Mechanism analysis of magnetohydrodynamic shock control in hypersonic flow

The effects of external magnetic fields on the shock-wave configuration at hypersonic plasma flow field are investigated in this paper. A series of numerical simulations over various geometry configurations, namely, a blunt body and a fixed-geometry inlet forebody, have been conducted by varying the applied magnetic field under different freestream conditions. Results show that magnetohydrodynamic shock control capabilities under three types of magnetic field are ranked from weak to strong as dipole magnet, solenoid magnet, and uniform magnet field. Under the same applied magnetic field, it is easier to deflect the shock at a relatively high altitude condition, compared with the low altitude case. The bow shock standoff distance is dependent on the distribution of counter-flow Lorentz force right after shock in the stagnation region. For the oblique shock control, the function of two components of Lorentz force is different that the counter-flow one decelerates the flow and increases the shock-wave angle, while the normal one squeezes the oblique shock and deflects the streamlines.

Use of shape memory alloy for active shock control bump application

A shape memory alloy (SMA) with composition of Ni50.1Ti49.9 (at. %) was used for fabrication of a 3-D bump structure intended for use as an active shock control bump (SCB) into a transonic wing. This kind of bump is a variable-geometry structure designed to reduce the drag induced by shock wave ensure wing’s aerodynamic performance over the entire range of operating conditions. To meet this target, the SMA bump requires to exhibit two-way shape memory effect (TWSME) so that it can yield continuous shape change by properly changing the driving temperature. Result from differential scanning calorimetry was first presented to provide material’s phase transformation temperatures. To obtain the TWSME, a thermo-mechanical training procedure was proposed and a set of training devices were designed for training SMA bump. The SMA bump in this paper is trained to have a relatively flat shape in high temperature and can swell up when cooling. After more than 80 times training, the TWSME of the material tends to be stable. Then the thermo-mechanical responses of the SMA bump which is subjected to about 100 times training was tested. The result shows that the trained SMA bump can generate about 1.2 mm maximum recoverable deformation during martensitic transformation, which is about 3% of the ratio of the deformation region. Finally, the influence of external load on the thermo-mechanical response of the trained SMA bump were also studied.

Unsteady Simulation of Transonic Buffet of a Supercritical Airfoil with Shock Control Bump

The unsteady flow characteristics of a supercritical OAT15A airfoil with a shock control bump were numerically studied by a wall-modeled large eddy simulation. The numerical method was first validated by the buffet and nonbuffet cases of the baseline OAT15A airfoil. Both the pressure coefficient and velocity fluctuation coincided well with the experimental data. Then, four different shock control bumps were numerically tested. A bump of height h/c = 0.008 and location xB/c = 0.55 demonstrated a good buffet control effect. The lift-to-drag ratio of the buffet case was increased by 5.9%, and the root mean square of the lift coefficient fluctuation was decreased by 67.6%. Detailed time-averaged flow quantities and instantaneous flow fields were analyzed to demonstrate the flow phenomenon of the shock control bumps. The results demonstrate that an appropriate “λ” shockwave pattern caused by the bump is important for the flow control effect.

