Effects of characteristic geometric parameters on parafoil lift and drag

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to describe the effects of characteristic geometric parameters on parafoil aerodynamic performance by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique. Design/methodology/approach - The main characteristic geometric parameters cover the planform geometry, arc-anhedral angle, basic airfoil and leading-edge cut. By using the CFD technique, a large number of numerical parafoil models with different geometric parameters are developed to study the correlations between these parameters and parafoil aerodynamic performance. Findings - The CFD technique is feasible and effective to study the effects of characteristic geometric parameters on parafoil aerodynamic performance in three-dimensional (3-D) flowfield condition. The planform geometry can affect the aerodynamic performance obviously. An increase in arc-anhedral angle decreases the lift of a parafoil but has little effect on lift-drag ratio. The model with smaller leading-edge radius and thinner thickness of parafoil section achieves larger lift-drag ratio. The leading-edge cut has little effect on lift but increase drag dramatically; meanwhile, its effect on flowfield is confined to the nearby region of leading edge. Practical implications - The presented 3-D numerical simulation results of parafoil models are shown to have good agreement with the tunnel test data in general trend; meanwhile, considering its relatively low-cost, the CFD method could be further used to predict coefficients in pre-research or at non-experimental conditions. Originality/value - The paper can form the foundation of further studies on parafoil aerodynamic performance with different geometric parameters.