Comparative Numerical Analysis of NACA 2412, NACA 0012, and NACA 63-412 Airfoil Performance for Cessna 172 Aircraft Wings

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of different wing profiles on the aerodynamic performance of the default NACA 2412 airfoil used in the Cessna 172 aircraft, along with two alternatives, NACA 0012 and NACA 63-412, through 3D flow analysis. All three airfoils were modeled in SolidWorks for numerical evaluation. Using ANSYS Fluent 2023R2, the aerodynamic characteristics, including the lift coefficient, drag coefficient, and lift-to-drag ratio, were analyzed across a range of angles of attack from 0 °to 20 °at a Reynolds number of R_e = 2.5×10⁵. Simulations were conducted using the k-epsilon turbulence model, revealing that the lift coefficient (C_l) increased for all profiles with the angle of attack until it reached the stall point, which occurred at approximately 14 °. Among the profiles, NACA 63-412 achieved the highest lift coefficient, while NACA 0012 had the lowest. In terms of lift-to-drag (L/D) ratio, all profiles initially showed an increase up to around 4-6 degrees of attack before declining. Although NACA 63-412 initially maintained a higher L/D ratio, it experienced a steeper decline beyond this range compared to NACA 2412. At lower angles of attack, NACA 63-412 performed best, NACA 2412 showed better results at higher angles, and NACA 0012 showed poor results throughout. The NACA 63-412's high lift characteristics provide benefits in certain circumstances, even though the NACA 2412 is the standard airfoil for the Cessna 172-R due to its dependable, well-rounded performance.