SBLI control for wings and inlets

Flow control can be applied to shock wave/boundary layer interactions to achieve two different goals;the delay of shock-induced separation and/or the reduction ofstagnation pressure losses, which cause wave drag or inletinefficiencies. This paper introduces the principles and maintechniques for both approaches and assesses their relativesuitability for practical applications. While boundary layersuction is already in wide use for separation control, themost promising novel device is the micro-vortex generator,which can deliver similar benefits to traditional vortex generatorsat much reduced device drag. Shock control is notyet used on practical applications for a number of reasons,but recent research has focused on three-dimensional deviceswhich promise to deliver flow control with improved offdesignbehaviour. Furthermore, there are some indicationsthat a new generation of control devices may be able to combinethe benefits of shock and boundary layer control andreduce shock-induced stagnation pressure losses as well asdelay shock-induced separation.