Aerodynamic Design of Shock Control Bumps on an Aircraft Considering Structural Constraints

Abstract

Shock control bumps can reduce the overall drag of a modern transport aircraft by reducing the wave drag. In this study, different shapes of static shock control bumps on a laminar wing are aerodynamically analyzed using numerical tools. This design study introduces a novel approach by using structurally feasible shapes constrained to the spoiler positions. This ensures feasible realization possibilities in the future. The robustness, drag reduction in off-design condition, is increased by reducing the overall height of the bump. This robust version of the bump is then implemented on a three-dimensional wing geometry of a modern transport aircraft on up to four spoilers. It is shown that the drag reduction potential varies linearly with the bump width in the investigated range of spoiler extensions. Over a wide range of lift coefficients, the bump robustly reduces drag by up to 2%. Estimated fuel savings of up to 1000 kg can be derived for a flight mission of 9000 km for a long-range wide-body aircraft at cruise conditions of M=0.85.