Aerodynamic Characteristics of a Blended-Wing-Body Aircraft With A Serpentine Inlet Using Flow Control Techniques

Demands of a modern aircraft regarding its aerodynamic performance and high efficiency are ever-growing. An S-shaped inlet, as known as a serpentine duct, plays a significant role in increasing fuel efficiency. Recently, the serpentine duct is commonly employed for military aircraft to block the front of the jet engine from radar. However, delivering a non-uniformly distorted flow to the engine face (aerodynamic interface plane, AIP) though a serpentine duct is inevitable due to the existence of flow separation and swirl flow in the duct. The effect of distortion is to cause the engine compressor to surge; thus, it may impact on the life-cycle of aircraft engine. In this study, aerodynamic characteristics of a serpentine duct mounted on a blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft was thoroughly investigated to determine where and how the vortex flow was generated. In particular, both passive and active flow control were implemented at a place where the flow separation was occurred to minimize the flow distortion rate in the duct. The passive and active flow control systems were used with vortex generator (VG) vanes and air suctions, respectively. A pair of VG s have been made as a set, and 6 sets of VG in the serpentine duct. For the active flow control, 19 air suctions have been implemented. Both flow control devices have been placed in three different locations. To evaluate the performance of flow control system, it is necessary to quantify the flow uniformity at the AIP. Therefore, coefficient of distortion, DC(60) was used as the quantitative measure of distortion. Also, change in DC(60) value while the BWB aircraft is maneuvering phase was analyzed.