GURNEY FLAP

seminar report submitted to Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
IN

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Submitted by

SREEJITH KC
(Reg. No.: 11017020)

SNM INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY

MALIANKARA
P O, MOOTHAKUNNAM, N. PARAVOOR, ERNAKULAM-683516
MAHATMA GANDHI UNIVERSITY, KOTTAYAM
NOVEMBER 2014

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

SNM INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY

MALIANKARA P O, MOOTHAKUNNAM, N. PARAVOOR,

ERNAKULAM-683516

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the seminar report entitled GURNEY FLAP is a
bonafide

record

of

seminar

done

by

SREEJITH.K.C

(Register

No.:11017020) in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of

degree of Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering under Mahatma
Gandhi University, Kottayam.

Asst. Prof. Narayanan bhattathiri

Internal Guide

Prof.George Thomas
Head of the Department

External Examiner:

Interna lExaminer:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

With great pleasure, I express my deep sense of gratitude to

PROF:GEORGE THOMAS [Head of Mechanical engineering department]
for giving his valuable help and guidance in preparation of my seminar.
I consider it as a great privilege to acknowledge the valuable help
rendered by Asst.Professor. NARAYANAN BHATTATHIRI [Mechanical
engineering department] as my seminar coordinator for his guidance and
encouragement during the course of this seminar.
I

express

my

heartfelt

gratitude

to

Asst.Prof.

AMAL.V.K

[Mechanical engineering department] for his valuable assistance and advices

for presenting this seminar.
I also express my thanks to all other faculty members of mechanical
engineering department for giving their valuable co-operation.
I express my gratitude to all my friends for their help, co-operation
and encouragement.

ABSTRACT
A Gurney Flap is the simplest trailing edge device which can be used as a
high lift device for low speed applications like micro air vehicles, gliders,
wind turbines etc. The Gurney Flap is named after American aerodynamist
Dan Gurney who introduced it in the form of a vertical tab attached to the
trailing edge of an ordinary aerofoil. This modification makes the flap
capable of producing higher lift force at lower velocities.
This paper is based on the experimental analysis of Gurney Flap and from
the results of the experiment an empirical relation for the optimum flap height
has been proposed. The paper contains a vivid description of the hysterisis
effects of the flow on the flap. The paper also mentions the advantages,
disadvantages and applications of the flap.

CONTENTS
TITLES
1 .ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...i
2. ABSTRACTii

CHAPTERS
1. Introduction.1
2 . Need for high lift devices...2
3 Structure and Working of Gurney flap3
4 . Pressure distributions over the Gurney flap6
5 . Experimental setup.....7
6 . Experimental procedure and results...8
6.1 Variation of coefficient of lift..8
6.2 Effect on drag coefficient....9
6.3 Overall performance..10
6.4 Flap height optimization....11
6.5 Hysteresis effect......12
7. Advantages of Gurney flaps.18
8. Disadvantages of Gurney flaps.19
9. Applications of Gurney flaps20
10 .Current research areas in Gurney flaps.21
11. Conclusion....22
References .23

LIST OF FIGURES

Fig 3. 1 construction of Gurney flap

Fig 3.2 charting the flow

Fig 3.3Vortices behind the flap

Fig 4.1 Pressure distribution of Gurney flap and plain aerofoil
Fig 6.1 Lift curve for plain aerofoil and Gurney flap
Fig 6.2 Drag curves for plain aerofoil and Gurney flap(Re=65000)
Fig 6.3 Overall performance curves
Fig 6.4 Laminar separation bubble
Fig 6.5 Short bubble hysteresis
Fig 6.6 Distinction between long bubble and short bubble hysteresis
Fig. 6.7 Glide ratio for clean aerofoil (Re=65000)
Fig. 6.8 Glide ratio for 5.5mm Gurney flap (Re=65000)
Fig. 6.9 Glide ratio for clean aerofoil (Re=110000)
Fig.6.10 Glide ratio for 5.5mm Gurney flap (Re=110,000)

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

High lift devices are one of the most important aerodynamic devices attached
to aircrafts and other flying machines. As the name indicates these are
intended to produce higher lift force than conventional wings or
aerofoils.Generally two types of high lift devices are used in practice. The
first type works on the principle of increasing the aerofoil geometry, which is
the camber of aerofoil. The second kind of devices work on the principle of
energizing the boundary layer. A gurney flap is a typical and simple high lift
device which works on the principle of changing the effective camber of the
aerofoil.
Gurney flaps are generally intended to perform at lower speeds. It was
proposed by American aero dynamist Dan Gurney. Actually the invention was
in late 1970s but only now this flap has been subjected to detailed
experimental analysis.

