Aerodynamic Control of an Inlet Flow in Crosswind Using Peripheral Bleed Actuation

Abstract

The flow within the inlet of an engine nacelle model in the absence of a fan and the presence of crosswind is investigated in wind-tunnel experiments, with specific emphasis on the effects of separation over the inlet’s inner windward surface on the flow distortion and pressure recovery. The inlet’s entrance plane is tilted forward, and its cross section is asymmetric about the horizontal centerline. The flow topology within the inlet is characterized over a range of Mach numbers and crosswind speeds up to M=0.72 and Uo=18 m/s, respectively. It is shown that in the presence of sufficiently high crosswind to the inlet speed ratio, a three-dimensional horseshoe-like separation domain is formed over the inlet’s inner windward surface. Owing to the cross-sectional asymmetry of the entrance plane, the separation domain migrates azimuthally downward and expands azimuthally with increased crosswind to the inlet speed ratio. The present investigations demonstrate the utility of flow control for mitigating the adverse effects of the separation. The actuation is based on controllable distributed aerodynamic air bleed that is driven by the pressure differences across the nacelle’s inner and outer surfaces and reattaches the separated base flow up to crosswind speeds of 15.4 m/s, resulting in a gain of up to 38% in total pressure recovery and a decrease of up to 55% in total pressure distortion. The efficacy of the bleed actuation can be further improved by tailoring the bleed distribution to the topology of the separated flow domain.