Cross-flow effects regarding laminar flow control within conceptual aircraft design

Abstract

Purpose

Laminarization of commercial aircraft surfaces is the most promising technology to reduce fuel consumption and ecological impact. As laminar flow highly depends on cross-flow effects, there is the question in which way simple estimations and simplifications for application in conceptual aircraft design can be used to capture these cross-flow influences. This paper aims to show the accuracy of 2D methods for estimating laminar flow regions on 3D wing objects.

Design/methodology/approach

Several methods, relating 3D and 2D flow conditions, are analyzed with regard to capture cross-flow influences. The 3D pressure distributions depending on utilized transformation method are compared to Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) solutions. With the most precise transformation method, the laminar flow area on a conventional wing of a short range aircraft is determined and compared to the laminar area obtained with the RANS pressure distributions as input. Further, hybrid laminar flow control component sizing is carried out to obtain the net benefit in fuel reduction of simplified method compared to RANS method for a conventional short range aircraft.

Findings

In this particular case, the solutions calculated with the simplified methods show high deviations from those obtained with RANS.

Originality/value

This investigation underlines the need of proper methods for fast and accurate estimation of cross-flow effects to be able to assess the full potential of laminar flow control within conceptual aircraft design.

Citation

Schueltke, F. and Stumpf, E. (2017), "Cross-flow effects regarding laminar flow control within conceptual aircraft design", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 89 No. 4, pp. 620-631. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEAT-11-2016-0210