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CHAPTER 2
NEED FOR HIGH LIFT DEVICES

From the basic principles of aerodynamics, the lift force produced by an

aerofoil is directly proportional to the velocity of flow. For an aircraft when
landing or take off, the velocity is desirable to be lower to reduce the length
of runway required .But for this some additional high lift devices has to be
incorporated in the wings to generate the necessary lift force ,at lower
velocities.
More over the application of high lift devices reduces the stalling speed of
the aircraft. Stalling speed of the aircraft is the minimum speed required to
produce the necessary lift, so that the aircraft is in equilibrium. A reduced
stalling speed makes the aircraft to land, take off or even fly at lower speeds.

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CHAPTER 3
STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF GURNEY FLAP
A gurney flap is in the form of a simple vertical tab attached to the pressure
side of the trailing edge of the wing as shown below.

Fig 3. 1 construction of Gurney flap

In the picture it has been shown that a metal plate bolted to the aerofoil
serves as the vertical flap. Apart from the conventional flaps the gurney flap
is not movable which simplifies its applica . The working principle of the
gurney flap is based on the formation of two counter rotating vortices as
shown in fig .2 For the proper explanation of the working of the flap let us
consider the Kutta-Joukovski equation for the lift force developed by an
aerofoil. That is the lift force developed

L=*V*

Where =density of fluid

V=velocity of fluid
=circulation around the flap

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Fig 3.2 charting the flow

Thus it is clear from the equation that as circulation or number of vortices

increases, the lift force also increases. But in this case the vortices are counter
rotating. Thus one vortex will produce circulation such that the lift produced
by it gets added to the total lift. The other vortex generates lift in the opposite
direction. But the fact is that the useful lift producing vortex overshadows the
other one. Thus producing a net higher lift force. The following figure reveals
this.

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Fig 3.3Vortices behind the flap

In the picture, the useful lift producing vortex is the bigger one at the bottom.
The size of the opposite lift producing vortex is small. Thus the useful lift
producing vortex predominates. Actually the reason behind its dominancy is
that the air flowing past the bottom side of the flap suffers more downward
deflection than the air flowing through the upper surface due to the presence
of flap.

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CHAPTER 4
PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION OVER THE GURNEY FLAP

Fig 4.1 Pressure distribution of Gurney flap and plain aerofoil

In the figure white dotted curve indicates the pressure distribution over an
ordinary aerofoil while black dotted curve shows pressure distribution over a
gurney flap of height 1% of the chord length. The X axis of the curve
represents distance along the flap as a fraction of the chord length and Y axis
shows the pressure coefficient. If we are taking the pressure difference
between upper and lower surfaces for a gurney flap, it is found to be greater
than the ordinary aerofoil. Since pressure difference between upper and lower
surfaces is responsible for the lift, the above curves prove that a gurney flap
produces higher lift than ordinary aerofoil.

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CHAPTER 5
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
The experiment on the flap was conducted in a low speed open jet wind
tunnel. Open jet wind tunnel was preferred because of the ease of taking
measurements from it. The test section was a 0.457m square section and was
1.2m long.The velocity range for the air in tunnel was ranging from 4m/s to
15m/s.The aerofoil was made of balsa wood and its surface was polished and
coated with water proof paint The aerofoil was rectangular in plan. Following
were the important dimensions of the aerofoil.
Span=0.457m
Chord=0.154m
Maximum thickness =10mm at 15% chord
Maximum thickness to chord ratio=0.065
The experimental setup was incorporated with a pyramidal balance with
digital read out to measure the forces acting on the flap accurately.

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CHAPTER 6
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE AND RESULTS
As far as an aerofoil is considered, the focus will be on the lift coefficient,
drag coefficient and the glide ratio or the lift to drag ratio. The above
parameters are defined below.
Coefficient of lift CL=L/(1/2*V^2*S)
Coefficient of drag CD=L/(1/2*V^2*S)
Glide ratio=L/D= CL/ CD
Where,

L=lift force
D=drag force
=density of fluid
V=velocity of flow
S=surface area of the flap

We are concerned with the variation of the lift coefficient, drag coefficient
and glide ratio with the angle of attack. For that the angle of attack was
changed in step and for each value of angle of attack, the required parameters
were calculated and the curves showing their variation with respect to the
angle of attack was plotted.

6.1 Variation of coefficient of lift

The coefficient of lift shows an increasing trend with respect to the angle of
attack till a particular angle of attack. After that the coefficient of lift drops as
the angle of attack increases which is due to the separation of the flow and

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formation of eddies. The figure below shows the variation of the lift
coefficient for Gurney flaps with different heights.

Fig 6.1 Lift curve for plain aerofoil and Gurney flap.
In the figure the lift curves are plotted for plain aerofoil, 4mm gurney flap
and 9mm gurney flap. From the figure it can be understood that the lift
coefficient increases as the flap height increases. Maximum lift coefficient is
obtained as 2.1 for the 9mm flap at an angle of attack of about 10deg. After
this point stalling occurs and coefficient lift decreases. The curve was plotted
for a Reynolds number of 110,000.
One important fact that can be understood this curve is that even after stalling
condition a gurney flap produces higher lift coefficient than a plain aerofoil.

6.2 Effect on drag coefficient

As the angle of attack increases the drag coefficient also increases. The rate
of increase is low till the stalling angle of attack and after that the coefficient
of drag drastically increases. This is due to the separation effects and
formation of eddies. Figure below shows the variation of drag coefficient.

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Fig 6.2 Drag curves for plain aerofoil and Gurney flap(Re=65000)
As the flap height increases, the coefficient of drag also increases. Thus the
9mm flap has the largest drag coefficient.

6.3 Overall performance

If any kind of aerofoil has to be applied onto flying objects, the value
of coefficients of drag and lift must be considered simultaneously because .So
to have an idea about the overall performance of the flap ,we go for the ratio
between lift and drag coefficients which is called glide ratio.
Also the aim of evaluating the overall performance of the flap is to
have an idea about the optimum height of the flap. Thus for plotting the
overall performance curve the X axis variable is flap height and the
dependent variables are lift coefficient, drag coefficient and the glide ratio.
Figure below shows the performance curves.

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Fig 6.3 Overall performance curves

From the curves it is clear that coefficient of lift increases more faster than
coefficient of drag .Hence till a particular flap height we get glide ratio
increasing with flap height. After that optimum flap height the glide ratio
decreases and hence performance degrades.

6.4 Flap height optimization

This step provides an empirical formula for determining the flap height
according to the velocity of flow, the chord length of flap etc.From the
analysis of the performance curves and the boundary layer height at the
trailing edge of the flap,it was found that the optimum flap height is about the
90% of the boundary layer thickness at the trailing edge.

The boundary layer thickness can be evaluated from the following relation.
t=0.383x / (Re^0.2)
Where x=distance along chord.

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After substituting for Reynolds number in terms of the approximate value of

the viscosity and density of air and the chord length we get the following
relation for optimum flap height.
Hopt = 37.155*c^0.8 U^-0.2*1000 mm
Where c = chord length
U=free stream velocity
Now it is possible to design the gurney flap for any given chord length and
flow velocity.

6.5 Hysteresis effect

Hysteresis effect cause the slopes of coefficient curves to be different for
increasing and decreasing angle of attacks. Actually the experiment is
conducted in two stages. In the first stage angle of attack is increased in a
stepwise manner and the lift curve is plotted. In the second stage the angle of
attack is decreased in a stepwise manner and another lift curve is plotted in
the same graph. The two curves will not coincide due to hysteresis effect. The
hysteresis effect is due to a separation phenomenon of the flow called laminar
separation bubble.

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6.5.1 Laminar separation bubble

A laminar separation bubble may be defined as a region of locally separated
flow.
When fluid flows past an aerofoil, after some distance from the leading edge,
due to the building of adverse pressure gradient , the flow separates. The
separation occurs in the transition region of the boundary layer near to the
end of laminar region.
After moving some distance the flow reattaches in the turbulent region of the
boundary layer. Thus in effect there exists a locally separated region with a
mass of fluid rotating within it called laminar separation bubble. Figure
below shows a laminar separation bubble.

Fig 6.4 Laminar separation bubble

At the stalling angle of attack, the flow fails to reattach and complete
separation of flow occurs.Depending on the size of bubble, it may be called
as a long bubble or short bubble. For a long bubble, the separated area will be
larger and it causes higher drag on the flap.

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6.5.2 Short bubble hysteresis

It generally occurs at the stalling angle of attack. We already have the glide
ratio curve in which the angle of attack was increasing and the flow separates
completely at stalling angle of attack. Now if we decrease the angle of attack,
the reattachment of flow takes place at a lesser angle of attack. Thus a
hysteresis loop is formed at the region of stalling angle of attack as shown in
the figure below.

Fig 6.5 Short bubble hysteresis

In the figure the glide ratio curve has been selected for explanation. But the
lift curve and drag curve also follow similar trends. In the fig. upstroke means
increasing angle of attack and down stroke means the decreasing angle of
attack.

