Suction laminarization of highly swept supersonic laminar flow control wings

An evaluation is made of a suction-based method for the laminarization of highly-swept supersonic wings at cruise Mach numbers in the 2.0-2.5 range, in the interest of the reduction of wave drag due to lift. The laminar boundary layer development, as well as Tollmien-Schlichting and crossflow instabilities, have been analyzed for the case of an X66 supercritical airfoil at 60 and 72 deg sweep, for Mach numbers of 1.56 and 2.52, respectively. Strong suction is found to be needed at the front part of the upper surface and both the upper and lower rear pressure-rise areas.