Highlights

Keywords Aerodynamics, Waveforms, Flow, Differential equations, Numerical analysis

Abstract In this paper, the effectiveness of a number of active devices for the control of shock waves on transonic aerofoils is investigated using numerical solutions of the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. A brief description of the flow model and the numerical method is presented including, in particular, the boundary condition modelling and the numerical treatment for surface mass transfer. Comparisons with experimental data have been made where possible to validate the numerical study before some systematic numerical simulations for a parametric study. The effects of surface suction, blowing, and local modification of the surface contour (bump) on aerofoil aerodynamic performance have been studied extensively regarding the control location, the mass flow strength and the bump height. The numerical simulations highlight the benefits and drawbacks of the various control devices for transonic aerodynamic performance and identify the key design parameters for optimisation.

1. Introduction

For aircraft flying at high subsonic Mach numbers, local pockets of supersonic flow develop over the lifting surfaces that are usually terminated by a shock wave. Associated with the appearance of the shock wave is an increase in drag, resulting...