Structural concept of an adaptive shock control bump spoiler

Drag reduction technologies in aircraft design are the key enabler for reducing emissions and for sustainable growth of commercial aviation. Laminar wing technologies promise a significant benefit by drag reduction and are, therefore, under investigation in various European projects. However, of the established moveable concepts and high-lift systems thus far most do not cope with the requirements for natural laminar flow wings. To this aim, new leading edge high-lift systems have been the focus of research activities in the last 5 years. Such leading edge devices investigated in projects include a laminar flow-compatible Kruger flap (Schlipf (2011) Insect shielding Krüger—structural design for a laminar flow wing. In: DGLR Congress 2011, Bremen, pp 55–60) and the Droop Nose concept (Kintscher et al. Ground testof an enhanced adaptive droop nose device. In: European Congress on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences and Engineering, ECCOMAS 2016. ECCOMAS2016—VII European Congress on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences and Engineering, 5–10 June 2016, Crete Island, Greece; Kintscher et al. Low speed wind tunnel test of a morphing leading edge. In: AIDAA—Italian Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics XXII Conference, 09–12 Sept. 2013. Neapel, Italien) and these can be considered as alternatives to the conventional slat. Hybrid laminar flow concepts are also under investigation at several research institutes in Europe (Fischer. Stepless and sustainable research for the aircraft of tomorrow—from AFloNext to Clean Sky 2. In: 1st AFloNext Workshop Key Note Lecture No. 1, Delft, The Netherlands, 10 Sept 2015). Another challenge associated with laminar wings aside from the development of leading edge movables is the need to address the control of aerodynamic shocks and buffeting as laminar wings are sensitive to high flow speeds. Here, one possible method of decreasing the wave drag caused by the aerodynamic shock is through the use of shock control bumps (SCBs). The objective of SCBs is the conversion of a single strong shock into several smaller and weaker λ-shocks resulting in a drag benefit when deployed correctly. A particular desirable characteristic of SCBs is that they should be adaptable in position and height as the shock position changes with varying conditions such as speed, altitude, and angle of attack during the flight. However, as a fixed case, SCBs can also help to control laminar buffeting by fixing the shock into given positions at the SCBs location. In this paper, a structural concept for an adaptive shock control bump spoiler is presented. Based on a concept of a fixed bump SCB spoiler, a design for an adaptive spoiler with two conventional actuators is presented. Design drivers and interdependencies of important design parameters are discussed. The presented design is simple and aims for a high TRL without adding much complexity to the spoiler. It is robust and able to form a bump with a height of 0.6% chord length which position can be adapted in a range of 10% chord. This paper is a follow-up of a previous publication (Kintscher and Monner, SAE Tech Paper 10.4271/2017-01-2164, 2017) with extending the focus by a validation of computational results by experimental tests.

Review of Adaptive Shock Control Systems

Drag reduction plays a major role in future aircraft design in order to lower emissions in aviation. In transonic flight, the transonic shock induces wave drag and thus increases the overall aircraft drag and hence emissions. In the past decades, shock control has been investigated intensively from an aerodynamic point of view and has proven its efficacy in terms of reducing wave drag. Furthermore, a number of concepts for shock control bumps (SCBs) that can adapt their position and height have been introduced. The implementation of adaptive SCBs requires a trade-off between aerodynamic benefits, system complexity and overall robustness. The challenge is to find a system with low complexity which still generates sufficient aerodynamic improvement to attain an overall system benefit. The objectives of this paper are to summarize adaptive concepts for shock control, and to evaluate and compare them in terms of their advantages and challenges of their system integrity so as to offer a basis for robust comparisons. The investigated concepts include different actuation systems as conventional spoiler actuators, shape memory alloys (SMAs) or pressurized elements. Near-term applications are seen for spoiler actuator concepts while highest controllability is identified for concepts several with smaller actuators such as SMAs.

Using shock control bumps to improve engine intake performance and operability

Shock control bumps can be used to control and weaken the shock waves that form on engine intakes at high angles of attack. In this paper, it is demonstrated how shock control bumps applied to an engine intake can reduce or eliminate shock-induced separation at high incidence, and also increase the incidence at which critical separation occurs. Three-dimensional Reynolds-average Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulations are used to model the flow through a large civil aircraft engine intake at high incidence. The variation in shock strength and separation with incidence is first studied, along with the flow distribution around the nacelle. An optimisation process is then employed to design shock control bumps that reduce shock strength and separation at a fixed high incidence condition. The bump geometry is allowed to vary in shape, size, streamwise position and circumferential direction around the nacelle. This is shown to be key to the success of the shock control geometry. A further step is then taken, using the optimisation methodology to design bumps that can increase the incidence at which critical separation occurs. It is shown that, by using this approach, the operating range of the engine intake can be increased by at least three degrees.