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US 5,178,348 AGranted
Contoured wing/flap assembly and method
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorWayne T. Bliesner
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A wing flap assembly having a contoured upper forward surface portion of the flap being arranged to reduce adverse effects of a wake producing device, such as a landing gear or a flap track faring, positioned upstream of the slot, when the flap is in its highlift slotted position. The contoured area has a moderately greater slot gap width, and relatively sharper curvature at a nose end of the contoured flap surface portion to produce a desired pressure distribution where recovery begins at a further upstream location on the flap.
Claims20
An airfoil flap assembly comprising:
- a. a main airfoil having a leading edge portion, a trailing edge portion, an upper surface and a lower surface;
- b. a trailing edge flap having a leading edge flap portion, a trailing edge flap portion, and an upper flap surface, said flap having a stowed position at the trailing edge portion of the main airfoil, and being moveable to a deployed position where an upper forward flap surface portion and the trailing edge portion of the main airfoil form a slot having a slot width dimension;
- c. said flap having an optimized surface contour which is shaped to optimize aerodynamic performance of said flap in its stowed position and its deployed position;
- d. a wake generating object positioned forwardly of said slot in a manner to produce a turbulent wake flow passing through said slot and over the upper surface of the flap at a wake flow flap location;
- e. said upper flap surface having at said wake flow flap location a wake contoured surface area which has a first forward area portion, a second intermediate area portion and a third rear area blend portion, and the upper flap surface of the optimized surface contour has at corresponding chord length locations, respectively, first, second and third corresponding optimized surface region portions;
- f. said first forward area portion having a radius of curvature, which is relatively sharper than said first optimized surface region portion;
- g. said intermediate contoured area portion having a larger radius of curvature relative to curvature of the second optimized surface region portion,
- h. said second intermediate contoured area portion and said third rear contoured area portion comprising a substantially continuous aerodynamically contoured surface area
- whereby pressure over said first forward contoured area portion is at a relatively high negative pressure and said second intermediate area portion is at a relatively low negative pressure, so that recovery of the turbulent wake flow over said wake contoured surface area begins at a relatively further forward chord length location compared to said optimized surface contour.
6 more elements
A method of improving performance in an airfoil flap assembly, where there is
- a. a main airfoil having a leading edge portion, a trailing edge portion, an upper surface and a lower surface;
- b. a trailing edge flap having a leading edge flap portion, a trailing edge flap portion, and an upper flap surface, said flap having a stowed position at the trailing edge portion of the main airfoil, and being moveable to a deployed position where an upper forward flap surface portion and the trailing edge portion of the main airfoil form a slot having a slot width dimension, said flap having an optimized surface contour which is shaped to optimize aerodynamic performance of said flap in its stowed position and its deployed position;
- c. a wake generating object positioned forwardly of said slot in a manner to produce a turbulent wake flow passing through said slot and over the upper surface of the flap at a wake flow flap location;
- said method comprising:
- a. providing at said upper flap surface at said wake flow flap location a wake contoured surface area which has a first forward area portion, a second intermediate area portion and a third rear area blend portion, and the upper flap surface of the optimized surface contour has at corresponding chord length locations, respectively, first, second and third corresponding optimized surface region portions.,
- b. providing at said first forward area portion a radius of curvature which is relatively sharper than said first optimized surface region portion;
- c. providing at said intermediate contoured area portion a larger radius of curvature relative to curvature of the second optimized surface region portion, with said second intermediate contoured area portion and said third rear contoured area portion comprising a substantially continuous aerodynamically contoured surface area
- whereby pressure over said first forward contoured area portion is at a relatively high negative pressure and said second intermediate area portion is at a relatively low negative pressure, so that recovery of the turbulent wake flow over said wake contoured surface area begins at a relatively further forward chord length location compared to said optimized surface contour.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.