Control of air flow over aerodynamic surfaces to maintain laminar flow conditions offers excellent promise of reduced drag far aircraft performance improvement. The theoretical methods and the engineering and design techniques for the application of laminar flow control (LFC) have been reasonably well known since the mid-1940's. The X-21A LFC Program established the validity of the technology in the 1960-1966 period; however, its system weight, cost, and maintenance problems were not competitive using existing technology. Progress in property definition and manufacturing procedures, as well as reduction in costs, may now permit the economical applications of both composite and advanced metallic materials.
Material development for laminar flow control wing panels
Entwicklung von Werkstoffen fuer die Steuerorgane von Flugzeugen
1977
8 Seiten, 23 Bilder, 4 Quellen
Conference paper
English
Emerald Group Publishing | 1999
NTIS | 1989
|Hybride Laminar Flow Control Wing Demonstrator
AIAA | 2024
|Laminar-flow wing construction
Engineering Index Backfile | 1947
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