The invention discloses an aircraft generating a larger thrust and lift by fluid continuity. First open channels used to extend fluid paths are formed in front parts and/or middle parts of windward sides of wings of the aircraft and extend from sides, close to the fuselage, of the wings to sides, away from the fuselage, of the wings, and the first open channels are concave channels or convex channels, so that a pressure difference in a direction identical with a moving direction is generated from back to front due to different flow speeds of fluid flowing over the windward sides of the wings in a lengthwise direction and a widthwise direction to reduce fluid resistance, and a larger pressure difference and lift are generated due to different flow speeds on the windward sides and leeward sides of the wings.

A structural component for a vehicle has a surface with a riblet structure. The riblet structure includes a plurality of grooves, including a first groove having a first longitudinal section forming a first angle with a main longitudinal direction of the structural component. The first angle is larger than 0 and the main longitudinal direction corresponds to a flow direction of a fluid along the surface of the structural component.

A fixed wing aircraft has a wing with an aerofoil cross-section defining an upper and lower geometric surfaces which meet at a geometric leading edge of the wing. The wing has an upper and lower aerodynamic surfaces while in flight. The upper aerodynamic surface and the lower aerodynamic surface meet at an aerodynamic leading edge at the intersection with an attachment line dividing the air that passes over the upper aerodynamic surface from the air that passes over the lower aerodynamic surface. The lower geometric surface adjacent the geometric leading edge has a roughness strip with a step height of at least 50 microns over the lower geometric surface. The roughness strip is located on the lower aerodynamic surface of the wing when the aircraft is flown at a load factor of 1 g and is located on the upper aerodynamic surface when the load factor is above 1.2 g.

A flow body for a vehicle having a flow surface, as well as a skin system attached to the flow surface is proposed. The skin system has a top layer and a foam arrangement positioned between the flow surface and the top layer, wherein the top layer includes an elastic, surface-like material, wherein the foam arrangement includes a first layer of an elastic, compressible open cell foam, wherein the foam arrangement is bonded to the top layer. The skin system has a static shape in an unloaded state, in which the shape defines an outer surface geometry that directly follows the geometry of the respective flow surface, and the skin system has a deflected shape when the flow body is subjected to turbulent air flow. The deflected shape at least temporarily compresses the foam arrangement.

Apparatus for laminar flow control for a skin panel for an aircraft including a body for receipt into a recess of the skin panel. The body defines a chamber. The body includes an outer portion defining one or more micro apertures through the outer portion, each of the one or more micro apertures being in fluid communication with the chamber. The body includes a support portion supporting the outer portion, the support portion defining at least one outlet for allowing air to be drawn from the chamber in use by a suction means in fluid communication with the outlet in use. The apparatus is arranged such that, in use, air is drawn through the one or more micro apertures into the chamber and out of the outlet, thereby to promote laminar airflow over the outer portion in use.

A micro-cavity passive actuator is configured to delay dynamic stall of an airfoil. The micro-cavity actuator is formed in the pressure sidewall surface proximate the leading edge of the airfoil. This cavity remains essentially inactive at low incidence. However, as the wing's effective angle of attack dynamically increases and the stagnation point displaces past the micro-cavity, the accelerating flow grazing the cavity induces a high-frequency resonance phenomenon (known as Rossiter modes). The self-generated small-scale disturbances are carried around the leading-edge through the boundary layer to the wing's upper side where the laminar separation bubble (LSB) amplifies these disturbances. This process delays LSB bursting and dynamic stall. The micro-cavity must be sized such that its naturally emitting oscillations are in a range of frequencies that can be amplified by the LSB.

Aspects of the disclosure are directed to a nacelle of an aircraft, comprising a surface that is profiled such that during cruise flight operation lines of constant static pressure of a boundary layer around the nacelle in a given region are substantially contained within a plane that is normal to an engine axis.

A leading edge structure (1) for a flow control system of an aircraft, including a double-walled leading edge panel (3) that surrounds a plenum (7), wherein the leading edge panel (3) includes an inner wall element (21) facing the plenum (7) and an outer wall element (23) in contact with the ambient flow (25), wherein between the inner and outer wall elements (21, 23) the leading edge panel (3) includes elongate stiffeners (27) spaced apart from one another, so that between each pair of adjacent stiffeners (27) a hollow chamber (29) is formed between the inner and outer wall elements (21, 23), wherein the outer wall element (23) includes micro pores (31) forming a fluid connection between the hollow chambers (29) and an ambient flow (25), and wherein the inner wall element (21) includes openings (33) forming a fluid connection between the hollow chambers (29) and the plenum (7).

A spoiling apparatus for triggering a turbulent transition by autonomous disturbance and spoilers. The spoilers are mounted in multiple grooves in the circumferential direction of a navigating body, when a flow autonomously undergoes a turbulent transition, the spoilers remain in the grooves, the surface of the navigating body is free of protrusion, thus causing no additional flow resistance. A rated critical Reynolds number is set, in a case of a reduced flow speed and reduced density, the flow is a laminar flow, at which time the pressure applied to the spoilers by the flow is reduced, and the spoilers are ejected under the effect of compression springs. When ejected, the spoilers disturb the flowing of the bottom layer of the flow, and trigger the laminar flow into a turbulent flow. By setting the rebounding force of the compression springs, the spoiling apparatus is turned on automatically when a disturbance-triggered turbulent transition is required and is turned off when not required, thus implementing the autonomous control of turbulent transitions.

The invention relates to an aircraft having at least one wing (5) including, at each end thereof, a fin (6) forming an angle of between 0? and 45? relative to the vertical. According to the invention, each fin (6) has a leading edge (7) that includes at least one slot (8) provided along said leading edge (7) and oriented so as to cause an air flow to flow via said leading edge (7) from an outer surface (6a) of the fin (6) to an inner surface (6b).