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Spatio-temporal measurement and plasma-based control of crossflow instabilities for drag reduction

Project description

A closer look at high-fidelity crossflow for future air transport

Aeroplane wings are swept backwards to reduce turbulence by lowering down the air as it moves across the surface of the wings. More importantly, delay of laminar–turbulent flow transition on aircraft wings can reduce aerodynamic drag by up to 15 %, lowering emissions and fuel consumption considerably. In this context, the EU-funded GLOWING project will study crossflow (CF) instabilities, which are responsible for laminar–turbulent flow transition on swept wings. Specifically, the project will aim to achieve spatiotemporal measures of CF instabilities and develop a novel active flow control system that can successfully delay laminar–turbulent flow transition. The findings will be used to validate linear and non-linear stability and control theory models, and provide top benchmarks for high-fidelity CF. In turn, this will finally enable robust and efficient laminar flow on future air transport.

Objective

Delay of laminar-turbulent flow transition on aircraft wings can potentially reduce aerodynamic drag by up to 15%, reducing emissions and fuel consumption considerably. The main cause of laminar-turbulent transition on commonly used swept wings is the development of crossflow (CF) instabilities. Despite their importance, our fundamental understanding of CF instabilities is limited due to inability of current measurement techniques to capture their complex and multi-scale spatio-temporal features. This severely limits our ability to delay CF transition, which is further impeded by the lack of simple, robust and efficient control concepts.

In this proposal I will achieve unprecedented spatio-temporal measurements of CF instabilities and develop a novel active flow control system that can successfully delay transition on swept wings. To achieve these goals, I bring forth a unique combination of cutting-edge technologies, such as tomographic particle image velocimetry, advanced plasma-based actuators and linear/non-linear stability and control theory.

Spatio-temporal volumetric velocity measurements of CF instabilities will be achieved at three important stages of their life, namely inception, growth and breakdown, providing breakthrough insights into the underlying physics of swept wing transition and turbulence production. The results will be used to postulate and validate linear and non-linear stability and control theory models and provide top benchmarks for high-fidelity CFD. The unprecedented wealth of information, enabled through these advances, will be used to design and demonstrate the first synergetic plasma-based laminar flow control system. This system will feature minimum-thickness plasma actuators, able to suppress the growth of CF instabilities and achieve and sustain considerable transition delay at high Reynolds numbers. These advances will finally enable robust and efficient laminar flow on future air transport.

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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ERC-STG - Starting Grant

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) ERC-2018-STG

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Host institution

TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT DELFT
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 499 460,00
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 499 460,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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