DLR-DAAD Postdoctoral Fellowship Nr. 712: Active Flow Control for Delay of Vortex Breakdown in Transonic Flow Regime

Vortex breakdown is a critical phenomenon in vortex-dominated flows over multi-delta wing configurations, which are commonly employed in high-performance aircraft to enhance manoeuvrability and aerodynamic efficiency. At high angles of attack, the strong leading-edge vortices generated by these configurations can undergo sudden structural destabilization, leading to a rapid loss of lift, increased drag, and unsteady flow separation. This so-called vortex breakdown severely limits flight performance, particularly in agile manoeuvres or low-speed regimes, and poses challenges for stability control in next-generation
aerial systems. Understanding and mitigating vortex breakdown is thus essential for optimizing the aerodynamic characteristics of multi-delta wings and ensuring reliable operation in demanding flight conditions.

Active flow control (AFC) offers a promising path to prevent or delay vortex breakdown by dynamically manipulating the vortical structures through targeted energy input. While these techniques have been applied to subsonic flows for decades, there are still many open questions concerning their application to transonic flows, where lower relative velocities of the jet and mean flow, and phenomena, such as vortex-shock interactions, pose additional challenges to the successful application of active flow control.

Within this project, the goal is to design an active flow control approach to influence the vortex topology above a generic triple delta wing configuration at transonic speeds and at moderate angles of attack. The wind tunnel model features multiple modular insets that can be used to incorporate both actuation devices and sensors. If feasible for the chosen actuation approach, a real-time closed-loop control of the actuator could be implemented as well. The effectiveness of the chosen actuation approach shall then be evaluated based on a wind tunnel test in the Transonic Wind Tunnel Göttingen (DNW-TWG).

Due to the complexity of the planned tasks and the necessary construction effort, the post-doctoral duration is recommended to be 2 years.

Please find more information here: DLR-DAAD Research Fellowships Nr. 712

Please apply here: DLR-DAAD Research Fellowship Programme - DAAD - Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst

Further information and current vacancies: DLR Current offers - DAAD