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US 8,573,542 B2Granted
Aerofoil slot blowing
AssigneeAirbus Operations GmbH
InventorJames Brown
Life of this patent
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AssigneeAirbus Operations GmbH
InventorJames Brown
Estimating the term…
An aerofoil defining geometric upper and lower surfaces which together form a leading edge region and a trailing edge region, and comprising a blowing device having a slot in the lower geometric surface in the leading edge region for injecting fluid into the airflow over the aerofoil, wherein the slot is located forward of the leading edge stagnation point at the critical angle of incidence of the aerofoil, and wherein the blowing device is adapted to inject the fluid forwardly of the slot and substantially parallel to the lower surface. Also, a method of improving the performance of the aerofoil by injecting fluid into the airflow over the aerofoil from the slot. The upper surface of the aerofoil can be kept clean, giving the potential for laminar flow during cruise without significantly compromising the high lift performance of a blown leading edge at high incidence.
An aerofoil defining geometric upper and lower surfaces which together form a leading edge region and a trailing edge region, and comprising a blowing device having a slot in the lower geometric surface in the leading edge region for injecting fluid into the airflow over the aerofoil, wherein the slot is located forward of the leading edge stagnation point at the critical angle of incidence of the aerofoil, and wherein the blowing device is adapted to inject the fluid forwardly from the slot and substantially parallel to the lower surface, wherein the slot extends spanwise across the leading edge region and has a slot width, the slot width being less than 1 mm.
A method of improving the performance of an aerofoil defining geometric upper and lower surfaces which together form a leading edge region and a trailing edge region, the method comprising injecting fluid into the airflow over the aerofoil from a slot in the lower geometric surface, which is located forward of the leading edge stagnation point at the critical angle of incidence of the aerofoil, the fluid being injected into the airflow in a forward direction from the slot and substantially parallel to the lower surface, wherein the slot extends spanwise across the leading edge region and has a slot width, the slot width being less than 1 mm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.