  Enhancing aerodynamic efficiency is vital for optimizing aircraft performance
and operational effectiveness. It enables greater speeds and reduced fuel
consumption, leading to lower operating costs. Hence, the implementation of
Gurney flaps represents a promising avenue for improving airfoil aerodynamics.
The optimization of Gurney flaps holds considerable ramifications for improving
the lift and stall characteristics of airfoils in aircraft and wind turbine
blade designs. The efficacy of implementing Gurney flaps hinges significantly
on its design parameters, namely, flap height and mounting angle. This study
attempts to optimize these parameters using a design optimization framework,
which incorporates training a Radial Basis Function surrogate model based on
CFD data from two-dimensional (2D) Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS)
simulations. The Cuckoo Search algorithm is then employed to obtain the optimal
design parameters and compared with other competing optimization algorithms.
The optimized Gurney flap configuration shows a notable improvement of 10.28%
in Cl/Cd, with a flap height of 1.9%c and a flap mounting angle of -58 degrees.
The study highlights the effectiveness of the proposed design optimization
framework and furnishes valuable insights into optimizing Gurney flap
parameters. The comparison of metaheuristic algorithms serves to enhance the
study's contribution to Gurney flap design optimization.
