Towards Effective Flow Control and Mitigation of Shock Effects in Aeronautical Applications

ended

Future, sustainable, growth of the aviation industry relies on continued improvements in efficiency giving reductions in fuelcconsumption and increases in payload. Research efforts therefore focus on aerodynamic performance and structural weightcsavings. This inherently requires more highly performing wings, control surfaces and turbomachinery blades where transoniccflow is common place and the formation of shock waves the key aerodynamic challenge. In particular, the interaction ofcshock waves with boundary-layers is one of, if not the main performance-limiting or safety critical flow phenomena across all of these flow fields. Thus, a good understanding of the interaction of shock waves with boundary layers is essential for the development of future, more efficient, air vehicles and engines. Increased aerodynamic forces can lead to flow separation and reductions in engine and airframe efficiency. In such cases, flow control is needed to maintain system performance. However, novel designs are also likely to increase the extent of laminar flow and this implies that flow control devices need to operate in a laminar or transitional regime. This requires a better understanding of their function and their interaction with flow transition. The main research objectives of the TEAMAero project are: (1) improvement of fundamental understanding of shock wave boundary layer interaction (SBLI) physics including three-dimensionality and unsteadiness (2) identification of flow domains best suited to flow control device installation (3) development of flow control schemes using wall transpiration (suction/blowing), vortex generators and surface treatments to delay the separation onset, and (4) development of novel numerical will be updated methods for the prediction of SBLI effects.