Airfoil Performance in a Backward-Facing Step Flow

Non-uniform inflows over an airfoil are ubiquitous in both natural and engineered environ- ments, such as during flight over mountainous terrain or urban canyon regions. The non-uniform inflows interact with the separation flow and wake from the airfoil, generating complex flow phenomena that can significantly modify aerodynamic performance. A systematic investigation of the complex flow interactions are study here. In this study, a Backward Facing Step (BFS) flow, characterized by a boundary layer thickness of