Aerodynamic Assessment of Surface-Normal Active Flow Control for Lift Enhancement on the High-Lift Common Research Model

Abstract

This study explores aerodynamic feasibility of small surface-normal pneumatic jets (microjets) for lift enhancement on the high-lift Common Research Model. To date, lift enhancement studies using microjets have been conducted at wind tunnel Reynolds numbers less than three and half million. This paper computationally investigates microjet effects at a flight Reynolds number of 24.6 million. Prior to microjet activation, it is shown that flow features such as trailing edge (TE) flow separation on both inboard and outboard flaps have noticeable sensitivity to Reynolds number. At the flight Reynolds number, the onset of TE flow separation shifts downstream resulting in less flow separation compared to at the wind tunnel Reynolds number of 3.26 million. The effects are insignificant for lift enhancement due to microjet on the inboard flap. However, the effects are significant for lift enhancement on the outboard flap. Microjets are shown to be more effective in circulation control on the outboard flap at the higher Reynolds number. For a microjet with velocity ratio of one, lift enhancement is increased by 17% at the flight Reynolds number. This highlights the sensitivity of microjet performance to the flow features of the configuration it is implemented on. Microjet lift enhancement trends at both Reynolds numbers are found to be consistent in their ability to move the lift curve upwards in the linear regime, with the lift enhancement related to microjet momentum coefficient through ∆C_L=k√(C_μ ). Analysis of the impact microjets have on drag shows that microjets improve the configuration’s Oswald efficiency by 5.4% and 2.5% at the wind tunnel and flight Reynolds numbers respectively, while providing lift enhancement. Microjet effects on the trim drag are found to be less than one percent of the total drag. The results of this study highlight the potential of small surface-normal pneumatic jets for improved performance at high-lift conditions.