Unsteady Characterization of Fluidic Flow Control Devices for Gust Load Alleviation

Abstract

The lift reduction potential of fluidic flow control devices is investigated. The devices target unsteady gust load alleviation to achieve a reduction in overall wing weight and fuel consumption. The study focuses on a jet normal to the surface and jet over a Coanda surface installed at the trailing edge. The fluidic actuators are compared to a trailing edge flap for reference using unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations. Unsteady interactions of the airfoil with different gusts are simulated to estimate the required load change and response time of the control devices. To reduce computational costs, a surrogate model based on precomputed aerodynamic polars is developed to estimate gust-induced load changes. The effect of jet temperature for the fluidic actuators and dual blowing for Coanda actuator are studied.