Passive Control of the Flow Around the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy
S. Schmid, Th. Lutz, E. Krämer and T. Kühn
AIAA paper 2008-6717, 26th AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Conference, Hawaii, USA, 18 - 21 August 2008
Abstract:
The unsteady flow field around the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy, a reflecting telscope carried inside an open port of a Boeing 747SP has been simulated by means of URANS. Vortex generators have been placed upstream of the cavity to control the shear layer spanning the opening. The primary objective is the mitigation of the pressure fluctuations on the telescope surface in order to improve the telescope's pointing stability. The present simulations show that the application of the vortex generators lead to a significant reduction of fluctuation magnitudes inside the cavity yielding a distinct improvement of the telescope's performance.
