The interaction of a shock wave with a boundary layer is a classic viscous/inviscid interaction problem that occurs over a wide range of high speed aerodynamic flows. For example, on transonic wings, in supersonic air intakes, in propelling nozzles at offdesign conditions and on deflected controls at supersonic/transonic speeds, to name a few. The transonic interaction takes place at Mach numbers typically between 1.1 and 1.5. On an aerofoil, its existence can cause problems that range from a mild increase in section drag to flow separation and buffeting. In the absence of separation the drag increase is predominantly due to wave drag, caused by a rise in entropy through the interaction. The control of the turbulent interaction as applied to a transonic aerofoil is addressed in this thesis. However, the work can equally be applied to the control of interaction for numerous other occurrences where a shock meets a turbulent boundary layer. It is assumed that, for both swept normal shock and unswept normal shock interactions, as long as the Mach number normal to the shock is the same, then the interaction, and therefore its control, should be the same. Numerous schemes have been suggested to control such interaction. However, they have generally been marred by the drag reduction obtained being negated by the additional drag due to the power requirements, for example the pumping power in the case of mass transfer and the drag of the devices in the case of vortex generators. A system of piezoelectrically controlled flaps is presented for the control of the interaction. The flaps would aeroelastically deflect due to the pressure difference created by the pressure rise across the shock and by piezoelectrically induced strains. The amount of deflection, and hence the mass flow through the plenum chamber, would control the interaction. It is proposed that the flaps will delay separation of the boundary layer whilst reducing wave drag and overcome the disadvantages of previous control methods. Active control can be utilised to optimise the effects of the boundary layer shock wave interaction as it would allow the ability to control the position of the control region around the original shock position, mass transfer rate and distribution. A number of design options were considered for the integration of the piezoelectric ceramic into the flap structure. These included the use of unimorphs, bimorphs and polymorphs, with the latter capable of being directly employed as the flap. Unimorphs, with an aluminium substrate, produce less deflection than bimorphs and multimorphs. However, they can withstand and overcome the pressure loads associated with SBLI control. For the current experiments, it was found that near optimal control of the swept and unswept shock wave boundary layer interactions was attained with flap deflections between 1mm and 3mm. However, to obtain the deflection required for optimal performance in a full scale situation, a more powerful piezoelectric actuator material is required than currently available. A theoretical model is developed to predict the effect of unimorph flap deflection on the displacement thickness growth angles, the leading shock angle and the triple point height. It is shown that optimal deflection for SBLI control is a trade-off between reducing the total pressure losses, which is implied with increasing the triple point height, and minimising the frictional losses.

The interaction of a shock wave with a boundary layer is a classic viscous/inviscid interaction problem that occurs over a wide range of high speed aerodynamic flows. For example, on transonic wings, in supersonic air intakes, in propelling nozzles at offdesign conditions and on deflected controls at supersonic/transonic speeds, to name a few. The transonic interaction takes place at Mach numbers typically between 1.1 and 1.5. On an aerofoil, its existence can cause problems that range from a mild increase in section drag to flow separation and buffeting. In the absence of separation the drag increase is predominantly due to wave drag, caused by a rise in entropy through the interaction. The control of the turbulent interaction as applied to a transonic aerofoil is addressed in this thesis. However, the work can equally be applied to the control of interaction for numerous other occurrences where a shock meets a turbulent boundary layer. It is assumed that, for both swept normal shock and unswept normal shock interactions, as long as the Mach number normal to the shock is the same, then the interaction, and therefore its control, should be the same. Numerous schemes have been suggested to control such interaction. However, they have generally been marred by the drag reduction obtained being negated by the additional drag due to the power requirements, for example the pumping power in the case of mass transfer and the drag of the devices in the case of vortex generators. A system of piezoelectrically controlled flaps is presented for the control of the interaction. The flaps would aeroelastically deflect due to the pressure difference created by the pressure rise across the shock and by piezoelectrically induced strains. The amount of deflection, and hence the mass flow through the plenum chamber, would control the interaction. It is proposed that the flaps will delay separation of the boundary layer whilst reducing wave drag and overcome the disadvantages of previous control methods. Active control can be utilised to optimise the effects of the boundary layer shock wave interaction as it would allow the ability to control the position of the control region around the original shock position, mass transfer rate and distribution. A number of design options were considered for the integration of the piezoelectric ceramic into the flap structure. These included the use of unimorphs, bimorphs and polymorphs, with the latter capable of being directly employed as the flap. Unimorphs, with an aluminium substrate, produce less deflection than bimorphs and multimorphs. However, they can withstand and overcome the pressure loads associated with SBLI control. For the current experiments, it was found that near optimal control of the swept and unswept shock wave boundary layer interactions was attained with flap deflections between 1mm and 3mm. However, to obtain the deflection required for optimal performance in a full scale situation, a more powerful piezoelectric actuator material is required than currently available. A theoretical model is developed to predict the effect of unimorph flap deflection on the displacement thickness growth angles, the leading shock angle and the triple point height. It is shown that optimal deflection for SBLI control is a trade-off between reducing the total pressure losses, which is implied with increasing the triple point height, and minimising the frictional losses.