Load control on the future greener aircraft by circulation control

Load control is an important topic in aerodynamics, as it can potentially provide an alternative way for drag reduction through decreasing the aircraft structure weight. To pursue ‘Green Aviation’, both new greener aircraft configurations and technologies for load control are under studying throughout the worldwide industries and academies. This paper presents a computational investigation on the load control effects by means of circulation control (CC) via blowing over trailing-edge Coanda surface on a blended-wing-body (BWB) configuration. A BWB model is firstly modified to include Coanda devices on the outer-wing, inner-wing and center-body sections with the same spanwise length. The load control effects in terms of lift reduction aiming for gust load alleviation of CC placed on different spanwise locations are evaluated and compared under steady conditions for subsonic and transonic speeds. The results show that CC has a strong capability for load control, especially for subsonic incoming flow, indicating a promising way for gust load alleviation to replace the traditional flaps.