Wind Tunnel Model Tests to Investigate the Effects of Boundary Layer Control

Citation

Ashkenas, Irving Louis and Smith, Robert Beaton (1939) Wind Tunnel Model Tests to Investigate the Effects of Boundary Layer Control. Master's thesis, California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/FE14-GP68. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-05222007-104409

Abstract

This thesis presents a study of the results obtained with the Boundary Layer Removal Model of the Guggenheim Aeronautics Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (GALCIT). It is a continuation of work begun here some time past and, as such, contains very little in the way of historical review, the origin of the project, preliminary studies of the problem and experimental technique being contained in previous reports.

The attempt, in this series of tests, to find a definite scale effect on the power required to produce a given change in airfoil characteristics has been somewhat unsuccessful because the test Reynolds Numbers unfortunately fell in the region of critical Reynolds Number. There has, however, been some success in finding the definite mechanism by which boundary layer removal is effective, a logical explanation being given for the nature and magnitude of various changes in airfoil characteristics incurred by the use of a given amount of suction.

Thesis Files