Numerical Investigation on Aerodynamic Characteristics of Bio-Inspired Nose Airfoil NACA 4415

Fitri Wahyuni; James Julian; Saphira Anggraita  Siswanto; Riki Hendra Purba; Fathin Muhammad Mahdhudhu; Elvi Armadani; Nely Toding Bunga

doi:10.35814/asiimetrik.v8i1.9428

Authors

Fitri Wahyuni Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta
James Julian Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta
Saphira Anggraita Siswanto Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta
Riki Hendra Purba Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta
Fathin Muhammad Mahdhudhu Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta
Elvi Armadani Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta
Nely Toding Bunga Universitas Pancasila

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35814/asiimetrik.v8i1.9428

Keywords:

aerodynamic, airfoil, bio-inspired, Cl, Cd

Abstract

It is widely believed that bionic airfoils can influence aerodynamic performance. Therefore, this study focuses on analyzing the effect of a bio-inspired nose on the NACA 4415 airfoil. This study uses roughtoothed dolphins and spinner dolphins as modifications of the airfoil, which are then tested at Re = 1.6×105 using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). From the simulation results, it was shown that the baseline NACA 4415 has the best aerodynamic performance across all Angles of Attack (AoA). The average percentage increase in Cd for the spinner dolphin is lower, at 40.399% compared to the baseline. On the other hand, the roughtoothed dolphin shows a higher percentage increase in Cd with an average of 51.479% compared to the baseline. While in the Cl data, the rough-toothed dolphin has a larger average percentage decrease, at -10.472%, whereas the spinner dolphin achieves an average decrease of only -5.194% compared to the baseline. Therefore, it can be concluded that the rough-toothed and spinner dolphin modifications do not enhance the aerodynamic performance of the NACA 4415 airfoil at AoA. However, at low AoA, the roughtoothed dolphin modification performs comparably to the baseline NACA 4415 airfoil.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Albers, M. and Schröder, W. (2021) ‘Lower drag and higher lift for turbulent airfoil flow by moving surfaces’, International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow, 88, p. 108770. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatfluidflow.2020.108770.

Algan, M., Seyhan, M. and Sarioğlu, M. (2024) ‘Effect of aero-shaped vortex generators on NACA 4415 airfoil’, Ocean Engineering, 291, p. 116482. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2023.116482.

Alom, N., Borah, B. and Saha, U.K. (2018) ‘An insight into the drag and lift characteristics of modified Bach and Benesh profiles of Savonius rotor’, Energy Procedia, 144, pp. 50–56. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2018.06.007.

Coder, J.G. and Somers, D.M. (2020) ‘Design of a slotted, natural-laminar-flow airfoil for commercial transport applications’, Aerospace Science and Technology, 106, p. 106217. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ast.2020.106217.

Diecke, S. (2023) ‘Electric Aircraft Performance Analysis Utilizing Simplified Approaches for Airfoil and Propulsion Chain Design’, AIAA AVIATION 2023 Forum. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA AVIATION Forum). Available at: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2023-3665.

Fan, M. et al. (2022) ‘Numerical and experimental investigation of bionic airfoils with leading-edge tubercles at a low-Re in considering stall delay’, Renewable Energy, 200, pp. 154–168. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2022.09.123.

Genest, B. and Dumas, G. (2023) ‘Numerical Investigation into Single and Double Gurney Flaps for Improving Airfoil Performance’, Journal of Aircraft, 60(6), pp. 1832–1846. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2514/1.C037304.

Hayuningtyas, R.S.R., Nugroho, F.F. and Jalaali, B. (2023) ‘Simulasi Numerik Karakteristik Aerodinamika Pada Airfoil Naca 4415 Dengan Mempertimbangkan Ground Effect’, Vortex, 4(1), pp. 5–14. Available at: https://doi.org/10.28989/vortex.v4i1.1339.

He, H. et al. (2026) ‘Flow over airfoil model covered by bio-inspired herringbone riblets’, European Journal of Mechanics - B/Fluids, 115, p. 204365. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euromechflu.2025.204365.

