maximizing the peak lift-to-drag coefficient ratio of airfoils by optimizing the ratio of thickness to the camber of airfoils

The paper investigates the lift-to-drag coefficient ratio (cl/cd) efficiency of three airfoils, namely e387, rg15, and sd6060. the objective is to optimize the airfoils for maximum cl/cd efficiency and evaluate them using xfoil software. the study focuses on these airfoils’ performance at different reynolds numbers (re) from 500,000 to 1,000,000, with varying thickness-to-camber ratio percentages (t/c%). the results indicate that the e387-opt airfoil improved the maximum cl/cd by 18.92% at re 500,000, 23.77% at re 600,000, 27.14% at re 700,000, 32.44% at re 800,000, 32.93% at re 900,000, and 38.46% at re 1,000,000. the rg15-opt airfoil also demonstrated impressive performance, with a maximum cl/cd increase of 34.38% at re 500,000, 36.75% at re 600,000, 38.54% at re 700,000, 41.58% at re 800,000, 45.57% at re 900,000, and 51.30% at re 1,000,000. finally, the sd6060-opt airfoil showed even better results, with a maximum cl/cd increase of 37.07% at re 500,000, 38.16% at re 600,000, 42.44% at re 700,000, 48.99% at re 800,000, 53.10% at re 900,000, and 56.91% at re 1,000,000.