Influence of engine modeling on structural sizing and approach aerodynamics of a circulation controlled wing

Abstract

Extended configurations of a short take-off and landing aircraft under investigation at the Coordinated Research Centre SFB 880 include a morphing droop nose and a tractor propeller engine. The short take-off and landing capabilities are achieved by circulation control via a high velocity jet over the flap leading edges utilizing the Coandǎ effect. The effect of the engine integration in combination with the blown flaps on the wing sizing, aerodynamic performance, and static wing deformation are of large interest. High-detail structural wing models are sized with a fully stressed approach using a partitioned fluid–structure interaction process. The aerodynamic part is covered by highly detailed computational fluid simulations. The effect of modeling the engine on the global and local aerodynamics for different levels of circulation control has a large impact. In addition, a change in flow separation behavior due to the engine effects is observed. The wing mass is only slightly increased by the detailed engine aerodynamics and the separation behavior changes slightly for the elastic wing. These findings show that the modeling of the engine will lead to a different stall behavior and allow for a higher lift, while the influence on the wing structure and aeroelasticity are very small.