Hoseinzadeh, S. et al. (2020) ‘A detailed experimental airfoil performance investigation using an equipped wind tunnel’, Flow Measurement and Instrumentation, 72, p. 101717. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.flowmeasinst.2020.101717.

Julian, J. et al. (2024) ‘Effect of airfoil modification on performance improvement of NACA 4415 with bio-inspired nose’, AIP Conference Proceedings, 3090(1), p. 040002. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0231138.

Kim, M., Essel, E.E. and Sullivan, P.E. (2022) ‘Effect of varying frequency of a synthetic jet on flow separation over an airfoil’, Physics of Fluids, 34(1), p. 015122. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0077334.

Koca, K. et al. (2022) ‘Experimental study of the wind turbine airfoil with the local flexibility at different locations for more energy output’, Energy, 239, p. 121887. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2021.121887.

Krishnan, A., Al-Obaidi, A.Sh.M. and Hao, L.C. (2023) ‘A comprehensive review of innovative wind turbine airfoil and blade designs: Toward enhanced efficiency and sustainability’, Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 60, p. 103511. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2023.103511.

Lagemann, E. et al. (2024) ‘Towards extending the aircraft flight envelope by mitigating transonic airfoil buffet’, Nature Communications, 15(1), p. 5020. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-49361-3.

Liu, Y. et al. (2020) ‘Numerical study of the effect of surface grooves on the aerodynamic performance of a NACA 4415 airfoil for small wind turbines’, Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 206, p. 104263. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jweia.2020.104263. (Accessed: 27 October 2025).

Navya, B. et al. (2025) ‘Effect of Bio-Inspired Nose on Flow Separation Control Over a NACA 6 Series Airfoil’, International Research Journal on Advanced Engineering Hub (IRJAEH), 3(04), pp. 1702–1709. Available at: https://doi.org/10.47392/IRJAEH.2025.0244.

Nichols, R. (2010) Turbulence Models and Their Application to Complex Flows. Birmingham, USA: University of Alabama at Birmingham. Available at: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/turbulence-guide-v4-01.pdf?emrc=90c0ad.

Özkan, M. (2022) ‘Active and Passive Flow Control Methods Over Airfoils for Improvement in Aerodynamic Performance’, in T.H. Karakoc, C.O. Colpan, and A. Dalkiran (eds) New Frontiers in Sustainable Aviation. Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 19–33. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80779-5_2.

Rasheed, D. et al. (2024) ‘Aerodynamics Investigation on Bio-Inspired Surface Design by Use of Shark-Skin Surface on the Aircraft Wing for Drag Reduction’, in A. Singh, D.P. Mishra, and G. Bhat (eds) Recent Trends in Thermal and Fluid Sciences. INCOME 2023, Singapore: Springer Nature, pp. 81–90. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-5373-4_8.

Salehin, Md.N. et al. (2025) ‘Passive flow control devices for road vehicles: A comprehensive review’, Engineering Science and Technology, an International Journal, 62, p. 101953. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jestch.2025.101953.

Saliveros, E. (1988) The aerodynamic performance of the NACA-4415 aerofoil section at low Reynolds numbers. Thesis. University of Glasgow. Available at: https://eleanor.lib.gla.ac.uk/record=b1332067 (Accessed: 21 October 2025).

Saputra, A. et al. (2016) ‘Modifikasi Airfoil Sayap Pesawat Conceptual Transport RM-001’, Indept: Industrial Electronics of Aviation, 6(1), pp. 48–55.

Walters, D.K. and Leylek, J.H. (2004) ‘A New Model for Boundary Layer Transition Using a Single-Point RANS Approach’, Journal of Turbomachinery, 126(1), pp. 193–202. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1115/1.1622709.

Xiao, Q. et al. (2023) ‘Study on Nonlinear Correlation in Modal Coefficients of the Bionic Airfoil’, Machines, 11(1), p. 88. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/machines11010088.