NACA 0012 and 0021 Airfoil Force Data from High-Fidelity CFD Simulations

Time series data from high-fidelity CFD simulations of NACA 0012 and 0021 airfoils, generated using the Nalu-Wind code. The dataset contains pressure, viscous, and moment force data across angles of attack from 5 to 90 degrees, with variations in mesh resolution and turbulence models. It was produced by Department of Energy researchers to study deep stall aerodynamics and published in the Journal of Turbulence.

Use Cases

• Validate CFD turbulence models like IDDES by comparing simulated pressure and moment forces against experimental lift and drag polars.
• Analyze the effect of angle of attack (AOA) variations from 5 to 90 degrees on viscous and pressure forces for airfoil design.
• Study the impact of mesh resolution, specifically wall-normal and spanwise cell count, on the accuracy of predicted aerodynamic loads.
• Train models to predict deep stall behavior using force time series data generated for Reynolds numbers 2.7e5 and 2.0e6.

Strengths

• Data is derived from high-fidelity simulations using the validated open-source Nalu-Wind CFD code.
• Includes results for two distinct airfoil geometries (NACA 0012 and NACA 0021) across six specific angles of attack.
• Covers multiple simulation configurations, varying wall-normal resolution, spanwise resolution, and Reynolds numbers.
• Published research associated with the dataset provides context and validation in the Journal of Turbulence.

Limitations

• The dataset size, row count, and specific file structure are not documented, complicating initial assessment of data volume.
• Data is stored in a proprietary BIN format, which may require specialized tools or libraries for access and parsing.
• Focus is limited to two specific airfoil profiles and a discrete set of angles, not a continuous aerodynamic envelope.

Provenance

Source

Department of Energy

Collection Method

Generated via high-fidelity Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations using the Nalu-Wind code.

Freshness

Last updated March 2026.