Parametric Flow Analysis of a Curvature-Continuous Aeropropulsive Wing

Advanced propulsion-airframe integration is a technology that has been increasingly utilized in the design of advanced sustainable aircraft systems. Embedding propulsive devices into aerodynamic surfaces -- aeropropulsion -- can provide performance benefits, but this approach also adds significant complexity to aerodynamic surface design. Many past publications have demonstrated various workflows to parameterize, analyze, and optimize these aeropropulsive aircraft, but most of them have not focused on detailed blending surfaces between propulsive devices and wings or fuselages. For this purpose, an end-to-end workflow from planform design to aeropropulsive simulation is detailed and demonstrated for a transonic wing with a bank of three propulsive devices embedded in the lower surface. A new, lightweight CAD package written with this application in mind was used for the design and parameterization of the geometry. A comparison of the effect of various blending parameters on the flow indicated that both an extension in the extrusion distance of the pressure recovery surfaces between the propulsors and an increase in the amplitude of the geometric waves joining the nacelle bodies mitigated or eliminated the shock waves present in the inviscid flow field. The compressible flow interactions across the wing-nacelle surfaces demonstrated significant complexity, with variations in shock features produced with changing angles of attack. Such an observation demonstrates an opportunity of using the current geometry parameterization framework with multi-point optimization strategies.