The onset of compressibility effects for aerofoils in ground effect

Abstract The influence of flow compressibility on a highly-cambered inverted aerofoil in ground effect is presented, based on two-dimensional computational studies. This type of problem has relevance to open-wheel racing cars, where local regions of high-speed subsonic flow form under favourable pressure gradients, even though the maximum freestream Mach number is typically considerably less than Mach 0·3. An important consideration for CFD users in this field is addressed in this paper: the freestream Mach number at which flow compressibility significantly affects aerodynamic performance. More broadly, for aerodynamicists, the consequences of this are also considered. Comparisons between incompressible and compressible CFD simulations are used to identify important changes to the flow characteristics caused by density changes, highlighting the inappropriateness of incompressible simulations of ground effect flows for freestream Mach numbers as low as 0·15.