Manufacturing tolerances for natural laminar flow airframe surfacesPublished aircraft surface waviness and boundary layer transition measurements imply that currently achievable low levels of surface waviness are compatible with the natural laminar flow (NLF) requirements of business and commuter aircraft, in the cases of both metallic and composite material airframes. The primary challenge to the manufacture of NLF-compatible surfaces is two-dimensional roughness in the form of steps and gaps at structural joints. Attention is presently given to recent NASA investigations of manufacturing tolerance requirements for NLF surfaces, including flight experiment results.
Document ID
19850067952
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Holmes, B. J. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Obara, C. J. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Martin, G. L. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Domack, C. S. (Kentron Internaional, Inc. Hampton, VA, United States)