Research on supercirculation effects of distributed propulsion configuration

This paper presents a systematic research on the supercirculation effects of Distributed Propulsion Configuration, based on a mathematical model of the distributed propulsion system and a sliced CFD model of SAX-40. Multiple factors which can affect supercirculation effects such as the deflection angle of thrust, Boundary Layer Ingestion effects, jet flow velocity, Angle of Attack and flight speed are examined. The influence regularities of supercirculation on aerodynamic parameters are summarized. Computation results indicate that the supercirculation effects have extraordinary potential to raise Cl and L/D ratio, thus resulting in a better flight performance; but due to the complexity of the influence regularities, there may be some difficulties in employing the supercirculation effects.