Fluid mechanism analysis on the interaction between natural laminar flow nacelle and wingbody on a transonic aircraft

Abstract

A transonic natural laminar flow (NLF) nacelle, which is a streamlined fairing used to contain a turbofan engine and mounted under the wing of civil aircraft, can reduce friction drag. Because the fluid mechanism of the interaction between an NLF nacelle and a wingbody is not clear, laminar flow at high Reynolds numbers in the transonic regime is maintained difficultly. In this work, such interaction on a civil aircraft is investigated. Three NLF nacelles with different pressure distribution characteristics and a baseline nacelle with the turbulent flow are examined. These are installed under the wing of a widebody aircraft to investigate the fluid mechanism between a natural laminar flow nacelle and wingbody. The results show that the influence of the wingbody on the fluid characteristics of the nacelle should be considered in the NLF nacelle design. A well-designed isolated NLF nacelle is different from the one that considers the effect of the wingbody. A favorable pressure gradient in the front part of the nacelle is a key factor in drag reduction. An installed NLF nacelle owning a large pressure peak with a weak favorable pressure gradient and a strong shock wave in front of the nacelle is recommended to be applied in civil aircraft.