Flow Control

In several areas of fluid mechanics, especially in aerodynamics of vehicles with sweeped wings, is a laminar boundary layer favorable because it reduces drag in a substantial amount. Drag reduction leads to reduced fuel burn and better acoustic emission and is therefore a crucial aspect in modern aircraft design.The boundary layer on an aircraft fuselage is often highly turbulent. This turbulence is carried by the wing root to the leading edge of the aircraft wing, where it has a big contaminates the laminar flow of the wing. This contamination reduces the effectiveness of a laminar wing and increases drag. This problem can be tackled by passive devices, which have been developed by IBK in different research programs. IBK was successful in developing solutions for different problems (sub-sonic, super-sonic), which have been filed as patent. Another category of solutions regarding turbulent boundary layer on aircraft wings or arbitrary bodies like fuselage or engine pylon is the so called active flow control. One solution is suction of the boundary layer in specific parts of the wing or surface of a body. IBK has developed such solutions in the past.Please contact us if you have a regarding aerodynamical design or boundary layer control.