Performance of Supercritical Aerofoil using the CO-Flow Jet

International Journal of Mechanical Engineering

© 2025 by SSRG - IJME Journal

Volume 12 Issue 5

Year of Publication : 2025

Authors : A. Sivaraman, V. Saravanan, G. Sujesh, V. S. Ajith, V. Babu, K. Balaji

10.14445/23488360/IJME-V12I5P103

How to Cite?

A. Sivaraman, V. Saravanan, G. Sujesh, V. S. Ajith, V. Babu, K. Balaji, "Performance of Supercritical Aerofoil using the CO-Flow Jet," SSRG International Journal of Mechanical Engineering, vol. 12,  no. 5, pp. 20-26, 2025. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/23488360/IJME-V12I5P103

Abstract:

The paper aims to evaluate the behavior of a supercritical aerofoil at cruise conditions. The simulation study was performed using the pressure-based solver with the turbulence model of Spalart Allmaras at cruise conditions level. The obtained data proved that the supercritical aerofoil using the co-flow jet method increases the lift coefficient by 43% and lowers the drag by 3% compared to the regular aerofoil. The proposed work's novelty is the co-flow jet's design over a transonic aerofoil by introducing the design behind the mid of chord, which was used to evaluate and improve the performance through the jet velocity concept of a supercritical aerofoil. In traditional methods, the injection suction is positioned close to the leading and trailing edges, respectively. The suggested method can be used in commercial, Military, and wind turbine-related applications.

Keywords:

Aerofoil, Cruise, Coefficient of Drag, Coefficient of Lift, Jet velocity.

References:

[1] Zixiang Liu, and Gecheng Zha, "Transonic Airfoil Performance Enhancement Using Co-Flow Jet Active Flow Control," 8th AIAA Flow Control Conference, Washington, D.C, 2016.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[2] Jeremy S. Boling, and Gecheng Zha, "Numerical Investigation of Co-Flow Jet 3D Transonic Wings," AIAA Aviation 2021 Forum, 2021.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[3] Balaji Karuppiah, and Jims John Wessley, "Study on the Influence of Mass Flow Rate Over a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 6321 Airfoil Using Improved Blowing and Suction System for Effective Boundary Layer Control," SAE International Journal of Aerospace, vol. 14, pp. 219-233, 2021.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[4] Ruochen Wang et al., "Numerical Investigation of Co-Flow Jet Airfoil with Parabolic Flap," Chinese Journal of Aeronautics, vol. 36, no. 5, pp. 78-95, 2023.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[5] Yash Raj et al., "Investigation of Area Ratios in Convergent-Divergent Streamlines for Assessing Transonic Aerodynamic Performance Across Varied AoA in Different Airfoils," AIAA AVIATION FORUM AND ASCEND 2024, Las Vegas, Nevada, 2024.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[6] Michael G. Fernandez, Jonathan Hoffmann, and Gecheng Zha, "Transonic Super-Critical Airfoil Enhancement by Coflow Jet Downstream of Normal Shock," 2018 Flow Control Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, 2018.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[7] Alexis Lefebvre et al., "Performance of a Co-Flow Jet Airfoil with Variation of Mach Number," 51st AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition, Grapevine, 2013.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[8] Bryce Thomas, and Ramesh K. Agarwal, "Application of a Co-Flow Jet Airfoil in Development of a Transonic-Truss Braced Wing," AIAA SCITECH 2025 Forum, Orlando, FL, 2025.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[9] Ge-Cheng Zha, "Ultra-High Efficiency Co-Flow Jet Airfoil and the Transformative Aircraft," AIAA Journal, pp. 1-9, 2017.
[Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[10] Jeremy S. Boling, "Numerical Study and Application of CoFlow Jet Active Flow Control for Transonic Flows," PhD Thesis, University of Miami, 2020.
[Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[11] Jeffrey Payne, Christopher Roy, and Steven Beresh, "A Comparison of Turbulence Models for a Supersonic Jet in Transonic Crossflow," 39th Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, Reno, NV, U.S.A, 2001.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[12] Yang Wang, and Gecheng Zha, "Study of Mach number Effect for 3D Co-Flow Jet Wings at Cruise Conditions," AIAA Scitech 2020 Forum, Orlando, FL, 2020.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[13] Zhijin Lei, and Gecheng Zha, "Lift Enhancement of Supersonic Thin Airfoil at Low Speed by Co-Flow Jet Active Flow Control," AIAA Aviation 2021 Forum, Virtual Event, 2021.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[14] Jaehyoung Jeon, Yan Ren, and Gecheng Zha, "Flapped CoFlow Jet Airfoil for High Lift Cruise at Low Reynolds Number in Martian Atmosphere," AIAA SCITECH 2024 Forum, Orlando, FL, 2024.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[15] Konrad A. Goc et al., "Studies of Transonic Aircraft Flows and Prediction of Initial Buffet Using Large-Eddy Simulation," Journal of Aircraft, pp. 1-21, 2025.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[16] A. Lefebvre et al., "Performance and Energy Expenditure of Coflow Jet Airfoil with Variation of Mach Number," Journal of Aircraft, vol. 53, no. 6, pp. 1757-1767, 2016.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[17] Matthew G. Lauer, and Phillip J. Ansell, "Aeropropulsive Shape Optimization of an Airfoil System in the Transonic Regime," Journal of Aircraft, vol. 62, no. 1, pp. 166-179, 2025.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[18] Subash Dhakal et al., "Numerical Investigation of Low Speed Performance of Transonic Coflow Jet Airfoil," 35th AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Conference, Denver, Colorado, 2017.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]