Propulsion and Aerodynamic Performance Evaluation of Jet-Wing Distributed Propulsion
Abstract
Distributed propulsion is the idea of redistributing the thrust across the drag producing elements of a vehicle. Our configuration has a modest number of engines with part of the exhaust flow vented from thick trailing edges of the wings to cancel the local profile drag and the rest of the exhaust flow providing thrust to cancel the induced drag and drag of the fuselage and tails. CFD studies were performed on two-dimensional wing sections in transonic, viscous flow to (1) investigate the effect of jet-wing on propulsion efficiency and the flow field (2) determine design changes for achieving efficient distributed propulsion, and (3) investigate the effect of jet-flaps with small jet deflection angles on aerodynamic parameters. The jet-wing distributed propulsion can give propulsive efficiencies on the order of turbofan engine aircraft and if the trailing edge of a conventional Outboard airfoil is expanded, efficiency can be increased by 7.5%. An increase in propulsion efficiency was achieved without expanding the trailing edge for a thicker Inboard airfoil. The results of the Outboard airfoil jet-flap cases support the idea of using deflected exhaust jets from trailing edges as control surfaces.
Recommended Citation
J. A. Schetz et al., "Propulsion and Aerodynamic Performance Evaluation of Jet-Wing Distributed Propulsion," Aerospace Science and Technology, Elsevier, Jan 2010.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ast.2009.06.010
Department(s)
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Sponsor(s)
NASA Langley Research Center
Keywords and Phrases
Distributed Propulsion; Jet-Wing; Propulsion; Aerodynamics; Computational fluid dynamics
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
1270-9638
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2010 Elsevier, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jan 2010