Effects of Distributed Suction on an Airfoil at Low Reynolds Number

Abstract

A suction distribution was designed based on Thwaites' criterion of separation. The effectiveness of the designed suction distribution in controlling the size of the laminar separation bubble on a LA2573a airfoil was investigated. The suction distribution was capable of maintaining an unseparated laminar boundary up to the original transition location. The effects of applying different suction rates on the drag were tested. Drag reductions between 14 and 24 % were achieved. The penalty for utilizing suction was estimated by introducing an equivalent suction drag. The analysis showed that the penalty for using suction to reduce the drag was relatively small.

Detonation Stabilization in Supersonic Flow: Effects of Suction Boundaries

“…The wall suction is among the first techniques applied to control the structure of the boundary layer. Most suction investigations concentrate on pure flow subject to active control by applying homogeneous suction boundaries [11][12][13][14][15][16]. Only a few studies are carried out concerning detonation combustion.…”