Colloquium: Daan van der Tuin (FPT)

The recently discovered Delft Laminar Hump is a smooth hump that is placed parallel to the leading edge of the wing and delays transition up to 14%. This research implements the Delft Laminar Hump on the vertical stabilizer of subsonic transport aircraft by modeling the effect of the hump as a shift in transition location. By using a Quasi-3D aerodynamic analysis in combination with a transition location database, constructed with a boundary layer solver and stability analysis, the effect of the hump on the lift and drag coefficient of the vertical stabilizer is analyzed. It is found that in cruise conditions a retrofit of the hump on the vertical stabilizer of a subsonic transport aircraft can reduce the overall drag coefficient up to 0.39%, resulting in an fuel consumption reduction around 0.37% for the harmonic range, whilst not affecting the stability and control of the aircraft. Additionally, through a sensitivity analysis, it is found that when reducing the sweep angle, the overall drag coefficient can be reduced further, up to 0.47%. The effectiveness of the hump is also increases for larger vertical stabilizers surfaces. This research shows that the Delft Laminar Hump has great potential in terms of drag- and fuel reduction at relatively low cost, whilst not affecting the aircraft stability and control.

Supervisor: M.F.M. Hoogreef