Study of boundary layer transition on supercritical natural laminar flow wing at high Reynolds number through wind tunnel experiment

Abstract

In order to achieve the goal of green aviation, energy conservation and emission reduction, laminar flow design technology has become a hot research topic. For transonic airliners, supercritical natural laminar flow wing design technology will significantly improve the aerodynamic performance (reduce flight drag, decrease fuel consumption and pollutant emissions). In this paper, airfoil optimization design system is applied to design the supercritical natural laminar flow airfoils based on high-precision boundary layer transition prediction technique. Then, three-dimensional layout of supercritical natural laminar flow wing is formed. Numerical simulations have been conducted to verify the laminar flow properties. In addition, the aerodynamic model with ratio of 1:10.4 is processed to measure boundary layer transition phenomena in the high speed and low turbulence wind tunnel in Netherlands. Temperature sensitive paint (TSP) technique is used to photograph laminar-turbulent distribution at different Mach numbers, Reynolds numbers and angels of attack. In the following content, boundary layer transition properties of the supercritical natural laminar flow wing are analyzed using TSP results and CFD simulations. Finally, key factors of supercritical natural laminar wing design and corresponding boundary layer transition properties are summarized. In addition, the research about transition properties of supercritical natural laminar flow wing at high Reynolds numbers have guiding significance for aircraft designers and transition researchers.