Boundary layer suction is a boundary layer control technique in which an

air pump An air pump is a pump for pushing air. Examples include a bicycle pump, pumps that are used to aerate an aquarium or a pond via an airstone; a gas compressor used to power a pneumatic tool, air horn or pipe organ; a bellows used to encourage a ...

is used to extract the

boundary layer In physics and fluid mechanics, a boundary layer is the thin layer of fluid in the immediate vicinity of a bounding surface formed by the fluid flowing along the surface. The fluid's interaction with the wall induces a no-slip boundary cond ...

at the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

or the

inlet An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In marine ...

of an

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or by using the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in ...

. Improving the air flow can reduce drag. Improvements in

fuel efficiency Fuel efficiency is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may vary per device ...

have been estimated as high as 30%.

The boundary layer

The air molecules at the surface of a wing are effectively stationary (see the no-slip condition). If the flow is smooth, known as

laminar flow In fluid dynamics, laminar flow is characterized by fluid particles following smooth paths in layers, with each layer moving smoothly past the adjacent layers with little or no mixing. At low velocities, the fluid tends to flow without lateral mi ...

, the velocity of the air increases steadily as measurements are taken further away from the surface. However the smooth flow is often disturbed by the boundary layer breaking away from the surface and creating a low pressure region immediately behind the airfoil (see flow separation). This low pressure region results in increased overall drag. Attempts have been made over the years to delay the onset of this flow separation by careful design and smooth surfaces.

Use of suction

As flow separation results from the velocity deficit that is characteristic of boundary layers, suction attempts to remove the boundary layer from the surface before it can separate. The technology was first developed by Werner Pfenninger in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

and has been researched almost continuously since. In the 1960s, NASA experimented with this concept with the Northrop X-21, a converted Douglas WB-66D. In the 1990s, tests were done by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

with an F-16XL. Research is going on for its use in gliders at the Technical University of Delft. However, about 500 watts of power would be needed to drive the pumps which would mean covering the glider with

solar panel A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...

s and would increase the cost greatly.}

References

External links

{{Commons category, Boundary layer suction
DGflugzeugbau article

of vortex generator with suction Boundary layers Aircraft wing design

The boundary layer

Use of suction

See also

References

External links