| This thesis investigates the performance of co-flow jet (CFJ) flow control and its applications using experimental testing and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations.;For a stationary airfoil and wing, CFJ increases the lift coefficient (CL), reduces the drag and may produce thrust at a low angle of attack (AoA). The maximum lift coefficient is substantially increased for a 2D CFJ airfoil and reaches a value of 4.8 at Cmicro = 0.30. The power consumption of the CFJ pump, measured by the power coefficient (Pc), is influenced by a variety of parameters, including the momentum coefficient (C micro ), the AoA, the injection slot location, and the internal cavity configuration. A low Cmicro of 0.04 produces a rather small Pc in the range of 0.01--0.02 while a higher Cmicro rapidly increases the Pc. Due to the stronger leading edge suction effect, increasing the AoA decreases the Pc. That is until the flow is near separation, within about 2°--3° of the stall AoA. An injection slot location within 2%--5% chord from the leading edge very effectively reduces the power coefficient. An internal cavity design with no separation is crucial to minimize the CFJ power consumption. Overall, the CFJ effectiveness is enhanced with an increasing Mach number as long as the flow remains subsonic, typically with free stream Mach number less than 0.4.;Two pitching airfoil oscillations with dynamic stall are studied in this thesis, namely the mild dynamic stall and the deep dynamic stall. At Mach 0.3, the CFJ with a relatively low Cmicro of 0.08 removes the mild dynamic stall. Thereby, the time-averaged lift is increased by 32% and the time-averaged drag is decreased by 80%. The resulting time-averaged aerodynamic (L/D)ave, which does not take the pumping power into account, reaches 118.3. When C micro is increased, the time-averaged drag becomes negative, which demonstrates the feasibility of a CFJ to propel helicopter blades using its pump as the only source of power. The deep-stall is mitigated at Cmicro = 0.12 and completely removed at C micro = 0.20 with a great L/D)ave increase. At Mach 0.4, the CFJ mitigates the mild dynamic stall. However, the energy consumption is higher than at Mach 0.3 due to the appearance of shock waves in the flow.;A 3D CFJ wing based on NACA 6415 airfoil with an aspect ratio of 20 produces a maximum L/D of 38.5 at a remarkably high cruise CL of 1.20 with an AoA of 5.0° and a low Cmicro of 0.04. The takeoff and landing performance is also excellent with a maximum C L of 4.7 achieved atCmicro of 0.28 and AoA of 40.0°. When the wing thickness is increased from 15% to 21%, not only the lift is increased by about 5% but the structural strength is also improved. Overall the CFJ wing efficiency is found to be similar to that of conventional wings, but the lift coefficient at cruise condition is much higher, typically by 2--3 times.;In the final study of this thesis, a CFJ Electric Aircraft (CFJ-EA) is designed for the general aviation. The aircraft has a high wing loading so that it can carry more battery and reach a longer range with a relatively small wing size. The CFJ-EA cruises at a very high C L of 1.3, which produces a wing loading of 182.3kg /m2, about 3 times higher than that of a conventional general aviation airplane. To determine the aircraft range and endurance, we introduce the corrected aerodynamic efficiency ( L/D)c defined as (L/D) c = L/(D+P/V infinity), where the L and D are the aerodynamic lift and drag, P is the CFJ pumping power and Vinfinity is the free stream velocity. The (L/D)c of the CFJ-EA is excellent with a cruise value of 23.5 at a low C micro of 0.04. Takeoff and landing distances are also good due to a very high maximum CL of 4.8, achieved with a high Cmicro of 0.28. During takeoff and landing, the wing pivots around its 1/4 chord axis so that it can achieve an AoA of 25.0° with the fuselage rotated by only 5.0°. Based on a measure of merit defined as MPS=Miles*Passengers/S, where S is the wing planform area, the MPS of the present EA design is about half that of a conventional reciprocating engine general aviation airplane, and is 1.5 to 2.5 times greater than the MPS of the state of the art EA. (Abstract shortened by UMI.). |
