Three-dimensional shock controlling for transonic aircraft

What is it about?

Three-dimensional wedge-shaped bumps have been studied on a transonic wing to control the shock wave by RANS simulation. Three-dimensional bumps have an advantage in robustness for the change of inflow condition, such as Mach number or angle of attack, compared to two-dimensional bumps. In order to understand the flowfield and shock characteristics, the height, width, and spacing of the three-dimensional bump were varied. The results showed that the stronger or wider oblique shock formed by three-dimensional bumps weakens the original main shock more, and that the drag decreases proportionally with increasing spanwise cross-sectional area of the bumps. In addition, the interaction between the oblique shock waves from each bump can be utilized to control the strength or position of the main shock to improve aerodynamic performance.

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Photo by Samuel’s Photos on Unsplash

Photo by Samuel’s Photos on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The findings of this research contribute to the drag reduction of modern transonic aircraft, which can be utilized to reduce CO2 emissions and fuel costs, or to increase the cruise velocity, and are expected to be applied to the design of higher performance aircraft.