Using Liquid Spray Formations to Improve Aerodynamic Performance of Airfoils

Abstract

Previous research on firefighting aircraft which employ dumping water from their lower surface to extinguish flames has shown that there are added lift benefits during dumping maneuvers which do not directly correlate to the exchange in water mass. In this case study, the effects of liquid spray formations on two dimensional aerodynamics are investigated by use of a numerical approach. Studies include chord-wise variation of liquid-jets and variation of spray momentum ratios. Comparisons are also made to previous, single-phase, jet-flap numerical experiments and show favorable agreement. Findings show that increases in lift coefficient and decreases in drag coefficient are observed with the presences of liquid jets located on the lower surface.