Experimental Investigation of Laminar Flow Control on a Supersonic Swept Wing by Suction

Abstract

The experimental results of the investigations of the transition-delay on a supersonic swept wing by suction in the framework of the European research project SUPERTRAC are presented in this work. The experiments were performed for a variety of parameter settings at Mach 2 in the Ludwieg Tube Facility at DLR Göttingen. Three test-cases have been investigated: two for the 30°-sweep at unit Reynolds numbers of 17 mio/m and 25 mio/m, and one for the 20°-sweep at unit Reynolds numbers of 30 mio/m. In all these cases the suction velocity was varied as a free parameter in the range from zero up to approximately 1.0m/s. Modern measurement techniques, which are essential for the detection and investigation of transition, such as the global skin-friction interferometry (GISF) and the infrared (IR) thermography, are used for the present investigations. The results obtained include wall pressure and heat flux distributions, as well as transition locations and limiting streamlines pattern.