Simulation of Steady Incompressible Flow around a NACA0015 Airfoil Using Actuator Surface Method and Mass Corrected Interpolation Technique

In recent years, actuator methods in aerodynamic simulations have been favored by researchers. These methods can significantly reduce the computational effort compared to full-scale body resolving simulations. They are also more accurate than conventional methods that use simplified models. In this study, an actuator surface model is used to simulate flow around an airfoil in a steady two-dimensional incompressible flow. In these models, the geometry of the airfoil is represented by volume forces distributed along the airfoil chord. For this purpose, the collocated method of mass corrected interpolation method is coupled with the Actuator Surface Model. To determine the accuracy of the results, the actuator surface method is compared with the full- computational fluid dynamics simulation method. Besides, a new study is presented to investigate the effect of changing different parameters of the actuator surface model on the accuracy of results. Finally, pressure and vorticity contours are plotted, and obtained results are compared with full- computational fluid dynamics results. The obtained results show that although the actuator surface has a moderate accuracy in calculating parameters such as velocity and pressure, it can predict aerodynamic forces and flow structures with acceptable accuracy. The method presented in this article can be used as an efficient tool in studying more complex cases.