Active flow control concepts and application opportunities
Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
ISSN: 0002-2667
Article publication date: 4 September 2017
Abstract
Purpose
Aerodynamics drives the aircraft performance and, thus, influences fuel consumption and environmental compatibility. Further, optimization of aerodynamic shapes is an ongoing design activity in industrial offices; this will lead to incremental improvements. More significant step changes in performance are not expected from pure passive shape design. However, active flow control is a key technology, which has the potential to realize a drastic step change in performance. Flow control targets two major goals: low speed performance enhancements mainly for start and landing phase via control of separation and drag reduction at high speed conditions via skin friction and shock wave control.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper highlights flow control concepts and Airbus involvements for both items. To mature flow control systematically, local applications of separation control technology are of major importance for Airbus. In parallel, but at lower maturity level, investigations are ongoing to reduce the turbulent skin friction at cruise. A popular concept to delay separation at low speed conditions is the implementation of jet actuation control systems flush mounted to the wall of aerodynamic components.
Findings
In 2006, DLR (in collaboration with universities Berlin, Braunschweig and industrial partner Airbus) started to study active flow control for separation delay towards application. Based on basic proof of concepts (achieved in national projects), further flow control hardware developments and wind tunnel and lab testing took place in European funded projects.
Originality/value
Significant lift enhancements were realized via flow control applied to the wing leading edge and the flap.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The numerical and experimental investigations to enhance the Navier–Stokes code TAU with flow control predictions has been performed within the national German program Lufo IV (project M-Fly/AeroNext). This project has received funding from the German ministry BMWi (funding reference FKZ 20A0603A). The measurements in the DNW-NWB facility have been performed within the “CleanSky1” project “Smart Fixed Wing Aircraft (SFWA)”. All experimental work has been performed in close partnership with the Universities TU Berlin and TU Braunschweig. This SFWA project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) for the Clean Sky Joint Technology Initiative under grant agreement number CSJU-GAM-SFWA-2008-001.
Citation
Bieler, H. (2017), "Active flow control concepts and application opportunities", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 89 No. 5, pp. 725-729. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEAT-01-2017-0015
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited