Introduction
The development of Active Flow Control (AFC) technologies is crucial for improving the aerodynamic performance of bluff bodies, which are characterized by their blunt shape and tendency to create significant drag and low lift. By implementing an advanced concept of AFC based on trapped vortex cells, we aim to eliminate large-scale flow separation over these bodies. This can lead to increased lift, enhanced stability, and improved fuel efficiency (or battery life) in various aerospace and civil engineering applications. Continued research and innovation in this field hold the potential to revolutionize the design and functionality of vehicles and structures, making them more efficient and environmentally friendly.
- R&D of Active Flow Control systems
- Active flow control of the flow past different types of bluff-bodies is one of the most perspective topics in the modern hydro and aerodynamics.
- Numerical platform
- Advancing vehicles with an improved aerodynamic quality (the lift-to-drag ratio) is ongoing, and results from this R&D can be used to form a new technological platform for the next breakthrough of an innovated blended wing-body aircraft. Small and medium scale UAVs and AUVs using different passive and active flow control systems is one of the potential areas of the present project as well.
- An alternative area is the control of bluff-body wakes of structures, and suppression of the related vortex shedding. There is an unlimited amount of examples in environmental engineering, like vortex-induced vibrations of pipes, bridges, offshore platforms and structures, buildings and city landscapes, etc., where the wake control can reduce unsteady loads and induced vibrations.