynamic performance of the airfoil in Martian conditions.