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6.5.3 Long bubble hysteresis

The long bubble hysteresis can occur at any angle below the stalling angle of
attack. In the upstroke as the angle of attack is increased, the long bubble
grows larger in size due to very adverse pressure gradient. But when the angle
of attack reaches near the stalling value the long bubble bursts to a cluster of
short bubbles. Since the size of bubble becomes smaller, a slight
improvement in the lift coefficient and glide ratio has been observed.

During the down stroke the reunion of short bubbles to long bubble occurs
only at lesser angle of attacks which produces a long bubble hysteresis loop
below the stalling angle of attack. The figure below clearly shows the
different regions of operation of separation bubbles.

Fig 6.6 Distinction between long bubble and short bubble hysteresis

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6.5.4 Features of hysteresis effects

Although the prediction of hysteresis effects is cumbersome; it has been
observed that the hysteresis effect strongly depends on the geometry of
aerofoil and the Reynolds number of flow, the figures 11 to 14 reveal that.

Fig. 6.7 Glide ratio for clean aerofoil (Re=65000)

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Fig. 6.8 Glide ratio for 5.5mm Gurney flap (Re=65000)

Fig. 6.9 Glide ratio for clean aerofoil (Re=110000)

Fig. 6.10 Glide ratio for 5.5mm Gurney flap (Re=110,000)

It is clear from the above figures that as Reynolds number increases
hysteresis effects become severe and the size of hysteresis loops increases.
Also the sizes of hysteresis loops are larger for a plain aerofoil than a gurney
flap. Thus the gurney flap is effective in reducing the harmful hysteresis
effects. If hysteresis effects are there in the wings of an aero plane it may be
harmful to its stability.

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CHAPTER 7
ADVANTAGES

Up to 40% increase in lift

Improved glide ratio

No moving parts

Can easily be fitted

Cheap

Hysteresis effects are reduced to some extent

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CHAPTER 8
DISADVANTAGES

A gurney flap cannot be applied for very high speed and supersonic
applications.

Gurney flap causes increased vibration:

Actually the above disadvantage is due to a phenomenon called vortex
shedding. It has already been stated that two counter rotating vortices
are produced due to the flap. In fact, those vortices have some
oscillatory characteristics also. So alternatively lift forces are produced
in either direction which causes vibration. But this can be eliminated
by having some additional modifications in the trailing edge.

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CHAPTER 9
APPLICATIONS OF GURNEY FLAPS

Rear spoilers for race cars:

This is a typical application of the gurney flaps. Spoilers in race cars
are used for pressing the car onto the road, otherwise the car may fly
off from the ground due to high speed. This is accomplished by a
bottom up placed aerofoil which develops downward lift force. If
gurney flap is used for this purpose the downward lift produced is
higher and it ensures more maneuverability to the car.

Micro Air Vehicles

Micro air Vehicles are those flying objects with very small size .They
are essentially low speed flyers. So a high lift device which is free
from any moving parts is required for it to have good lift force. A
gurney flap serves this purpose well.

Wind turbines
If a gurney flap is fitted to the wing of a wind turbine, more lift force
is produced on the wings which results in higher torque and higher
power output.

Gliders
Gliders are essentially low speed flying objects and also they do not
have an engine. So it is desirable for them to have a high lift device
like a gurney flap.

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CHAPTER 10
CURRENT RESEARCH AREAS IN GURNEY FLAPS

Application to helicopter rotors

If a Gurney flap can be incorporated on a helicopter rotor successfully,
the speed of the rotor can be reduced to produce the same lift.

Application to delta wing aircrafts

Active Gurney flaps for race cars

For race cars the speed will be varying throughout the track. So
the optimum height of the flap keeps on changing. By the special
material of Gurney flap it can be rendered as an active one that is a
flap which is capable of changing the height according to the real time
velocity of car and thus keeping the optimum height for all the time.

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CHAPTER 11
CONCLUSION

From the experiment conducted it has been proved that a Gurney flap
successfully works as a high lift device at lower velocities. Since it is very
easy to be fitted and does not contain any moving parts, it promises a bright
future for micro air vehicles, wind turbines, gliders etc.

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REFERENCES

L.Brown and A.Filippone (2003),Aerofoil at low speeds with

Gurney Flaps, The Aeronautical Journal, No.2800, pages 539 to 546

L J Clancy, Aerodynamics, Longman Group, 1996 Edition

http://aerodyn.org/HighLift/gurney.html

www.allamericanracers.com

http://www.as.go.dlr.de/Transsonium4

http://www.cfd.tu-berlin.de

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