Skip to main content
European Commission logo
TRIMIS

Buffet Control of Transonic Wings

PROJECTS
Funding
European
European Union
Duration
-
Status
Complete with results
Geo-spatial type
Other
Total project cost
€1 269 375
EU Contribution
€952 031
Project Acronym
BUCOLIC
STRIA Roadmaps
Vehicle design and manufacturing (VDM)
Transport mode
Airborne icon
Transport policies
Societal/Economic issues,
Environmental/Emissions aspects
Transport sectors
Passenger transport,
Freight transport

Overview

Call for proposal
SP1-JTI-CS-2012-03
Link to CORDIS
Objectives

The aim of this work programme was to develop a capability to understand and predict transonic buffet on wings fitted with buffet control devices. Wind tunnel tests were performed on a half model with buffet control devices fitted to measure dynamic flow characteristics during buffet onset.

Unsteady RANS and DES CFD calculations were carried out, validated against the wind tunnel data. The CFD calculations were then used to develop an improved understanding of transonic wing buffet. An industrialised computational method was developed to enable buffet prediction to be carried out whilst designing wings with buffet control devices fitted.

Funding

Parent Programmes
Institution Type
Public institution
Institution Name
European Commission
Type of funding
Public (EU)
Specific funding programme
JTI-CS - Joint Technology Initiatives - Clean Sky
Other Programme
JTI-CS-2012-3-SFWA-02-035 Characterisation, Modelling & Passive Control of 3D transonic wing buffet

Results

Executive Summary:

Buffet is a flow instability which can cause structural vibration (“buffeting”) on civil and military aircraft. Transonic wing buffet is important to civil aircraft designers, because it defines a limit to cruise flight conditions which impacts on airframe cost and efficiency. As a result, there is an increasing interest in predicting buffet offset early in the design process, and in delaying or alleviating the effects of buffet by active or passive means. The practical difficulties of modelling buffet have been known for many years and much research has been undertaken with ever more sophisticated modelling tools to analyse the phenomenon, with a focus on two-dimensional aerofoil flows. More recently attempts have been made to reduce the effect of buffet, but these have been hampered by a lack of understanding of the physics of transonic buffet on three-dimensional swept wings.

The aims of the BUCOLIC programme were to significantly improve our understanding of the underlying flow physics and to develop techniques to predict buffet in a practical timescale for industrial aircraft design. These aims were addressed using a combination of experimental investigations of buffet on a representative transport aircraft wing in the Aircraft Research Association’s industrial transonic wind tunnel, and numerical simulations at the University of Liverpool.

Partners

Lead Organisation
Organisation
Aircraft Research Association Limited
Address
Manton Lane, Bedford, MK41 7PF, United Kingdom
Organisation website
EU Contribution
€729 738
Partner Organisations
Organisation
The University Of Liverpool
Address
Brownlow Hill 765 Foundation Building, Liverpool, L69 7ZX, United Kingdom
Organisation website
EU Contribution
€1 614 944
Organisation
The University Of Liverpool
Address
Brownlow Hill 765 Foundation Building, Liverpool, L69 7ZX, United Kingdom
Organisation website
EU Contribution
€222 293

Technologies

Technology Theme
Aircraft design and manufacturing
Technology
Improved aerodynamic design tools
Development phase
Validation

Contribute! Submit your project

Do you wish to submit a project or a programme? Head over to the Contribute page, login and follow the process!

Submit