Fluidic Flow Control Effectors for Flight Control

This paper overviews research undertaken to develop and demonstrate active flow control technologies based on the application and manipulation of Coanda flows, with the objective of developing systems having adequate control authority to trim and maneuver an aircraft without the use of conventional control surfaces. The development of circulation control and fluidic thrust vectoring concepts and the contributions of numerous researchers to the current understanding of supersonic wall jets are reviewed and placed into context with the authors’ own research. The value of supplementing fundamental experimental and numerical research with more practical system integration studies and small-scale flying demonstration activities is shown to be a valuable approach to providing focus and direction for the research. Simple technology demonstrators have also proved to be valuable motivators for the research team and provided important focus in promoting the technologies and ideas to the wider stakeholder community. Outcomes of the research are now being explored in the context of taking them to the next stage of practical maturity.